Wednesday, June 02, 2010

NATIONAL ICED TEA MONTH

( Google Images)

June has arrived again and it's time for all the iced tea drinkers in the Blogosphere to celebrate this National Iced Tea month. I can't think of a better way to pay homage than to delve into the history of the beverage. Just how, when, and why did someone come up with this idea?


19th Century

1800's - English and American cookbooks state that tea has been served cold at least since the early nineteenth century, when cold green tea punches, that were heavily spiked with liquor, were popularized. The oldest recipes in print are made with green tea and not black tea and were called punches. The tea punches went by names such as Regent's Punch, named after George IV, the English prince regent between 1811 until 1820, and king from 1820 to 1830.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, American versions of this punch began to acquire regional and even patriotic names, such as Charleston's St. Cecilia Punch (named for the musical society whose annual ball it graced), and Savannah's potent version, Chatham Artillery Punch.

Iced tea's popularity parallels the development of refrigeration: the ice house, the icebox (refrigerator), and the commercial manufacture of pure ice, which were in place by the middle of the nineteenth century. The term "refrigerator" was used for the first patented ice box in 1803 and was common in the mid 19th century in the United States.


( Above information is taken from an article by Linda Stradley at What's Cooking America. )


The general consensus seems to be that Iced Tea was popularized(not invented as has been mistakenly attributed) at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. According to "legend", the heat was so sweltering at the event that visitors passed on the offer of free hot tea. It was then that a tea vendor ran tea through iced pipes to cool and chill the beverage. When people heard that there was free "cold" tea offered they eagerly tried this new way of serving their favorite beverage. The rest, as they say, is history.

I must admit, I prefer hot tea over iced. I know to some that is a bit of a sacrilege for anyone born south of the Mason Dixon Line. However, in spite of my affinity for the hot brew, during the summer months there's always fresh iced sweet tea available around here and I certainly enjoy more than my fair share. Cheers everyone!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iced tea does sound great, especially for the past holiday weekend. That 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis turned out quite popular, even for Judy Garland singing "Meet Me in St. Louis"...
your previous post on Dotty looks great! :) The Bach

Anonymous said...

Loved the history of iced tea. Great post today dear lady. I liked your CT also. blessings
QMM

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I once had an elderly English lady for a neighbour. She would come over for lunch and was always horrified when I would offer her iced tea!! She deemed it a sacrilege! Lemonade, yes. Iced tea, no!

Me? I like it!

Rebecca said...

Pamela,

I've heard that, too...

Being a GA girl, I suspected you probably like your sweet tea:)...Could go for a nice tall glass right now as a matter of fact.

Anonymous said...

I love sweet tea, too. But I am with you, hot tea is is the ulmimate way to enjoy our tea : ) Happy Iced Tea Month!

Anonymous said...

Oops..that's "ultimate" : )

ChaChaneen said...

Salute to Tea! I too lurve hot tea, especially in the morning and then iced down the leftovers in the afternoon. Lovely!

Rebecca said...

Janeen, I do the same during the summer...Have to have it both ways:)

Tess Kincaid said...

We've started iced tea season at the manor. I like mine plain, no sugar.

Michael said...

You know Rebecca, I actually had a spot of the stuff (Very very diluted with water) today to cool me down. not my fave but I totally get why it took off. Sometimes it is indeed TOO hot for a hot beverage and hey, tea, is better than soda for you and so on. I love the story about the tea being run through pipes. I'm sure if I had been there, I too would have lined up for the stuff. No AC back then to stay safely indoors. chuckled at your side bar comment there on that, btw. How very true.

Zuzana said...

My mom loves Iced tea.;) I better tell her all about the story behind it, she will enjoy it.;)
I guess the only cold tea I would enjoy is A Long Island Iced Tea.;))
xoxo