In the south, sweet tea isn’t just a beverage, it’s a way of life! I started drinking sweet tea as far back as I can remember. It was always two parts water to one part sugar and would make your lips pucker if you were new to it! It wasn’t until I was an adult and began making it myself that I gave any thought to the sugar content, which can be two or three times that of a cola.
Just thinking about how deeply rooted it is in our culture has got us wondering about the history of sweet tea. How’d it come about? Why is it so popular, especially in the South? Did it originate down South and who invented it? Hang on to your boots, we’re going to be diving into the history of our favorite things in the world –
What is Sweet Tea?
While the roots of tea are traced back to Asia, the roots of adding sugar to tea can be traced back to Great Britain, Senegal, and India. Many tea drinkers enjoy a very sweet tea. The roots of sweetened tea with ice though were purely a southern idea and is now a southern tradition!
Southern style traditional sweet tea is made in batches of boiling water and stirring in sugar that dissolves. Then the tea is steeped in sugar water until the water cools. The tea bags are removed and the sweet tea is served over ice.
How was Sweet Tea Invented?
Historians believe the first United States tea plant was planted in what today is known as Middleton Place Gardens near Charleston, South Carolina back in the late 1700s. French botanist, Andre Michaux, imported tea in pursuit of attracting the wealthy plantation owners. In fact, not only is South Carolina the first location to grow plants for tea, but it is also the only place where tea was commercially produced in the US.
The Evolution of Sweet Tea
1795 – South Carolina is the first place in the United States where tea was grown and is the only state to ever have produced tea commercially
1800’s – English and American cookbooks shows us that tea has been served cold at least since the early nineteenth century, when cold green tea punches, that were heavily spiked with liquor, were popularized. The oldest recipes in print are made with green tea and not black tea and were called punches. The tea punches went by names such as Regent’s Punch, named after George IV, the English prince regent between 1811 until 1820, and king from 1820 to 1830. Soldiers drank tea for warmth and hydration during the Civil War era.
1900s – After 1900, iced tea became commonplace in cookbooks, and black tea began replacing green as the preferred tea for serving cold. The preference for black over green tea in an iced beverage came with of import of inexpensive black tea exports from India, Ceylon, South America, and Africa.
1893 – The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, also called the Columbian Exposition, had a concessionair that grossed over $2,000 selling iced tea and lemonade.
1904 – It was at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis that iced tea was popularized and commercialized.
1917 – By World War I, Americans were buying special tall iced tea glasses, long spoons, and lemon forks. By the 1930s, people were commonly referring to the tall goblet in crystal sets as an “iced tea” glass.
1920-1933 – The American Prohibition (1920-1933) helped boost the popularity of iced tea because average Americans were forced to find alternatives to illegal beer, wine, and alcohol.
1941 – During World War II, the major sources of green tea were cut off from the United States, leaving us with tea almost exclusively from British-controlled India, which produces black tea. Americans came out of the war drinking nearly 99 percent black tea.
2003 – Georgia State Representative, John Noel, and four co-sponsors, apparently as an April Fools’ Day joke, introduced House Bill 819, proposing to require all Georgia restaurants that serve tea to serve sweet tea. Representative John Noel, one of the sponsors, is said to have acknowledged that the bill was an attempt to bring humor to the Legislature but wouldn’t mind if it became law. The text of the bill proposes:(a) As used in this Code section, the term ‘sweet tea’ means iced tea which is sweetened with sugar at the time that it is made. b) Any food service establishment which served iced tea must serve sweet tea. Such an establishment may serve unsweetened tea but, in such case, must also serve sweet tea. (c) Any person who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
No matter how you brew it: boiled, cold-steeped, shaken or stirred with your grandma’s wooden spoon-sweet tea will always be more than just a drink in the south. It’s comfort and culture and community in a glass.
These days, I still love the ritual of tea, but now it’s less about the sugar and more about the soul. I’ve swapped lip-puckering sweetness for blends that support gut health, boost energy, and nourish me from the inside out. I still keep black tea on hand for when company drops in, but I like knowing that my daily tea can taste good and do good!
So whether you’re sipping from a mason jar on a hot porch or steeping something a little more functional, one thing’s for sure: around here, tea is always served with a little bit of love—and a whole lot of tradition.
Cheers to being totally steeped in sweet memories.
Much Love, 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝒶𝓂𝐢𝐞 シ
