National Iced Tea Day

Melissa Doroquez / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

June 10th is National Iced Tea Day in the United States.

Iced tea is basically tea that is cold. It is usually served with ice, hence the name, but can be used to refer to any type of tea that has been chilled or cooled. The drink may also be sweetened and served with such things as apple slices and lemon slices are a traditional garnish.

Though tea is an ancient drink, the earliest iced tea recipes only date back to the late 19th century, and it had started to appear in the U.S. a few years prior to that. Ice tea is served around the world, but the United States is probably where it is most popular. In the U.S., most tea that is drunk is iced tea, contrasted with other countries where the majority is served as hot tea. It is a popular alternative to soft drinks. Iced tea can, of course, be easily made at home, but it is also available in bottles and cans. In such cases, the tea is frequently carbonated.

National Iced Tea Month

June is National Iced Tea Month in the United States.

Iced tea is pretty much what it sounds like, tea that is served with ice (and is therefore cold), although it can sometime be simply served chilled. It can have different flavours added to it, or iced tea can also be made using things other than tea leaves, such as herbal teas.

Iced tea is drunk all around the world, but it is probably most popular in the United States, where the majority of tea is drunk as iced tea, unlike in the United Kingdom, where most tea is served hot.

Iced tea can be made the same way as normal tea, using boiling water, and then allowed it to cool before adding the ice or, alternatively, it can be allowed to steep by simply leaving it in the sun, then chilled afterwards, whether by simply refrigerating it or by adding ice.

National Hot Tea Month

January is National Hot Tea Month in the United States.

For those outside the US, calling it "Hot Tea" month may seem a bit redundant, but in the US tea is popularly drunk cold, as iced tea. So that's why the fact that this is celebrating the hot drink is made clear, and hot tea is far better in winter than cold tea.

Tea refers to the drink made by pouring water over the cured leaves of an evergreen shrub native to Asia, although it is often used to describe drinks made in a similar way, such as green tea, fruit and herbal teas. Tea has been drunk for a long time in China - possibly close to five thousand years - where it was first a medicinal beverage. It has since become strongly linked to the British way of life, and the British introduced the plant to India, where much of today's teas are grown.

There are many, many different blends of tea available. Most tea purchased is a blend, but it is possible to buy teas originating from a single estate. There are also different ways of processing the tea after harvest.