The "Where Iced Tea Got It's Start...And Maybe End" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Craving a glass of Turkey Hill orange iced tea, but know I can't drink one or I may develop kidney stones once again.  A few years ago my son had a kidney stone and was if terrible pain when my wife and I went to visit with him.  He said his doctor told him he probably got the kidney stone by drinking the iced tea that is sooooo good and made in Lancaster County, a few miles from his home in western Lancaster County.  You'd of thought I would had taken his doctor's warning, but I didn't.  I continued to drink the best tasting stuff made in Lancaster County.  And then one morning I arose with this awful pain in my groin.  I had a kidney stone.  No, I actually had a few kidney stones connected like a barbell.  Tough to pass so after two trips to the emergency room I opted to have them removed by surgery.  I still crave the sugary treat, but my mind reminds me to never drink the iced tea again.  I tell you this because many people do drink iced tea all the time.  Tea has been sipped hot in the United States since Colonial times, but when an entrepreneur in a northern state started shipping blocks of ice down South and to the Caribbean in the 19th century, they found they could drink their tea cold.  Tea had been used for years in alcoholic punches, but the origin of early nonalcoholic recipes can be traced to 1876.  A few years years after that sweet tea began to take hold in the South.  

1904 World's Fair opening.

Then in 1904 the World's Fair was held in St. Louis and the world took notice of this new and tasty drink.  Not only was iced tea a big seller at the fair, but it was said that the ice cream cone was born on the Pike at the fair.  The Pike was a mile long midway featuring rides, amusements and fantastic attractions.   Prohibition began in 1918 and since more people had home refrigerators with freezers, iced tea was here to stay.  Today 84% of all tea consumed is of the cold or iced variety.  Sales of iced tea in ready-to-drink containers of all sized is 15 times higher today than 10 years ago.  Today it is a $5.2 billion business.  

Cool glass of iced tea.

What's more, 87% of millennials drink iced tea.  And, the pre-made iced tea which I grew to love is so easy to find and buy.  But, I have decided to never drink the stuff again.  My wife drinks close to two quarts of iced tea daily, but she makes her own...sort of.  

Carol's ice tea.

She takes a two quart container, places a pitcher pack of Crystal Light Lemon Decaf Ice Tea mix in it, places a handful of fresh mint in the container and mixes it with a a small amount of hot water to dissolve the mix and fills with filtered water.  I just haven't developed a taste for it after drinking the Turkey Hill for so long, but if I ever begin to drink iced tea again, I guess it will be what she has.  So far she hasn't suffered any ill effects from the mixture.  I have gone back to my old favorite of lemonade in all flavors.  That is until something else happens to me and they tell me its because I drink lemonade.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.