U.S. tea traditions
Iced sweet tea Sweet tea, with
sugar added (usually while the tea is still hot from brewing), the mixture then being cooled with ice, is ubiquitous in the Southeastern
United States. In these states, when "tea" is mentioned, it usually refers to sweetened iced tea. The unsweetened variant is often called "unsweet" tea instead of unsweetened or plain. The consumption of sweet tea with many meals leads to it sometimes called the "table wine of the South", and this trait is considered an important marker of the
culture of the Southern United States. Southern sweet tea is made by brewing tea at double strength, adding a large amount of sugar to the freshly brewed hot tea, and diluting to the proper strength. It is served over a glass full of ice cubes and is often garnished with a slice of lemon. While
high fructose corn syrup is commonly used as a sweetener for commercially manufactured tea, more often consumers are unaware of this, and when made at home, refined
sugar is used. Other forms of iced sweet tea popular in the United States include iced tea with
lemonade (commonly called an
Arnold Palmer), iced tea lattes (with cow's milk or plant based milk),
Bubble tea, and iced tea with some fruit flavoring. Some venues serve iced tea that has been pre-flavored with fruit essences, like
passion fruit or peach. Iced tea is often prepared from
bagged tea. In addition to tea bags and loose tea, powdered "instant iced tea mix" is available in stores. This is made by preparing tea and then dehydrating it, similar to
instant coffee. Iced tea can be purchased, like soda, in canned or bottled form at vending machines and convenience stores; usually, this pre-made tea is sweetened with
corn syrup, and sometimes some other flavoring, such as lemon or raspberry, is added. Also, like other
soft drinks, it can be purchased as a
fountain drink, though in some establishments it is pumped from a
bag-in-box, and in others, it is simply poured from a separate container that contains freshly brewed tea. In restaurants, iced tea is usually served unsweetened except in the Southeastern
United States where iced tea is much more common and is available both sweet and unsweetened and "iced tea" is often considered to be "
sweet tea" unless otherwise specified. The reason for the pre-sweetening is that it may be difficult to dissolve sugar in iced tea, even with constant stirring. The result can be insufficiently sweetened tea or gritty, undissolved sugar crystals in the tea. In the
Northern United States and the
Western United States, "tea" generally means the hot beverage and iced tea is referred to by name. Iced tea's popularity in the United States has led to an addition to standard
cutlery sets; the
iced tea spoon is a standard flatware
teaspoon, but with a long handle, suitable for stirring sugar into the taller glasses commonly used for iced tea.
Tea parties , a women's boarding school in
Massachusetts Formal
tea parties, practiced in a similar way as in
British tea culture, was a popular social event for the American upper classes in the 19th century, especially among women. It included fancy tea sets, along with finger foods and sweets. Formal tea parties were traditionally hosted by women as a way to socialize and display their hospitality and refinement.
Sun tea Sun tea is frequently brewed in temperate areas by placing tea and room-temperature water together in a glass jar left outdoors in direct sunlight. Steeping times are necessarily long, two to four hours. Tea may also be brewed with no heat at all by simply immersing the tea bags or infuser in room-temperature water and allowing a period of several hours (typically overnight) for steeping. Since sun brewing occurs in a temperature range that can promote the development of bacteria, particularly
Alcaligenes viscolactis, the
Centers for Disease Control and the Tea Association of the U.S.A. Inc. suggest storing sun-brewed tea in the refrigerator and discarding it after 24 hours. ==Tea bags==