Is there a truly Texan way to make iced tea? Inspired by a 1983 article in The Dallas Morning News that declared iced tea the unofficial state drink of Texas, we asked readers their thoughts. The discussion in our Facebook group for subscribers and our Texana discussion group quickly made it clear Texans have a lot of to say about iced tea!
Wait, was iced tea actually invented in the Midwest?
There is a debate about which state can claim the invention of iced tea. Many people have said that iced tea was accidentally invented in Missouri at the 1904 St. Louis Fair. After unsuccessfully trying to sell hot tea on a sweltering day, a British vendor added ice to the drinks out of desperation, and the rest is history. But when The Dallas Morning News printed this same history in 1950, a Mrs. Edison wrote in from Hamilton, Texas, to tell us that we had it all wrong.
Edison, born in the 1880s, said that the drink couldn't have been invented in Missouri. She was 21 in 1904, and had been drinking iced tea in Texas since she was a little girl. Back then their "meat market man ... freighted ice in a wagon twenty-two miles from [the] nearest railroad town." So her family could "afford ice only for ice tea and an occasional freezer for cream."
Edison turned out to be correct. There is evidence in our archives and in later history books that iced tea existed prior to 1904. Regardless of where iced tea began, Texans have since adopted the drink into their hearts and meals. As Leslie Pound said in her 1983 article, "no doubt [that] Texans have something to do with the increasing popularity of iced tea." After all, "folks below the Mason-Dixon Line were the first to realize iced tea's enormous potential".
Debate 1: Sweetened vs. Unsweetened
If the lovely folks in our Facebook groups are to be believed, most Texans prefer their iced tea unsweetened. This makes sense if you're thinking about the best way to wash down "Texas-style food [like] fried chicken, barbecued ribs, chili, chicken-fried steak," as Don Wiederecht, a former executive director of the Tea Council, put it when Pound interviewed him. "Southwest cooking is heavy, and you need an astringent drink, which tea is. It's not sweet; it's almost a dry wine. You don't want a heavy, sweet beverage to go with barbecued ribs."
When sweet tea was brought up in the discussions, many noted that they think of sweet tea as a recent import from our Southern neighbors to the east of us. However, for all you sweet tea aficionados, you will be pleased to know that though not the majority, many spoke up about their yearslong love of the sweet stuff.
Debate 2: The Perfect Garnish
What do you garnish your iced tea with? Various recipe articles in the Morning News archives have included all kinds of extra twists to the beverage. If they mentioned garnishes, most Texans in our discussion groups said lemon and mint were their mainstays. However, a few brave people like Susan Sanders Wansbrough advocated for going a little outside the box. When mentioning her love of lime in iced tea, Wansbrough said she "[tries] to encourage others to try lime, but they seem aghast at the concept."
So if you want to get more adventurous with your iced tea, try a garnish you've never had before! You can add lime like Susan or perhaps, like many of our older archived recipes mention, a few orange slices.
Debate 3: The Perfect Brew Method — Recipes with a Twist
We would be remiss if we didn't mention sun tea in an article about Texans and iced tea. Quite a few of our readers said that this is how they either grew up making iced tea or how they prefer to make it now. As its name suggests, sun tea is a way to use the power of the Texas sun to transform cold water and tea bags into the perfect brew. We might as well get some use out of our heat waves!
Regardless of how you enjoy it (crushed ice or cubed, sugar or unsweetened, lemon or lime) we've included three recipes below that we hope will inspire you to grab a pot (or mason jar) and whip up your own version of the perfect glass of iced tea.
Sun Tea
This simple recipe was printed in the Dallas Morning News on July 31, 1983:
Instructions: "A Mason jar works well, but any covered jar can be used to make sun tea. For a two-liter jar, pour cold water over four tea bags; cover and let sit in the sun for about four hours."
TIP: "Paper tags can give tea a bitter taste, so remove them from tea bags before bags are put in the jar."
Instant Pot Tea
This intriguing brew method was brought to us by one of our readers, Sandra Stern Newberg of Dallas, who swears by her Instant Pot when whipping up the perfect batch of iced tea. She "make[s] 4 quarts of brewed tea in [her] Instant Pot every week" and says this method never leaves her tea bitter or cloudy. To make this "you will need a pitcher that has at least a 4 quart capacity."
Instructions: Put two quarts of water in the Instant Pot. Add one large tea bag (Newberg uses a family size Lipton tea bag). Close lid, close the valve and set on manual for four minutes. Let it slow release. A quick release can cause the tea bag to burst and leave tea leaves in the water. Remove the tea bag after the valve goes down and pour the liquid into another two quarts of water, to yield a total of four quarts of iced tea. Refrigerate and enjoy!
Spiced Tea Recipe (using the stove top method)
Many subscribers mentioned that unlike in other parts of the United States, you will find Texans enjoying iced tea all year long, including the middle of winter. However, if you are entertaining people from out of town this Spiced Tea recipe printed January 8, 1959, can be served hot or iced to give your guests options.
Ingredients: "Use 6 cups boiling water, 6 teaspoons tea or tea bags, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, two 2-inch cinnamon sticks, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, 2 teaspoons grated orange rind, 1/2 cup orange juice, 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice, 1/2 cup pineapple juice."
Instructions: "Pour boiling water over tea. Brew four minutes. Stir and strain. In saucepan, combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, cinnamon sticks, lemon and orange rind. Boil five minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Add fruit juices. Stir and combine with hot tea. Heat, but do not boil. Makes 8 to 10 servings."
So is iced tea the unofficial drink of Texas?
The original question of whether or not iced tea is the unofficial drink of Texas was never really answered by our readers. Beer and Dr Pepper were floated as possible alternatives, but a clear consensus was never reached as we all got a little caught up in the sweetened-versus-unsweetened debate. It's possible that naming the drink of Texas is a foolish quest, but nonetheless we are now committed to figuring out the answer. Stay tuned.
Are there any other Texas foods or drinks you'd like the Dallas Morning News research and archives team to look into? Email us your thoughts at archives@dallasnews.com.
