Summer is HERE! Time For Shorts, T-Shirts and Iced Tea
It’s on! The long days, the heat, the sun, kids splashing in pools, walking barefoot in the grass, dinner on picnic tables. And of course, summer—which finally arrived in Colorado, after a cool spring—also demands iced tea!
We can’t help with the pool, or cater that al fresco sunset meal. But the iced tea? We’ve got you covered there.
In the United States, 85% of tea is gulped down iced. No other country in the world sips a majority of its tea iced, never mind more than three-quarters. We represent a vast sea of iced tea. In the rest of the world, iced tea consumption commands little more than a lake.
Key data points about Americans and tea include:
- Of the 85 billion servings of tea served in the United States in 2021, 84% was black tea.
- The U.S. is the third largest importer or tea, after Russia and Pakistan.
- More than 80% of Americans drink tea, with Millennials being the most likely (87% of them sip our favorite beverage).
- The South and Northeast have the greatest concentration of tea drinkers.
- The United States invented the tea bag.
- The United States popularized iced tea, beginning in 1904.
We celebrate America’s love of iced tea. The style is quite refreshing—including Americans’ fondness for spiking black tea with mint and lemon. But not everybody drinks the same kind of iced tea. The biggest divide separates sweet tea enthusiasts (the American South is the epicenter) from unsweetened tea. This style difference persisted as the only one for generations. But today, tea comes in styles far removed from the standard black brew enhanced with mint and/or lemon.
Iced tea innovations blossoming
Ready-to-drink iced teas now deliver flavors of mango and raspberry, of peach and hibiscus and ginger. And rather than always resting on a foundation of black tea, iced tea today also leans into greens, whites and oolongs.
Today’s iced tea marketplace represents beverage dynamism at its most exciting. Never before have we witnessed such a wealth of innovations!
And as passionate tea merchants, we are happy to contribute to the parade of liquid tastiness with our own blends especially well-suited for brewing, cooling down and sipping while swinging in a hammock, hiking a flower-festooned trail or savoring a meal of barbecued ribs and corn on the cob.
Iced Teas for Summer: Moroccan Mint
As with most countries outside of Asia, Moroccans didn’t start drinking Camellia sinensis until the British popularized tea during the 19th century, due largely to England’s control of India. But the people of Morocco did routinely sip a warm beverage made from mint leaves, stretching back into antiquity. So when traditional tea did arrive in Morocco, they blended tea and mint leaves, and crafted a drink that today is central to the country’s culinary heritage. We love the combination, and created this blend to honor it in all of its glory. The tea is called gunpowder, a style of green tea that is rolled into pellets and roasted repeatedly, a process that yields slight hints of smoke. When combined with mint, this Moroccan specialty thrills. And the refreshment quotient rises quite a bit when it’s iced. To prepare this tea in true Moroccan style, make sure to add sugar to the beverage when it’s brewing, and before it cools.
Iced Teas for Summer: Paradise Peach
Peach flavor has become an iced-tea star. Not long ago, blending peach and tea was not exactly a thing. Today? It’s everywhere, from ready-to-drink beverages to tea bags and whole-leaf blends. As peach and summer join together with such seamless ease, we trumpet the rise of the duo! And as Coloradans, where peaches grown on the state’s Western Slope rank among the best in the country, we especially favor this pairing.
Our Paradise Peach combines real peach flavor with hibiscus—high in vitamin C and delicious!—rosehips (more vitamin C!), apple and orange. It’s a flavor sensation, and healthy to boot.
Iced Teas for Summer: Blueberry Lavender Bliss
This charming blend of sweet blueberry, floral lavender, rich cocoa and ginger spiciness enchants us when brewed hot. It’s lovely on a fall afternoon, a winter morning, and while watching the daffodils waft in a spring breeze. But it’s gorgeous iced, too—so wonderful, in fact, that we included it in our lineup of packaged tea bags designed for brewing a gallon of iced tea. This magic elixir also includes flower power, with calendula and cornflower. The combination soothes and relaxes, relieves stress, provides relief from headaches and manages insomnia. Sip this one iced just once, and you’ll end up making it all summer.
Iced Teas for Summer: Cape Town Medley
Among all botanicals that commonly get brewed into tea, we think rooibos is among the best. The South African plant, which people in that country brew into tea and drink all day, contains a wealth of electrolytes. These minerals promote health, by fighting the free radicals that damage cells. But they also help quench thirst—important during summer! Many sports drinks, like Gatorade, contain added electrolytes, but with rooibos the minerals are native to the plant.
Rooibos itself tastes wonderful—earthy and herbal. To that base, we add pomegranate, pomelo, orange, carrot and safflower. It’s so outstanding iced, that we added Cape Town Medley to our line of packaged tea bags designed for brewing a gallon of tea. Chances are, you’ll go through that gallon pretty quickly on a hot summer day!
Iced Teas for Summer: Enchanted Forest
It’s got energy. It’s got the tropics. Floral notes, too. And our Enchanted Forest tea also brews into a luscious iced tea. We added this one to our lineup of packaged tea bags designed for brewing a gallon of tea at a time.
You’ll savor this spectacle of iced deliciousness. Our Enchanted Forest contains green tea and green yerba mate, the South American plant that people across parts of the continent drink constantly. Like tea, yerba mate also contains caffeine. This brew has energy! We also added coconut shreds, to convey tropical vibes, and both rose and cornflower petals, which punch up the drink with lovely floral flavors and aromas.
Here’s to summer—and iced tea!
