Southern Culture and Traditions We Love
Where’s our favorite place in the world? The American South, obviously. Paris can keep its Parisian cafes, Italy can keep its Tuscan countryside. We’ll visit other places, but we’ll always call the South our home! Give us the warm summer days and starry nights and chirping crickets.
We’re home wherever the tea is sweet, the chicken is fried, and the biscuits are homemade.
But, most of all, we love the South because of its traditions! And boy, there are so many. From sweet tea to college football to country music, living in the South ain’t about location. It’s more a way of life!
We’ve picked our favorite traditions and bits of Southern life and shared them here. What are your favorites? Comment at the bottom to share! We might just feature your comment on social media!
And don’t forget, there’s a special treat at the end of the blog! Be sure to check it out, Sweeties!
1. Southern Hospitality
How many times have you gone to someone’s house for a quick ‘hello’ and stayed far longer than you expected? Two glasses of sweet tea and a slice of cake later, you’re saying goodbye and making plans to come again. There’s an age-old custom in the South of being friendly and warm to, well, just about everyone! Life is sunnier and sweeter when you’re sweet to others, that’s for sure.
New neighbor on the block? Bring over a pie or a covered dish! Throwing a party? Make sure everyone feels welcome and has what they need to enjoy themselves. Some may think we go above and beyond, but we feel that it’s just right.
There’s a reason Southern hospitality is known the world over. It doesn’t matter if you’re with your best friend, your Mama, a stranger, or your next-door neighbor, it’s SO important to be kind and humble to everyone! And no one knows that better than us Southerners!
2. Sweet Tea Sippin'
It may have started with the heat. Most of us down South are dealing with humid days and nights that don’t cool down too much. Sure, this is mostly during the summer, but we need some form of relief! Enter sweet tea. Delicious, cold, SWEET. It tastes good with just about everything – fried chicken, grits, biscuits, pie, burgers, anything.
And we serve it everywhere. Comin’ over for a chat? Here, let’s have some sweet tea on the porch. Going to a party? Bring a pitcher of sweet tea! Wedding? Where’s the sweet tea?
Southern sweet tea is traditionally made with heaping tablespoons of sugar, but y'all know you can skip the sugar and grab some of our sugar-free sweet tea instead! All the sweetness, none of the calories! Plus, it's easy on-the-go, so you can take your favorite Southern sweet tea wherever you want.
Want some cold brew sweet tea? It's easy as pie. Check out our blog on how to cold-brew sweet tea here!
3. Supper
Supper’s ready! If you’re from the South, chances are you don’t eat dinner. Ever. Y’all eat supper! Now, there’s a bit of a generational gap between those who say supper and those who say dinner, and the term “dinner” is getting more popular nowadays. But there’s nothing like a bit of harkening back to the good old days of growing up in the South, when Mama or Grandma would call out: “Come down for supper!”
We don’t know about y’all, but the phrase “supper” has a sweet, Southern, nostalgic ring to it. And family suppers are an important part of the day for many Southern families. It’s when y’all are together and can chat about how your day went, enjoy delicious Southern food and sweet desserts! Family time is an important part of Southern culture and we wouldn’t change that for the world!
Check out our recipes for Southern slow-cooker meals here!
4. Southern Charm and Manners
Polite manners are the norm down here – as they should be! Part of Southern charm is knowing when to be polite and knowing when to just nod sweetly and sip on your sweet tea. After all, no use makin’ a mountain out of a mole hill!
But it ain’t just about what we say. Southerners open doors for each other and help others cross the street. We’re always quick to offer a shoulder to lean on to whoever needs it. And we’re sweet as peaches!
We believe in being sweet and sassy—when the time calls for it—but always classy. That’s what it means to be Southern, y’all!
What are your favorite Southern traditions or customs? Tell us below!
PLUS, we've got a sweet treat for y'all! Click the link below to get $1.00 off your next sweet tea order!
Instead of clicking the link above, you can enter code SOUTHERNBISCUIT at checkout!