June Is National Iced Tea Month

June is National Iced Tea Month. Only in the U.S. would we have a special month for iced tea probably because the majority of tea drunk in the U.S. is iced tea. With all the ready-to-drink tea products coming out that are available in your local convenience store, I suspect it’s just going to become more so that way. Well, it’s tea and that’s all good.

The story goes that iced tea dates back to the 1904 World Fair where an Englishman, Richard Blechynden, was trying to drum up business for Indian tea. At the time, China supplied the U.S. with tea. One source even said green tea was the major seller in the mid-West in those days. However, the Fair turned unbearably hot and no one wanted to drink a hot drink. They wanted cold drinks to relieve the heat. Blechynden got the idea to add ice to his tea to tempt the crowds. It turned out to be a big hit and now iced tea makes up 80% or more of the tea drunk in the U.S.

I don’t know who selects what to celebrate each month. One would presume some association would petition the powers-that-be. As someone else asked, why June when July and especially August are hotter? But being this is National Iced Tea month, guess you could get a start on your summertime iced tea drinking unless you drink iced tea all year as I do.

Source: National Iced Tea Month