When is National Iced Tea Day?
June 10th is National Iced Tea Day.
What is National Iced Tea Day?
In the South, any good server will ask: sweet or unsweet? Sweet tea is a Southern thing, but iced tea in all its forms is an American thing. National Iced Tea Day celebrates this refreshing beverage
The drink originally showed up in the early 1800s in America and England as cold, boozy punches made of green tea and lots of liquor. Next to the tea, you need ice, right? So of course, the development of refrigeration set the stage for iced tea to become popular.
Historians give credit to the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis for popularizing and commercializing iced tea. Public consumption jumped during the Prohibition era (1920-1933) while alcohol was criminalized. At the same time, sweet tea rose to prominence in the Southern U.S.
Americans sure do love their iced tea. However, a man was hospitalized in 2015 for kidney failure, probably (said doctors) because he drank sixteen 8-ounce glasses of iced tea per day. So celebrate National Iced Tea Day with any form of this refreshing beverage. Just don’t overdo it.
Fun facts about National Iced Tea Day!
- Of all the tea Americans drink, 85% is iced.
- After World War II, green tea from Chine and Japan as hard to come by. Iced tea became almost exclusively a black tea affair.
- Switzerland is the birthplace of commercially bottled iced tea.
- A predecessor of iced tea might have shown up as early as the 1600s.
How to celebrate National Iced Tea Day:
Refresh yourself with some iced tea. Make it at home, drink it from a can or bottle, or ask your server for it. Drink it sweet or unsweetened, liquored up or plain Jane.
What’s the hashtag for National Iced Tea Day?
Use #NationalIcedTeaDay on social media to give iced tea some props.