Let's raise a glass to iced tea
As refreshing as a tall glass of ice tea might be, not all teas are created equal. Martha Teichner joins us for tea:
Did you know that 85 percent of all the tea consumed in the United States is iced? Or that Americans drink more than three billion gallons of iced tea a year? Or that in 2014, we spent $5 billion on the canned and bottled stuff?
And then there's the matter of whether Summerville, S.C., a half-hour up the Interstate from Charleston, really is the birthplace of sweet tea (often referred to as "the table wine of the South")?
"You can use a Mason jar for anything, but we especially use it for our iced tea," said Tina Zimmerman, Summerville's director of tourism.
Do they ever!
On June 10 -- National Iced Tea Day -- the city set the Guinness Record for the world's largest sweet tea, in a really large cup.
"From the tip of that straw to the base is about 12 feet," said Summerville Mayor Bill Collins. "And it was filled with 1,425 gallons of sweet tea."
How sweet? "We only used about 1,600 pounds of sugar," said Collins.
[Watch CBS Affiliate WCSC explain how they did it.]
"You're a politician -- convince me that Summerville is the birthplace of sweet tea," said Teichner.
"You said I was a politician. You have to trust me. Would I lie to you?" Collins laughed.
What is absolutely true is that the first commercial tea farm in the United States was in Summerville, in operation from 1888 until 1915.
Eventually, cuttings were transplanted to Wadmalaw Island, south of Charleston, where they've grown into what's now the Charleston Tea Plantation, owned by Bigelow in partnership with third-generation tea taster Bill Hall.
"Tea, unlike other products, is harvested every 15-18 days, when the new growth grows up," said Hall. "What we're looking to harvest is two leaves and the bud."
All tea comes from the same plant, a form of camellia. Once it's harvested, it's withered, oxidized (or not), then dried and cleaned.
Summerville used 120 pounds of the Charleston breakfast black tea, iced, for its world record-breaking brew.
Iced tea is said to be an American invention. Supposedly, at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, on a hot day people weren't buying hot tea, so somebody put it on ice, and bingo!
The only problem: a recipe for iced, sweet tea from the cookbook, "Housekeeping in Old Virginia," dated 1879.
St. Louis and Summerville, take note.
Iced Tea: After scalding the teapot, put into it one quart of boiling water and two teaspoonfuls green tea. If wanted for supper do this at breakfast. At dinner time, strain, without stirring through a tea-strainer, into a pitcher. Let it stand till tea time and then pour into decanters, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the pitcher, Fill the goblets with ice, put two teaspoonfuls granulated sugar in each, and pour the tea over the ice and sugar. A squeeze of lemon will make this delicious and healthful, as it will correct the astringent tendency.
According to Hall, the way to make a proper iced tea is to bring water to "a good rolling boil," pour the water on the tea bags, then pour the brew into a pitcher. And for the secret of Southern sweet tea, add your sugar while the tea is hot.
"Otherwise, if you put the sugar in after the tea is made, you can never really stir it up so that sugar melts," he said.
And once you've made it just the way you like it, how about raising your glass to the icem -- and saying a big thank-you to the inventor of the icemaker.
For more info:
- Charleston Tea Plantation, Charleston, S.C.
- Summerville, S.C.
- Max Falkowitz, Serious Eats
- Guerin's Pharmacy, Summerville, S.C.