How People Around The World Drink Ice Tea

Ice Tea Infuser

“Ice tea! Nothing is half so refreshing as a glass of black tea piled high with ice! More than a quencher of thirst, it is a tamer of tempers, a lifter of lethargy, and a brightener of smiles. It is a taste of Winter’s chill, magically trapped in midsummer’s glass.” 
― Paul F. Kortepeter, Tea with Victoria Rose

What better way is there to describe this sweet, refreshing drink? There is nothing more satisfying than a big, cold, sugary glass of iced tea to accompany you through a hot, summer day. Bottled or freshly made, iced tea is always a perfect idea when you feel a little too warmish.

This tasty drink is often served with lemon or lime (In the South-West of the US). It is common for the iced tea to vary depending on the countries where it is made. For example, in America, they use black or fruit flavored tea. In Thailand – Ceylon tea is favored and Hojicha is more popular in China.

The recipe of how to prepare iced tea firstly appeared in cookbooks around 1876 and 1877, but this drink had already been known throughout the USA since the 1860s. At the beginning, this sweet, delicious tea was not very widely spread. This was the case up until it was featured on hotel and railroad station menus. During the 1904 World’s Fair, Richard Blechynden made it even more popular.

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History of Ice Trade, Ice Trays and Ice Cubes

With summer being around the corner, we are all starting to dream of those nice, warm days to come. However sometimes the heat can become too much and what is better in those situations than a tasty, cold drink? Whether it is for a cocktail or ice-tea, at some point we are bound to add a couple of ice cubes to a delicious beverage in order to freshen ourselves up. But where did the idea of using those diamond-looking cubes that keep as chill (in more than one way) came to be? And how were they made originally? Plus, what interesting ways there are for you to use your ice cube trays?

Well, it all begun around the 19-th century when people started harvesting ice mostly from the east coast of the USA and Norway for commercial uses. The process of producing, transporting and selling the “frozen merchandise” was called ice trade or frozen water trade. Stored in special ice houses, the harvested ice was later transported to destinations all around the world with the help of ice wagons. In 1790 ice was a privilege only the wealthy had. But the ice was becoming a very important trade during 1830 as it was being used to store fruits and vegetables. In 1840 it found its way into the process of producing lager beer, that needs to be made at lower temperatures.

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