The Chinese gave tea its mystery. The Japanese turned it into an art. The English wrapped it in etiquette.
And then came America.
Ice, sugar, tea, and a rather different way of looking at the world's favorite beverage transformed tea into something altogether new: cold, refreshing, and distinctly American.
As summer approaches and June brings National Iced Tea Month in the USA, it seems like the perfect time to look back at how this chilled drink became such an enormous part of American drinking culture.
Because there is quite a story behind that glass of iced tea.
Americans consume a staggering 3.8 billion gallons of iced tea every year. Four out of five Americans drink it daily, while around 85–90% of the tea consumed in the USA is iced tea.
Now, that is quite a transformation for a country that once viewed tea with suspicion and famously threw 342 chests of it into Boston Harbour.
So, how did tea go from being a symbol of rebellion to becoming one of America's favorite refreshments?
When Tea Met Ice, Punch and a Little Bit of Alcohol
The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was a protest against the Tea Act. Before that famous rebellion, Americans generally drank tea hot, much like the British.
Afterward, tea found another role.
It began appearing in punches served in American bars and pubs. Early cookbooks describe cold green tea punches made with green tea, sugar, cream, plenty of ice and, naturally, plenty of liquor.
In other words, these early iced teas were considerably more adventurous than the sweet tea we know today.
One popular example was Regent's Punch, named after King George IV, who was known as the Prince Regent before becoming king. It became particularly popular during the early nineteenth century.
But something important was about to happen.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, commercial ice production, storage, and transportation became increasingly practical. Ice was no longer quite the luxury it had once been.
And that changed the iced-tea story.
The non-alcoholic version of iced tea that we recognize today began appearing more frequently and making its way into American homes.
From Tea Punches to the Family Table
Once ice became more readily available and affordable, making iced tea at home became much easier.
The alcohol gradually gave way to two far more familiar companions: sugar and lemon.
Iced tea recipes began appearing in cookbooks, giving people instructions for creating their own chilled tea at home.
The Buckeye Cookbook by Estelle Woods Wilcox, published in 1876, contained what is regarded as the first recipe for unsweetened iced tea. Three years later, Marion Cabell Tyree's Housekeeping in Old Virginia included a recipe for sweet iced tea.
The method was rather straightforward.
Tea was brewed hot and allowed to cool to room temperature. Ice, sugar, and lemon were then added.
Nothing terribly complicated.
But sometimes, simple ideas have a remarkably long journey ahead of them.
The Hot Day That Changed Iced Tea Forever
By the beginning of the twentieth century, black tea was gradually replacing green tea as the preferred base for iced tea.
Still, iced tea remained largely a homemade drink. It had not yet become the national obsession it would eventually become.
Then came St. Louis.
The year was 1904, and the World's Fair was underway. Richard Blechynden, the India Tea Commissioner and Director of the East India Pavilion, was trying to persuade visitors to sample hot tea.
There was one small problem.
It was extremely hot.
The visitors were thirsty and wanted something cold.
Blechynden was determined to get them to try his tea. So, he began experimenting with ways to cool it. Large bottles of brewed tea were turned upside down, allowing the tea to pass through iced lead pipes. Another version of the story suggests that large blocks of ice were placed directly into the hot tea.
Whatever the exact method, the result was the same.
People loved it.
The chilled tea became an instant attraction, and the 1904 World's Fair eventually drew an estimated 20 million visitors. Many of those visitors returned home with a taste for this refreshing new way of drinking tea.
Blechynden clearly recognized an opportunity.
After the fair, he moved his brewing equipment, including the iced lead pipes, to Bloomingdale Brothers Department Store, where customers could enjoy iced tea for free during the hot summer.
Richard Blechynden did not invent iced tea.
But he certainly helped turn it into a commercial sensation.
And from then on, American summer and iced tea were destined to become close companions.
Prohibition Gives Iced Tea Another Twist
Then came Prohibition.
Between 1920 and 1933, alcoholic drinks, including wine, whisky, and beer, were prohibited in the United States. That also meant the boozy tea punches once served in bars could no longer be enjoyed quite the same way.
Non-alcoholic iced tea, meanwhile, became increasingly available across the country.
But Americans, being Americans, were still looking for ways around the rules.
Enter Old Man Bishop.
In Kingsport, Tennessee, a man from the Long Island community known as Old Man Bishop was experimenting with cocktails. He allegedly combined tequila, vodka, gin, rum, whiskey, and maple syrup and called his creation Old Man Bishop.
Now imagine this drink sitting in a tall, heavy-bottomed glass, packed with ice and carrying the golden-to-dark-brown appearance of iced tea.
It looked remarkably like iced tea.
There was, however, one rather important difference.
It contained a lot of alcohol.
The drink eventually evolved into what became known as the Long Island Iced Tea. A revised version appeared in Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book in 1961.
And so another chapter was added to the rather colorful history of American iced tea.
A Few Iced Tea Classics Worth Knowing
The history of iced tea has produced more than one famous drink. Some are refreshing. Some are potent. Some are both.
Regent's Punch
Regent's Punch is one of the oldest tea punches and certainly one of the punchiest.
The drink favored by King George IV combines green tea and arrack with citrus juices such as lemon, orange and pineapple. Sugar, champagne, brandy and rum complete the rather formidable mixture.
The original was apparently potent enough for one early drinker to describe its effect as producing “mad, delirious dizziness.”
And if that were not enough, there are said to be more than a billion variations of Regent's Punch, each claiming some connection to the original.
Tea has always had its debates.
Arnold Palmer
Now for something considerably more refreshing.
In the late 1960s, golfer Arnold Palmer was having lunch after spending a long day designing a golf course. He asked for a drink made with three parts homemade, unsweetened iced tea and one part lemonade.
A woman nearby overheard his order.
She asked the waitress for the same thing, referring to it as the “Arnold Palmer drink.”
The name stuck.
The classic Arnold Palmer is essentially three parts cold-brewed, unsweetened iced tea mixed with one part homemade lemonade.
Simple.
Refreshing.
And now famous.
Arnold Palmer Half and Half
The Half and Half takes the idea in an even simpler direction.
It combines equal parts cold-brewed, unsweetened iced tea and homemade lemonade.
Half tea.
Half lemonade.
Hence the name.
John Daly
And then there is the slightly more spirited cousin of the Arnold Palmer.
Named after another famous American golfer, John Daly, this version combines two parts unsweetened, cold-brewed iced tea, two parts lemonade, and 1.5 parts vodka.
The Arnold Palmer goes from golf course refreshment to cocktail territory.
Iced Tea Has Come a Long Way!
Today, iced tea is one of the world's hottest beverage categories.
The choices have expanded far beyond a pitcher of homemade sweet tea. There are ready-to-drink bottles, instant premixes, and carefully created blends combining loose-leaf tea with authentic herbs and spices.
There is, quite simply, an iced tea for almost every taste.
For those looking to make a natural iced tea at home, loose-leaf tea like Pink Rose Strawberry works particularly well for both hot-brew and cold-brew preparations.
And the possibilities are wonderfully broad, from mint and mango to tamarind and turmeric.
For tea connoisseurs, this also creates an opportunity to experiment with the brand's teas in chilled preparations, particularly blends whose flavor profiles lend themselves naturally to an iced cup.
So, as June approaches and National Iced Tea Month arrives in the USA, perhaps it is time to fill the pitcher, add plenty of ice, and revisit the drink that America made its own.
After all, few beverages have traveled quite such an interesting road.
From tea leaves and ice to punches, cookbooks, world's fairs, golf courses and summer afternoons, iced tea has acquired something more than history.
It has acquired an identity.
And that identity is unmistakably American.
