Tried it once many years ago while traveling in the southern states. Way too sweet for me. But it was different.
Iced sweet tea is a Southern staple that originated in the days before air conditioning. It offered coolness against the heat of the day, with sugar and caffeine as a pick me up. And Southern matrons could serve it in good conscience because it was nonalcoholic.
When I was a kid, I used to visit one of my Grandfather’s lady cousins, as she lived a few hundred yards away. Her name was Roxie, and I visited nearly every day.
Such a nice old lady. She always made sure to share her sweet tea and have cookies for me and my friends. She brewed the tea by the gallon from teabags, and added the sugar when the water was very hot so it would hold more. Stuff was almost like syrup! Wonderful!
To this day, when I get really sweet tea in a restaurant, I look at my wife, and say, “Roxie’s in that kitchen!”