Kat's Rambling Mind

As it happens, I was reading a post this morning that listed offbeat holidays, and it turns out that June is National Iced Tea Month. Who knew, right? (June 26 is also National Coconut Day, but I digress.) I felt compelled to add a post of my own to celebrate this beverage that dominates Southern culture. Plus, being Southern myself, I’m pretty sure it’s the law that I have to wax rhapsodic about our favorite drink at least once.

While Dolly Parton may have christened it “the house wine of the South” in the movie Steel Magnolias, iced tea in the American South is practically our lifeblood. Yes, it matters which brand of tea you use, too. Personally, I use Luzianne brand tea, which is based out of Louisiana and is specially blended for iced tea. Other brands might suit your particular tastes, but I’m a Luzianne gal. My Mamaw Lila Mae used Luzianne tea and coffee. She made both so strong that the spoon would stand up in the glass or the cup. Her iced tea was not only refreshing, it was downright aggressive, like a slap in the face. If you needed an afternoon boost, her sweet tea absolutely did the trick. It definitely added to the legend of sweet tea in the South, in that it was a life force in and of itself.

I suppose our love of tea came over on the Mayflower with our British forefathers, but in the heat and humidity of a Deep South summer in Georgia, trust me–a cup of hot tea is just about the last thing you want. I did a little research and learned that apparently, a gentleman named Richard Blechynden came up with the idea of offering black tea over ice at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, due to the fact that hot tea wasn’t selling due to the heat. (See, I told you so). This campaign was largely credited as the reason iced tea became widespread in the South and beyond, although recipes for iced tea existed in cookbooks dating back to the mid-1800s.

I used to make my sweet iced tea just like my Mamaw did, but as I’ve aged, I’ve had to make a couple of adjustments. I buy the Luzianne half-caffeinated (“half-caff”) blend now, because too much caffeine is a no-no, along with too much sugar, so I sweeten mine with Splenda. The difference is barely noticeable, or at least that’s what I tell myself. I have a friend who lives in upstate New York that let me know there was such a thing as unsweetened tea; I promptly called him a Yankee and told him to go on with his foolishment, I didn’t need that kind of energy. He quickly withdrew his statement and behaved after that.

And what does all that have to do with living in the South? Well, because sweet tea is always there, waiting in the background. It’s at every home, restaurant, barbecue, social function, wedding, baby shower, and funeral. It sees us through whatever we might be going through, whether it’s joyous or tragic, and whatever burdens we may be bearing are made just a little lighter after a glass of iced tea. If someone lends you a helping hand, chances are that hand is holding a glass of iced tea.

Got a problem? Let’s sit down and talk it out at the kitchen table…can I fix you a glass of tea?

Just about to clean the house? Get your music going and pour yourself a glass of tea. You’re going to need a little spark in your step.

Finished with your chores/workday/the day in general? Let’s sit on the porch in the twilight, and hey, do you want a glass of tea?

No doubt I’ll have some that like tea mixed with lemonade (an Arnold Palmer), unsweet tea (heathens), and of course, the with/without lemon debate is always going on. There’s even a large faction that likes Lipton Tea, which is fine, I guess, if you can’t get Luzianne. Everyone likes what they like, but the connection to basic sweet tea is still at the heart of the varieties.

So, you see, sweet tea practically runs through our veins. It is inextricably linked to Southern hospitality, which I like to believe still exists. I also like to think a lot of the world’s problems could be solved if we all slowed down a little and talked it all out over a tall glass of iced tea. I just made a big pitcher….and I’ll be on the porch for a bit. Come on by if you need a glass.