Tea on Ice

Did you know June is National Iced Tea Month?  The Tea Council of the U.S.A. bestowed the honor in 1992.

In the summer of 2010 while researching iced tea for a magazine article I was writing, I discovered so much interesting information that it was difficult to stay within the 800 word count allotted to me.   I will share brief tidbits  in today's post.

Iced tea is the quintessential summertime beverage, but most southern households and restaurants serve it year-round.   60% of all tea consumed in the U.S. is drunk in the south and 90% of that is iced.   It's been dubbed  the "Table Wine of the South."

The Tea Association of the U.S.A. reported that 85% of all tea consumed in the U.S. is iced,   making it, "The Distinctively American Beverage."

Richard Blechynden, an Englishman and India Tea Commissioner, is usually credited with the "invention" of iced tea at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.   He had planned to serve samples of hot tea from India in his pavilion, but because the weather was sweltering no one was interested.  So he poured his freshly brewed hot tea over ice and the spectators loved the thirst-quenching, cold beverage - and took the idea back to their homes.   Properly made iced tea became the symbol of a good hostess.

In truth, Richard Blechynden can only be credited with "popularizing" iced tea.    Cookbooks printed in 1800 gave recipes for cold green tea.  New York City's Fifth Avenue hotels offered iced tea on their menus in 1871, and an 1887 White House cookbook recounted serving the beverage at the Presidential Mansion.

Iced tea was an amenity to those traveling the Rock Island Railroad in 1878.  And during the summer of 1886, large coolers of iced tea were reported in Washington Senate offices to help offset the heat.  It even made an appearance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

I like the versatility of iced tea.  It  can be served formally or informally, and just about anywhere. 

Iced tea equipage is fun too - long-handled stirring spoons [actually called iced tea spoons], antique or repro sipping spoons, lemon forks, lemon plates, and lemon squeezers.

Iced Tea Tips:

• Add sugar to tea while it's hot, because it won't dissolve properly in cold tea.  Or serve with simple syrup [equal parts water and sugar, boiled and cooled].
• To prevent cloudiness, cool freshly brewed tea to room temperature before refrigerating.  [Sometimes adding a splash of hot water to the tea restores clarity.]
• To prevent ice from diluting tea, make ice cubes with tea instead of water.
• Fruit and flavored syrups are a popular addition to iced tea [peaches & raspberries]
• Lemon slices and fresh mint are the traditional accompaniments.

Enjoy iced tea throughout the month of June - and all summer long!

South Carolina Trilogy

This is the third and final post about past family vacations in South Carolina.

Our "headquarters" was Myrtle Beach, but we returned to Charleston for a visit.  A friend
suggested  we have lunch at "82 Queen Restaurant" in the historic downtown area.   It was fabulous!   The weather wasn't sweltering, so we were able to eat in the garden area.  We ordered Shrimp and Grits and it was outstanding.  I purchased their cookbook just to get the recipe! 

Notice the glasses of iced tea on our table?  Here's a bit of trivia:  On April 10, 1995, South Carolina's grown tea was officially adopted as the official hospitality beverage [iced or hot] by State Bill 3487,  Act No. 31 of the 111th Session of the South Carolina General Assembly. 

From the restaurant we drove to the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island.  About 30,000 people visit the plantation annually.

As you can see in the sign Jerry and I are standing next to, the Charleston Tea Plantation is America's only Tea Garden [Plantation].

In 2003 the Bigelow Family [owners of Bigelow Tea] purchased it, and formed a partnership with former owner, William Hall.   

Tea bushes [Camellia Sinensis] growing in the fields.  Wadmalaw's sandy soil, sub-tropical climate, and average rainfall of 52 inches per year provides the perfect environment for reproducing tea on the plantation's 127 acres.

The "Green Giant" tea harvesting machine was custom made exclusively for the Charleston Tea Plantation.  There is no other machine like it anywhere in the world.  It trims only the top two leaves and bud that will be made into American Classic Tea.  The clippings are blown into a collection basket in a back compartment where they will be taken to the factory to sit over night during the "withering process."

This is the tea processing factory where we were able to watch tea being processed,  view a movie, and browse in the gift shop.

Guided tours, via flat screen TV's take visitors down a glass windowed "tourway" overlooking the factory.

These were my purchases - a tea caddy containing a jar of "First Flush" loose tea [from the first harvest of the 2008 season], a lidded mug with tea infuser depicting a mid-1800's tea clipper ship, a tin of Rockville Raspberry black tea, and a box of American Classic black tea bags.

One side of the tea bag box reads:  "Over 100 years ago, tea planters brought their finest ancestral tea bushes from China and India to Wadmalaw Island near the historic old city of Charleston, South Carolina.   Now the direct descendants of these very plants have been lovingly restored to their former grandeur at Charleston Tea Plantation, a lush subtropical tea farm. " 

Boarding the trolley for a tour of the tea plantation.

After touring the plantation, we returned to Charleston to meet a friend for tea at the Charleston Place Hotel.  This photo is the back entrance of the hotel.

This is Denise, my "tea friend" who coordinated the 2007 London, England Tea Tour I went on.  She worked in Charleston at the time and took a late lunch to have tea with us.

While staying in Myrtle Beach we also visited the Jasmine Dreams Gourmet Tea Room in Surfside Beach.

The owner was Jamaican.

We were served a delicate white "artisian" tea.   The tea leaves are meticulously hand-tied  around a natural flower to form a ball.   As the tea steeps, the leaves unfurl allowing the flower to "blossom."   The tea is not only a delight to the taste buds [the tea leaves take on the flavor and fragrance of the flower], but the eyes as well.   The above photo shows its beautiful visual presentation,  and artisian teas are sometimes used for  tea table centerpieces.   It's a rather newly-innovated tea and goes by a number of names - display tea, flowering tea, blooming or blossoming tea, and hand-crafted tea.

I seldom walk out empty-handed from a tea room with a retail area.  I purchased this clear glass "Guywan" at the Jasmine Dreams tea room.  Guywan is mandarin Chinese for "covered cup."   Guywans have a deep bowl with no handle, lid, and saucer.  Using a vessel like this requires a bit of mastering.   The tea leaves are put into the guywan, water is added, and the lid is put in place while the leaves brew.  The tea is drunk from the cup with the lid carefully angled to keep the leaves from escaping while drinking.  [I much prefer my clear glass Bodum mug and decanted tea!] 

Guywans are used in the Chinese "Gongfu" method of brewing - a subject for a separate post.