In the United States, iced tea makes up about 85% of all tea consumed and is very popular as an alternative to carbonated soft drinks, especially in the hotter southern states: it is ubiquitous in restaurants, convenience stores, vending machines, and grocery stores. It may be freshly made on premises, or available in bottles and cans, and at self-serve soda fountains. Restaurants typically give the customer the choice of sweetened or unsweetened.
The oldest printed recipes for iced tea date back to the 1870s. Two of the earliest cookbooks with iced tea recipes are the Buckeye Cookbook by Estelle Woods Wilcox, first published in 1876, and Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree, first published in 1877. Iced tea had started to appear in the USA during the 1860s. Seen as a novelty at first, during the 1870s it became quite widespread. Not only did recipes appear in print, but iced tea was offered on hotel menus, and was on sale at railroad stations. Its popularity rapidly increased after Richard Blechynden introduced it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
Iced tea's popularity in the United States has led to an addition to standard cutlery sets: the iced tea spoon is a teaspoon with a long handle, suitable for stirring sugar into glasses. In the summer, iced tea is at its most popular.
It is a common stereotype of the Southeastern United States due to the popularity of sweet iced tea in that region that unsweetened iced tea is not available and/or frowned upon. It is true that often the term "iced tea" is assumed to mean sweetened iced tea by default in that region.
Iced tea varieties
Iced tea is traditionally served with lemon slice used as a garnish, which is often placed on the rim of the glass. In the Southwest United States (or at least in restaurants with a Southwest theme), lime is also very popular (especially in Mexican restaurants). It is not entirely uncommon for establishments to put out slices of both lemon and lime for the customer to take for themselves.[citation needed]
Because of the varieties of eateries in the United States, as well as climatic and cultural differences, a variety of iced teas are available. Most prominent are:
In barbecue, soul food, and Southern cuisine-style, establishments, along with greasy spoons and general eateries, black tea is iced. This is by far the most commonly available form of freshly brewed iced tea, to which the above statements apply. Fruit-flavored teas and tisanes are also popular iced.
In some coffeehouses, more exotic varieties may be iced, such as Jasmine tea or Earl Grey tea.
Thai iced tea is common in Thai restaurants.
Iced Chai (spiced Indian tea) is available from some restaurants and stores. While not traditionally served iced, in the U.S. chai is frequently served iced, with honey as a sweetener, or pre-sweetened when bottled.
Iced Jasmine tea, Genmaicha, and Hojicha are available from some Chinese cuisine or other Asian cuisine restaurants, but rarely. It is more common to find one of these varieties hot, where the patron may pour the tea over ice.
But the tastiest is raspberry.