Growing up in the south, we all had sweet tea in the refrigerator all the time. It was consumed as if it were water. You steep tea bags strong, add a 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar, stir to dissolve and then add water to dilute. Serve cold over ice.
I do not equate MickeyDee's with "sweet tea". And I can promise you that what they serve isn't brewed from tea leaves and then diluted with water. It is some syrup mix, just like the majority of the bottled tea drinks you see at the grocery store. And Arizona tea? Some of those are fruit drinks, not tea. Tea does NOT come in a can. Period. End. Full stop.
That said, my husband and so DO like a cup of hot tea. Son tends to enjoy one when he is not feeling well, husband just likes one midday. I like it in the winter. Coffee is for mornings only, or dessert (with add-ins, like Bailey's Irish Cream). Not to be drank all throughout the day.
And IF you make your own (not buy a bottle or can) tea doesn't have artificial stuff in it, and it is way better than a soda. It has a LOT less sugar (and it actually IS sugar and not high fructose corn syrup or some other concoction), and no preservatives (citric acid or sodium benzoate anyone?).
Yes, it does have some caffeine, but it is less than coffee by a lot, and probably less than soda depending upon how strongly you have steeped it.
---ETA
If you want to sample some actual tea (and not something from a restaurant or fast food place, or a bottle, none of which count as actual tea in my book), stop in a Teavana sometime. They will brew you a fresh cup of whatever blend of leaves you'd like. They also have urns with already brewed sample blends ready for you to try.