Celebrating Iced Tea Month with Catherine Castle

June is Iced Tea Month and I thought it might be interesting to talk about the history and variety of this popular drink before the month slips away.

 The history of tea reaches back to 2737 B.B. when, according to Chinese legend, Emperor Shen Nong  accidently discovered tea when a leaf from a wild tea tree fell into a pot of water he was boiling in his garden. He enjoyed the flavor the leaf lent to the water so much that he began to brew it.

 Iced tea, however, is much younger. The first recorded recipes in the U.S. for iced tea appeared in The Buckeye Cookbook in 1876 and in 1879 HouseKeeping in Old Virginia. The 1879 recipe, published by Marion Cabel Tyree, called for green tea to be boiled and steeped throughout the day. The liquid was then poured over ice and sugar and served with lemon.

 The popularity of iced tea using black tea is believed to have started at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, where Richard Blechynden, the Commissioner of Tea for India and one of the fair's directors, was exhibiting hot black tea. Because the temperatures were high, hot tea wasn't selling. So, Blechynden brewed and chilled the tea, and thirsty fair visitors began buying. The trend caught on and by World War I iced tea appeared in the kitchens of Americans and in restaurants on a regular basis. Today, iced tea—black, green and herbal, in bottles, boxes and pitchers—is a staple on America’s menus.  

 Iced tea also appears on the tables in other countries, but many have a different take on the drink than Americans do.  Here we have what most Southerners know as sweet tea, which is sugared, and regular iced tea—most common with Northerners, which is usually unsweetened.  Tea drinkers have the option of adding a squeeze of lemon, or not.

 In Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, mate tea, not the camellia sinensis tea associated with black tea, is the preferred drink for iced tea. Yerba mate dried leaves are boiled in water, then strained and served in cups.

 Iced tea in Greece is usually flavored with peach or lemon. If you order peach tea, you’ll still get a lemon slice on the rim of the glass.

 Ginger lemon, lemon and peach flavored iced teas are popular in India.

 In Hong Kong iced tea is served with lemon slices that are muddled into the tea, releasing the volatile oils into the tea. There is also a milk tea version of iced tea made with green tea, flavored with jasmine blossoms and tapioca pearls. The tea is served warm and poured over ice, creating a creamy iced tea.

Taiwan has an interesting tea called Bubble Tea. This tea is usually a strong black tea, sweetened with sugar and condensed milk. It is served cold usually with tapioca pearls. Sometimes pudding, jelly, or chunks of fruit are put into it instead of tapioca pearls. Bubble tea can also be made with other types of tea.

Thailand iced tea is made from strongly brewed black tea, sweetened with sugar and condensed milk. Evaporated milk, coconut milk or whole milk are also used. The tea and milk are usually mixed together and then poured over the ice.

 You might think that with tea time being a staple in the UK iced tea would be as popular there as in the rest of Europe. But not so. The popularity of iced tea in United Kingdom has only begun to rise since 2000.

Today, when you ask, “Would you like some iced tea?” Most people expect brewed black tea, with or without sugar and lemon. But plain old camellia sinensis isn’t the only option. With hundreds of flavored and herbal teas, the varieties of iced tea are only limited by one’s imagination.

At my house our favorite iced teas are decaffeinated Sun Tea, made by steeping tea bags in cold water using the heat of the sun to brew it, and hibiscus tea made from pouring boiling water over the dried flowers of the hibiscus plant. I’ve even begun putting my leftover morning tea, usually Mrs. Patmore’s Pudding Tea or Irish tea with cream, into the refrigerator and drinking it cold later on in the day. I’m surprised at how tasty it is.

For your summer tea enjoyment, I’ve included a fruity iced tea recipe I developed. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Nectarine Ice Tea

From the kitchen of Catherine Castle

Makes two 16-ounce glasses

Ingredients:

·       4 peach flavored green tea bags

·       2 cups boiling water

·       1 ripe nectarine

·       2 fresh, sweet cherries with the stem (optional)

·       Sugar to taste

 

Directions:

·       Place tea bags in a 2-cup heat-proof measuring cup

·       Pour boiling water into cup and steep tea bags according to directions.

·       Halve the nectarine and peel 2/3 of the fruit, reserving 2 peeled slices for garnish.

·       Slice the peeled nectarines into sections. Place the ½ of the peeled sections into a bowl and muddle the fruit to break down the flesh and release the juices.

·       When tea has brewed, and slightly cooled, put ¼ of the muddled nectarine in the bottom of two 16-ounce glasses and stir well to mix. Add ice and the remaining peeled nectarines to the glasses, in that order.

·       Pour tea over the ice and fruit in the glasses.

·       Garnish the glass edge with the unpeeled fruit and drop a fresh sweet cherry with the stem on into the top of the tea.

·       Add sugar or sweetener to taste. The riper the fruit the less sweetener you’ll need.

 

Sit back and enjoy!

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.