hile iced tea is usually served sweetened throughout the Southern United States, in the rest of the United States iced tea is usually served unsweetened. It is moderately common to add a small amount of sweetener to the already cold tea. Much bottled and canned tea is sold, usually sweetened with a natural sweetener such as cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup or with an artificial sweetener.
In the mid-2000's, McDonald's Restaurants began a major marketing campaign for sweet tea, making it available throughout the U.S. and selling it for approximately two-thirds the price of the chain's other large-size cold beverage offerings. The sweet tea caloric information is not available on the popularly distributed nutrition info sheet. According to the company's website, McDonald's sweet tea has 230 calories.
Although sweet tea (as a moderately watered, sugar pre-added, iced drink) is stereotypically a South-Eastern United States tradition, it is common in many cultures to add sweeteners to their tea.