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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

American Style Tea in the US


The teacups stacked are also made in the USA.

Thomas Sullivan and an accidental American invention. Needless to say, it was in America, with its love of labour-saving devices, that tea bags were first developed. In around 1908, Thomas Sullivan, a New York tea merchant, started to send samples of tea to his customers in small silken bags. It was made of a small porous paper formed into a bag. So you see teabags is originally a US addition. 
Just unwrap and plop in a cup or mug of hot water. Ta Da, tea is made.

 From Wikipedia:
The oldest printed recipes for iced tea date back to the 1870s. ... Recipes appeared in print, iced tea was offered on hotel menus, and it was on sale at railroad stations. Its popularity rapidly increased after Richard Blechynden introduced it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

Again an American way of having tea.
In the Southern states it is served sweetened most of the time,
but in other parts of the US it is mostly served without sugar.
To make you can brew a pot of tea and then chilled.
Some make sun tea which they brew in a large jar in the sun,
but personally I feel it can also grow bacteria in the sun.
My favorite way of making iced tea is a cold brew,
where I add teabags to a jar of water and put in the refrigerator over night.
Minto Island Tea Farm, Salem, Oregon
In my backyard garden

Many are also surprised to find out that tea does grow in the United States. 
A few years ago the challenge was to have tea growing in every state,
that was successful whether just grown in a pot, in the garden, or on a farm.
Personally my garden has about seven plants and I produce about 2 teapots 
of tea each year.
In Oregon we have a tea farm about an hour from where I live, Minto Island Tea Farm.
There is a farm in Mississippi that now sells their tea at Fortnum & Mason in London.
Now isn't that ironic?
Several tea farms are located in Hawaii, Michigan, Washington, and California.
Since processing and picking tea being labor intensive, new ways are being developed
for farming in the US.  

So there you have it!
The love of sipping a cup of tea in the US is definitely growing. 

5 comments:

  1. I had no idea that tea grew in the continental USA. Or in your own garden! It takes many tea plants to make a potful, doesn't it? Do you only pick the top leaves?

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  2. Wow Marilyn - first I never knew your actually grew and harvested tea in your garden, and second we have a Thomas Sullivan in the family of course as Bob's side is Irish!
    Fortnum & Mason has a chain of very posh shops, tea rooms and restaurants. . . . . and is known for the elegant picnic hampers it packs for the wealthy going on their country house weekends!

    Have a cuppa on me dear X

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  3. I am very excited for the American growers and tea makers. Wishing them the best of luck!

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  4. I learned a lot here but the most important thing is I didn't know you could put the tea bags in cold water and fridge for iced tea. I thought you had to brew them hot and then fridge it. That's a really good idea!

    Lots of fun stuff here. I especially love today's cup!

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  5. Wow... I learned a lot from this post, Marilyn! And I didn't know that Fortnum & Mason is selling US tea!! I love that you have your own tea plants and can harvest your own tea--what precious tea moments those are! I grew up on a lot of iced tea. My Mom did sweeten it, but not too much. I make iced tea without sugar, and like to try different teas cold in the summer month. Now that the sizzling temps have gone and it's cooler here, I'm preparing more hot cups of tea. Speaking of cups, lovely cup collection at the top... that floral mug is especially fun! :) ((HUGS))

    ReplyDelete

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