National Iced Tea Month – June 2023

History of National Iced Tea Month

While iced tea has been around for a long time now, the beverage became a household name only after 1904. It was during the St. Louis World’s Fair that Richard Blechynden, director of the East India Pavilion, realized that serving hot tea in the Missouri heat was probably not the best way to greet visitors. To increase consumption, Blechynden started serving chilled tea through a series of lead pipes dunked in ice. From a scalding hot beverage, the tea instantly became a cool, refreshing drink, which the fairgoers drank copiously. As the beverage became a hit, more and more American homes turned to it to cool off after a hot day.

Since 19th-century general stores would mostly sell tea from China or Japan, the earliest iced tea recipes recommended using green tea. As green tea became scarce after World War II, America started importing black tea from India, replacing green tea in the recipe. Today, iced tea is almost always made with black tea.

If you are someone who prefers making iced tea using instant mixes or tea bags, then you will be surprised to know that the black tea in these recipes comes from Argentina. The tea in Argentina is mechanically harvested and exported to America to fulfill its iced tea needs. Iced tea is best enjoyed with breakfast or lunch and can be brewed with black, green, white, and oolong tea.