Is there anything better than the simple pleasure of a glass of sweet iced tea? But, just where did this southern summer favorite originate? Let's pour a sweet glass of his-TEA-ry...
The oldest sweet tea recipe, published in an 1878 cookbook, called for...wait for it...green tea leaves!! It actually wasn't until WWII when green tea was cut off from the US, that the sweet southern tea as we know it was born.
Black tea leaves were imported from British India and became a luxury beverage consumed mostly with alcohol, garnished with mint (Mint Julep, anyone?) Once prohibition dried the South, the refreshing iced tea sans alcohol became a favorite fixture around every table. Today, iced tea remains the most popular beverage in the country...and that is sweet!