The History of Iced Tea

Photo by House of SimsYesterday, Steve and I took the kids down to Costa Mesa to eat at The Native. This delicious little vegan restaurant features incredible entrees and divine cupcakes (if you have room left for one, that is). One of our favorite things at The Native is their famous Native Iced Tea, which is made with organic hibiscus and wild berry tea, sweetened with agave. It got me thinking about the origin of iced tea (as you know how interesting I find these types of things); so I thought I would share a little history that I dug up regarding this beverage staple.

• Around 1795, South Carolina was the first place in the United States to grow tea that was produced for commercial reasons.

• Most historians agree that the first tea plant arrived in this country in the late 1700s, when  French explorer and botanist, Andre Michaux, imported it as well as other beautiful varieties of camellias, gardenias and azaleas to suit the aesthetic desires of wealthy Charleston planters.

• Andre MichauxMichaux planted tea near Charleston, at Middleton Barony, now known as Middleton Place Gardens.

• The oldest iced tea recipes in print are made with green tea (not black tea) and were called punches.

• These 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. 

• English and American cookbooks shows us 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.

• By the middle of the nineteenth century, American versions of this punch begin 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 were common in the mid 19th century in the United States

• It was at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis that iced tea was popularized and commercialized (not invented).

• Due to the hot summer of 1904, people ignored any hot drinks and went in search of cold drinks, including iced tea. Because of this, it changed the way the rest of Americans thought of tea, thus popularizing iced tea.

• A man by the name of Richard Blechynden, who was the Commissioner of Tea for India, was also the director of the East Indian Pavilion at the 1904 World's Fair. Mr. Blechynden had prepared samples of hot tea for fairgoers, and noticed that no one was taking advantage of them, as it was an unseasonably hot day and everyone was going for the coldest beverages they could find. He had the idea of icing down his hot mixture, and presented it to the public that way. The crowds loved it, and word spread of this delicious way to enjoy a healthy drink. Mr. Blechynden did not invent the iced version, but made it more popular with Americans.

• It has been estimated that 60% of all the tea drunk in America is consumed in the South, and about 90 percent of that is iced. In fact, iced tea is so beloved in the South that it has been fondly dubbed the "House Wine of the South".

• Surveys have shown that around 2.2 billion gallons of tea are consumed in the USA every year, and at least 85 percent of the total is iced.

Photo by House of Sims