Steeped In Family–Part II
-Sue Worthman
June is for Father’s Day, graduations and weddings. It’s also National Iced Tea Month. At L’Amyx, we’re noting them all—with tea, of course. In this month’s newsletter we spotlight fathers and sons, offer a recipe for a flowery iced tea (perfect for garden parties and receptions), feature the ideal iced tea pitcher and more! And because June and summer makes us feel a little freer and easier, we move to verse. (Much as the 19th century poet James Russell Lowell wrote, “What is so rare as a day in June?”)
The months fly by, and now it’s June.
The start of summer. Whew!
It brings us picnics, baseball games
and backyard BBQs—
the top of the season most like best,
and think ends much too soon.
We’ll toast to Dads and happy grads.
(They both know a thing or two.)
And also brides, and therefore grooms,
Who this month say “I do.”
Steeped in family, these affairs,
With friends and neighbors too.
We’ll fill your tables, raise our cups
And make sweet memories for you.
We can drink Champagne, have wedding cake,
Eat caviar off a spoon.
Grill some burgers, dunk some chips,
And boogie under the moon.
So welcome June—have some fun,
Enjoy it through and through.
Oh, and do drink tea. Particularly iced.
It’s the classic summer brew!
Tea Education: It's National Iced Tea Month!
-Sue Worthman
The history, and enormous popularity, of iced tea in this country is a complex brew of serendipity, world trade, product innovation and clever marketing. While the Chinese are generally credited with the invention of tea as a hot beverage, it seems that it took Americans to put it ‘on ice’. Popular legend credits Richard Blechynden with ‘inventing’ iced tea during the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, but there are accounts of iced tea being served almost 15 years earlier. A Civil War historian recently came across a newspaper article that described an 1890 reunion of 15,000 Confederate veterans in Missouri. As reported in the article, thousands of pounds of bread and meat were served, “…all washed down with 2,220 gallons of coffee and 880 gallons of iced tea. ” 1
Although he may not be the inventor, Blechynden can arguably be seen as the popularizer of iced tea. An Englishman and the India Tea Commissioner at the time of the World’s Fair, he was working the India Pavilion in an effort to publicize India and Ceylon tea in the US. To most Americans at the time, ‘tea’ was green, and came from China. Indian and Ceylonese black teas were largely unknown, something Blechynden intended to change. But St. Louis was in the midst of a heat wave, and fairgoers weren’t interested in anything hot. especially not hot tea. Not to be thwarted in his campaign, Blechynden and his team poured the brewed India tea into large bottles, placed them on stands upside down, and let the tea flow through iced lead pipes. It was an immediate sensation, sharing the Fair spotlight with that other cool invention, the ice cream cone. Sensing opportunity, Blechynden took his lead pipe iced tea server to New York, offering free iced tea to shoppers at Bloomingdale’s department store.2 From the Fair to fashionable New York, iced tea was suddenly the drink of summer.
Two other product innovations of 1904—the tea bag and the thermos—helped set the stage for propelling iced tea into new, more convenient forms. And the rest, as they say, is history. A century later, over 85% of the tea consumed in the US is iced—and the majority of that is bottled.3
(To which we at L’Amyx say ‘ugh!’The only bottled drink that gets better with age is wine. Be old-fashioned, and make it fresh. And while you’re at it, use this month’s recipe—and our pitcher.)
Sources:
1. http://www.1904worldsfairsociety.org/
2. http://www.teausa.com/general/icedtea.cfm
3. Figures from US Tea Association.
Tea Recipe: Orchid Pear Iced Tea
- 1/2 ounce Orchid Oolong
- 1 ounce Spiced Pear Herbal
- Sweetener, to taste (optional)
Mix whole leaf teas and place in brewing column of iced tea pitcher; alternately, loosely wrap teas in cheesecloth, tie shut, then place in a 64-ounce pitcher. Bring water to a boil and remove from heat; allow to rest one minute. Pour hot water over tea; steep for 10-15 minutes. Remove tea from pitcher. Bring brew to room temperature. To serve, pour over ice in a tall glass. Note: If desired, add sweetener to taste.
Customer Corner
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Name: Sinh
City: Oakland
Occupation: Computer Technician
Favorite Tea: Jasmine Pearls |
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I came to the US from China when I was 12 years old. Everyone in China drinks tea on a daily basis, so it surprised me that in the US it wasn’t that popular.
All those people drinking coffee! I’ve never liked it myself. When it comes to what I drink at home, I’m not that picky. But when I have tea out, I almost always have bubble tea. I especially like mango bubble tea. All that fruity, frothy aroma in the bubbles. And then the taste! Mmmm…so good on a hot day!
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