My mother made the best iced tea, and I mean, you think iced tea wouldn't be that different from one household to the next, especially in the South, but you would be wrong.

I am not here to debate a cup of sugar vs. a glug of simple syrup, mint or lemon, I mean the tea, itself, was superb. Because she used loose leaf tea. Dried tea leaves with heft and aroma and substance. And not exotic tea, either. Just plain old Lipton loose tea in a box, with a foil lining.