Another report of iced tea being served dates back to an 1879 cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia in which iced tea was added to a ‘tea punch’.
The national popularity of iced eta exploded when Richard Blechynden introduced his version at the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis.
Richard Blechynden a Brit, arrived all the way from Calcutta India, represented British tea companies at St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair. His job was to persuade fairgoers to drink and buy more tea.
When the weather turn hot, Blechynden watched wistfully as a thousands of potential customers passed his booth in search of refreshing cold drinks.
Hot tea didn’t interest them. In desperation he set some glasses on the counter added ice and poured the warm tea over it. Iced tea immediately was a hot – so cooling and refreshing. Unwittingly, Richard Blechynden had started the summer tradition of iced tea.
Perhaps the biggest reason iced tea is such a booming success in the United States is that it’s so convenient and easy.
History of iced tea
