The beverage? Tea, of course. Tea is a very versatile drink. It can be served for any reason at any time or place. It also happens to be the one beverage commonly served both hot and cold. June is National Iced Tea Month. Yesterday, June 10, was National Iced Tea Day. (Did anyone celebrate with a tall glass of Iced Tea?)
The Stats
In the U.S., almost 80% of homes contain tea, and every day more than half of the U.S. population drinks some form of tea. In 2021, Americans consumed more than 3.9 billion gallons of tea.
- DYK the U.S. is number three when it comes to importing tea? (Russia is number one and Pakistan number two.)
- DYK of all tea consumed, 84% is black tea, 15% is green tea, and the remaining is oolong, white, and dark teas?
- DYK more than four out of five people drink tea?
- DYK more than 87% of millennials drink tea?
- DYK the largest number of tea drinkers in the U.S. are in the South and the Northeast? Between 75%-80% of the tea they consume is iced tea. (Although I wonder if the weather doesn’t have something to do with that.)
History of Tea
The Chinese have been drinking tea for thousands of years, but it didn’t make it to Europe until the early 1600s. Although tea was first introduced to England in the 1650s, only the rich could afford to drink it. It wasn’t until the cotton-goods trade declined in the mid-1700s and the tea tax was slashed in 1783, that tea became a big import in England and was enjoyed by all.
- DYK Thomas Twining opened “Tom’s Coffee House” on London’s Strand in 1706? His tea knowledge gave him an edge over other coffee houses. By 1717 his success with tea allowed him to expand and open the now-famous Twinings Tea shop at 216 Strand. The shop and Twinings’ Tea business still exists and thrives today, more than 300 years later.
- DYK Twinings Tea was sold in America by 1749?
- DYK the tea dumped into the Boston Harbor by American patriots was not Twinings tea?
Iced Tea
Iced tea recipes didn’t appear until the 1870s. But it wasn’t until the 1904 World’s Fair that the popularity of iced tea really took off. The summer heat had fair goers guzzling the drink. They drank it in tall glasses which became known as iced-tea glasses. To make preparing iced tea easier, iced-tea spoons and lemon forks were soon introduced.
Why Tea
If you need a good reason to drink tea, consider this. Tea contributes to your overall good health. It has no sodium, fat, carbonation, or sugar, and few to no calories, depending on the type of tea you drink. There continue to be numerous studies into how tea affects the body—too many to list here—but drinking tea eases stress and boosts your body’s immune system. It also reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and improving blood pressure. Other studies indicate that an antioxidant in green tea helps kill cancer cells and slow Alzheimer’s Disease.
Of course, using pre-mixed processed teas, much less what you put in your tea, can nullify some of these benefits. Still, tea is a good choice of beverage after water. So, break out the iced tea and stay cool in the summer heat.