Sweet tea facts for kids
Sweet tea is a very popular cold drink. People especially love it in the United States, particularly in the southern states. It's also a favorite in Indonesia.
Sweet tea is usually made by adding sugar or syrup to black tea. This is done while the tea is brewing or still hot. Sometimes, people use sugar substitutes instead. Sweet tea is almost always served with lots of ice. You might also find it with flavors like lemon, peach, raspberry, or mint.
Sweet tea is a big part of the food culture in the southern United States and Indonesia. Many people even say that if a restaurant offers sweet tea, it's a true sign you're in the South! While sweet tea can have less sugar than many fruit juices or sodas, some versions can be very sweet. They might have twice as much sugar as a regular soda.
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The Story of Sweet Tea
Sweet tea used to be a fancy drink. That's because its main ingredients—tea, ice, and sugar—were quite expensive. Ice was especially valuable. It had to be brought from far away, which was hard to do back then. Today, it's easy and cheap to make a lot of sweet tea quickly.
When Did Sweet Tea Start?
The oldest known recipe for sweet iced tea was in a cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia. This book was published in 1878 by Marion Cabell Tyree. Her recipe used green tea. Most sweet tea made back then was green tea.
How Tea Changed After World War II
During World War II, it became hard for the United States to get green tea. This was because of the war in areas where green tea was grown. So, Americans started drinking mostly black tea from British India. After the war, black tea became the main type of tea people drank.
A Funny Law Idea
In 2003, something funny happened in Georgia. As a possible April Fool's joke, lawmakers suggested a bill. It would have made it against the law for restaurants to sell iced tea without also offering sweet iced tea. But don't worry, this bill was never voted on!
Images for kids
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A glass of iced sweet tea with lemon.
