just for fun - It is Iced Tea Month

June is a month of wonderful things - the start of summer vacation (my grandsons like this, a lot!), warm, sunny weather (typically) and it is iced tea month! I have an iced tea machine and make blueberry green tea or raspberry/blackberry/blueberry green tea by filling the basket with fruit, adding five green tea bags and setting it to brew. Simple and delicious!

So, since it is Iced Tea Month I thought it might be fun to share some fun tea facts I found online . . . 

• It takes around 2,000 tiny leaves to make just one pound of finished tea.
• Some tea grows in the United States. There is an island tea plantation off the coast of South Carolina and also in Hawaii.
• Americans tasted their first “iced tea” at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
• Britain is the second-largest nation of tea drinkers per capita. Ireland is the first.
• An estimated 85% of tea that is consumed in the United States is iced tea. Over 519 million pounds of tea are imported into the United States each year.
• Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, after water.
• In the United States, the South and Northeast have the greatest concentration of tea drinkers.
• Tea plants need at least 50 inches of rain a year.
• The United Kingdom drinks about 165 million cups of tea a day, or 62 billion cups per year.
• A tea plant can grow into a tree that is as tall as 52 feet if its leaves are not harvested. Cultivated plants are usually pruned to waist height.
• The most expensive tea in the world is a rare Chinese tea called Tieguanyin, which is around $1,500/lb.
• The United States invented both the tea bag and iced tea in 1904.
• A cup of brewed tea usually contains less than half the caffeine of a cup of coffee. It’s also easy to decaffeinate loose tea at home by “rinsing” tea leaves. To rinse the leaves, begin brewing tea as usual and then remove the leaves after 20 seconds. Discard the brew and start again with fresh boiling water and the now-decaffeinated tea leaves.
• Historically, tea has been viewed as a health drink. Recent studies suggest that tea, especially green tea, helps reduce some forms of cancer, helps bad breath, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduces blood pressure, helps with weight control, kills bacteria and virus, acts as an anti-inflammatory, and has neuroprotective power.
• When tea is being poured in China, guests tap two or three fingers on the table three times to show gratitude to the server.
• Tea was initially sold in coffee houses in England. Only men were allowed to enter coffee houses, which were full of smoke and noise. Finally, in 1717, the Twining family opened the Golden Lyon, a teashop that allowed women. The shop is still open today, and the Twinings company is a prominent English marketer of tea.
• Solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia until the 19th century.

If you would like to find more fun tea facts, check this link.

Do you like iced tea? What is your favorite tea and do you add sugar/honey or not? (I do not as the fruit in the tea adds its own sweetness.)