Instead, iced tea that's been presweetened is invariably called "sweet tea. You can sweeten iced tea with a packet of sugar or artificial sweetener just before you drink it, but sweet tea arrives all ready to go. Or, at least, that's the way it works these days. The practice of drinking iced tea dates back to the 19th century, which is quite a bit earlier than most popular food histories allege. One of the most commonplace origin stories traces iced tea's invention to the St.
Louis World's Fair. One sweltering summer day, when few passersby were interested in a cup of hot tea, a desperate Blechynden reportedly decided to pour his tea over ice. In a flash, the story goes, an iconic American beverage was born. Many other accounts stop short of claiming that Blechynden actually invented iced tea from scratch, but nonetheless credit him with popularizing and commercializing an otherwise rare, under-the-radar drink.
The problem is, there's simply no historical evidence to support that claim—or virtually any other story about food items that were supposedly launched at the exposition. Vaccaro points out that a man named N.
More to the point, even at that earlier date, it was already a well-established beverage. Tea had been used as an ingredient in chilled beverages starting in at least the early 19th century. Lettice Bryan's cookbook, The Kentucky Housewife , includes a recipe for "tea punch" that calls for pouring hot tea over sugar before mixing in cream and Champagne or claret wine. Tea was often incorporated into the infamous Southern militia punches, like the Chatham Artillery Punch, the signature drink of an elite Savannah militia unit; along with a dose of citrus, the tea helped mask the whopping amount of alcohol in a libation that tended to lay low even the stoutest of military heroes.
It wasn't until just before the Civil War, though, that people started drinking iced tea as a stand-alone beverage. In , Richmond, Virginia druggist S. Semple advertised that, at his soda fountain, "the exhilarating effects of a glass of iced Tea or Coffee [would] speak for themselves.
The Post piece was reprinted in newspapers across the country, but it inspired few Americans to adopt the beverage. Two months later, a second Post editorial expressed dismay that "our saloon keepers don't advertise these delightful drinks 'which cheer but not inebriate'" and lamented, "We suppose it will be a century before the public finds out what luxuries iced tea and coffee are in the summer solstice.
The public actually found it out much sooner, for was iced tea's breakout year. On July 6 of that summer, the Boston Journal declared, "During the heated term there is nothing so invigorating as iced tea.
A slice of lemon no thicker than a wafer placed in each tumbler adds to the relish. Some editors saw fit to embellish the notices as they republished them. On July 14, , the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean commented, "Iced tea with a slice of lemon in it is said to be decidedly ahead of lager. It's hard to say for sure where the practice of drinking iced tea first became widespread. The evidence, however, points not down South but in the opposite direction. On August 2, the New Orleans Times noted, "Iced tea with lemon juice is said to be a popular and healthy drink at the North.
Iced tea's favor only grew from there. An avalanche of articles in the s and s praised it as a delightful summertime treat. By , Sarah Tyson Rorer could write in her popular column in Table Talk : "Twenty years ago the fondness for that beverage was confined to a few who were looked upon as 'gastronomic cranks'. Today, we are rather inclined to think there is something cranky about a man who says he doesn't like iced tea. From the very beginning, sweetening iced tea was a common practice, but it was left to the consumer's discretion.
Lemon juice was mentioned more often than sugar in the early notices, but the New York Tribune did advise, on July 27, "Sweeten the hot tea to suit your taste; then pour it, spoonful by spoonful, into a tumbler filled with ice. And there matters stood for the rest of the 19th century, with iced tea remaining a popular beverage served throughout the country in the warm summer months, sometimes sweetened, but often not, depending on each drinker's preference.
It's hardly surprising that iced tea was slower to reach popularity in the South. Though hot tea had been consumed in the region since the colonial era, it was expensive compared to coffee, and therefore considered more of an upper-class beverage—it wasn't until British-owned plantations in eastern India and Ceylon eclipsed the Chinese green tea trade with inexpensive black tea that the drink became affordable.
But an even bigger impediment to Southern iced tea was the availability of ice, or lack thereof. Since the colonial days, Northern consumers had had ready access to ice, which was harvested in local ponds in the winter and stored in ice houses through the summer. That wasn't possible in the South, with its mild winters and long, hot summers.
A national trade in frozen water—harvested in Northern lakes and shipped to Southern ports to be stored in insulated ice houses—developed in the early 19th century, but ice remained an expensive luxury, found primarily in coastal cities.
Even after the advent of mechanical ice-making in the late 19th century, cold beverages were markers of status, enjoyed mainly by city folks. In large part, that's because ice wasn't readily available in rural communities until automobiles made it possible to transport big blocks out into the countryside. And it wasn't until electric iceboxes became common, in the late s and early s, that Southerners finally had what they needed to enjoy iced beverages.
With unprecedented access to tea and ice, along with a mild climate year-round, the South soon embraced the popular Northern beverage. But was that tea presweetened? The tea is brewed to the appropriate strength, then it's left to the drinker to actually do the work: to decide what kind of sugar to use, to determine how much of it to stir in and then to search for lemon wedges to squeeze into the glass.
It's often served at restaurants, and you're relegated to stirring granulated sugar into ice-cold tea. Even when vigorously whisked, the sugar crystals settle at the bottom. And if you use a straw, they're the first thing you suck into your mouth. Sweet tea, however, is direct and active — a tea maker's humble offering to those who are blessed to have it poured into their glasses. Preparing sweet tea is an act of service, much like a beloved parent's serving a child cut fruit or buttered toast.
It embodies the Southern hospitality of the homes and kitchens it's brewed in. Sweet tea is not just "tea with sugar" — it's a beverage in its own right. An inviting elixir, sweet tea has its sugar added early on: The sugar crystals dissolve fully when stirred into piping hot tea. And by brewing the tea extra strong, you can push the limits of just how much sugar you use, since that sugar balances the tea's bitterness.
Though iced tea first became popular in the North in part because ice was harder to come by in the South for many years , it appears that it was Southerners who innovated on it by presweetening the tea in brewed batches. I grew up in Louisiana drinking the best tea recipe I know — one from my grandmother, Leona Marcena Clay Johnson, a woman born and raised in Indiana.
The simple solution is to ask if your drink will be sweetened or unsweetened before placing your order. We suggest that you first make the tea at home to find out what you like. Modern iced tea recipes use a variety of leaf bases, flavors, textures, and sweetener. If you want more options, follow our guide below:. Just remember, for the rest of your tea-drinking life, the answer to the difference between iced and sweet tea will entirely depend on who you ask, and where you are.
Recipes for both teas can be found as early as the colonial era in America. Before iced tea and sweet tea were regional controversies, they were political issues. We saw iced sweet tea recipes appear in cookbooks regularly around this time, as Prohibition forced the public to seek alternative drinks to: Cool them down, Satisfy thirst, and Use as a social lubricant for events source. Where previous cocktail recipes used spirits, people began to substitute liquor with: Tea Juice Syrups Herbs and Spices source.
If you want more options, follow our guide below: Pick a tea leaf base Boil some water and brew the tea for 3 — 5 minutes. You can even mix them together! Green Black White Herbal Pick one or more sweeteners We recommend adding the sweetener while the tea is still warm, so it dissolves easily. Stir to combine. Milk Sweetened condensed milk Alcohol Tapioca pearls Fruit — Try a summery peach iced tea for a hot-weather treat Herbs Spices Add ice to your tea, drink up, and cool down!
If you love tea as much as I do, pin this to your favorite tea-loving Pinterest board and pass it on for others to enjoy! Pinkies up!
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