Iced tea is one of America’s most popular drinks, especially in the summertime, and has taken its place beside soft drinks and other beverages in restaurants and fast food places.  It rose to popularity around the turn of the century.

In the south, iced tea is usually known as sweet tea, and is freshly brewed to be very strong and very sweet.

In the past, there was no alternative to freshly-brewed.  It could be prepared by brewing hot tea and then cooling it down, or it could be made “sun tea” style – by brewing it in the sun in a large glass jar.  As it became more popular, more iced-tea-related items appeared in stores.  Special brewing jars, serving bowls and ladles, glasses and flatware are now easy to find and fun to use at summer parties.  But even more conveniently, there are now many types of instant tea available that make preparing iced tea easier.  There are varieties of frozen concentrate and tea bags designed to make a great, and easy, glass of iced tea.

And of course, convenience was behind the emergence of bottled and canned iced tea.  There are a huge amount of variances in bottled iced tea…different types of tea used, different sweeteners and different flavorings all mean that it’s easy to take your perfect cup of iced tea with you.  Carbonated iced tea is extremely popular in Europe, though not as much in America.  And there are even electrical appliances now on the market that will brew iced tea easily in your kitchen.