I recently took a trip to Louisiana where I ate like a king, drank like a fish (mostly NON-alcoholic beverages, mostly), sweated like a pig (which don't sweat), and heard LOTS of great Jazz.  A Yankee like myself can't trundle through Bourbon street's smelly stretches without comparing them to, say, New York's Lower East Side, which certainly is just as smelly, but lacks the Jazz, and lacks...

Sweet Tea?  Apparently i have sorely missed the boat on my beverage consumption, in that the entire South has for generations been awash in this grand concoction of uppers (caffeine and sugar) mixed together in water with some ice thrown in to take the edge off.  Seeing as this brew fuels the majority of Southern productivity, McDonalds has jumped on the Southern Rock Band-Wagon and come up with its own version.

I ran into a friend the other day who was proudly bragging about the tea's virtues, declaring unabashadly that it's delicious and energizing, "and not so bad for you like pop".  Forgive her- she's from the Mid-West where "Pop" takes the unwieldy term "soft drink" and chops off a syllable.  Knowing I'm a foodie, she dared me to scrutinize this tea and find fault with it.

Full disclosure- while I do appreciate many a soda, I prefer the less sweet sodas (though NEVER diet), and when it comes to both coffee and iced tea, I never add sugar, EVER.  So this Sweet Tea just ain't for me, and I'm not going to bother trying it just as an excuse to rag on it.  Obviously there are people that really like it, and I say more power to them.

My question is, is it better or worse for you than McDonalds' other beverage of choice, Coca Cola?  The Sweet Tea isn't yet listed on the McDonalds' Nutritional Information Website,  nor are the ingredients listed, but the grape-vine has informed me that, unlike Coca Cola, McDonalds makes its Sweet Tea with genuine Sugar, which shows some integrity.  They must be getting KILLED by the price of Corn Sweetner.

Calorie wise, the info isn't totally official, Associated Info reports that Coca Cola actually has 50% more sugars and calories (210 calories vs. 150 calories) than the Sweet Tea.  So maybe this stuff will actually improve the average McDonalds goer's health (however slightly).  I don't really know if this new product will stick, but in attempting to research excuses to call it a boondoggle, it turns out to be not so offensive a beverage as I initially guessed.

But I still won't be drinking any.  I like my coffee, BLACK, and I like my Fizzy Lizzie, GRAPEFRUIT!