I drink my coffee black and unsweetened; Laphroaig is my Scotch and the only tea I drink is Lapsang Souchong, all may be symptoms of my taste buds becoming elderly. Iced tea, the regional drink of the American south I do without. My favorite iced tea story concerns a meal in an Italian restaurant, no less, in San Antonio where I decided to top off a meal with a glass of Asti. As our table conversation progressed I became aware that the waitress had put at my elbow a glass of - you guessed it - Texans speak a different language.