Sweet tea: a southern staple, a personal favorite drink, a drink so common that it is included on many national menus. When questioned about the drink, Senior Annabelle Whitaker described it as a “Southern delicacy.” She maintains a neutral stance on tea, only appreciating those which do not present an intense sweet concentration nor those with too little.
This review intends to reflect the tasting of fast-food teas in the local Murfreesboro area and on strictly sweet tea, with no extra flavors. As with the long-lasting best “chicken sandwich debate,” I strive to find the best sweet tea. My ratings are based on the three categories: reliability, taste, and pricing. While there are a number of fast-food areas nearby, the three utilized in this review are as follows: McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A, and Sonic. The locality of each location will ensure brevity when traveling from school to get a refreshing beverage.
Sonic
Reliability: The Sonic nearest to the school has, unfortunately, a bad reputation when I am making my sweet tea trips. On numerous occasions Sonic has taken my order, and money along with it, and never returned with my tea. Even worse, it is always a gamble of whether they give you sweet or unsweet tea.
Taste: Sonic historically has a more muted sweet tea, with a less sugary taste. The more the tea sits out, however, the more the artificial sweetener flavor becomes prominent, inducing headaches in those avid sippers.
Pricing: Sonic is notoriously cheap, especially when you order on the app. The happy hour prices always apply and, even better, their “Route 44” drinks are always a bargain for your money.
Chick-Fil-A
Reliability: Chick-Fil-A never fails to deliver a solid sweet tea with such haste. Never have I once had to question whether they would give me the right drink. It is a safe choice when one needs their thirst quenched, and it is always nice to hear “my pleasure” after a long day.
Taste: There is nothing bad or remarkable to say about the tea. It is a solid drink that gets the job done when I need the signature sweet tea flavor. It is not overly sweet, nor does it border the lines of being considered unsweet.
Pricing: As with everything at Chick-Fil-A, the item is a little pricier. I am talking one dollar pricier. This may not seem like a lot but compared to the others, it is marked up 100%. This means that I could be getting 50 McDonalds sweet teas for the price of 25 at Chick-Fil-A, which is not ideal.
McDonald’s
Reliability: McDonald’s has had their slip-ups, with a few rogue unsweet teas mixed into the bunch, but it is not comparable to Sonic in this category. Reliability is iffy in terms of the uniformity of teas. Some teas are far more diluted than others, in which you can tell from the color of the liquid.
Taste: By far McDonalds has the best tasting teas. It is flavor I look for, and even yearn for, when I crave tea. When I am handed a darker-colored tea—the less diluted teas—I know I am in for a treat.
Pricing: The price of teas here triumph over them all. When using the drink deals from the mobile app, a tea will simply cost one dollar. This is ideal for any broke student looking for a cheaper alternative.
Conclusion
No place can be deemed the “winner” of this debate—each have their pitfalls and redeemable features. However, this review showcases all the expendable tea resources we have near Blackman High School. So, I encourage personal exploration in branching out to find one’s favorite tea. This review only reflects my personal opinions, as a review does, but provides a good starting point for tea-novices.
