by Martha Rhodes

Created on: June 13, 2009

June is National Iced Tea Month. Here are some suggestions for celebrating Iced Tea Month.

The consumption of tea has been traced back thousands of years, but iced tea was popularized at the1904 St. Louis World's Fair that opened in April 1904 to celebrate the Centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. English tea merchant, Richard Blechynden has been accredited with serving iced tea during the hot months of the fair which lasted through to December.

There are thousands of varieties of tea with flavors infused with fruits and spices. To celebrate National Iced Tea Month, why not create a signature blend of your own? Or perhaps throw a tea party (for non-political purposes). Everyone can bring their favorite iced-tea flavors. Offer tins of the dried tea blend for guests to take home. You may even want to offer a prize to the guest that can correctly guess the ingredients or comes up with a truly great name for your tea blend. This link: http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight/how-to-make-iced- tea gives tips, tricks and recipes for making iced tea.

Iced tea is considered a healthful inclusion to your daily diet. According to Prevention.com, the antioxidants found in iced tea at least and in some cases surpass those found in healthy fruits and vegetables such as spinach and strawberries. Of course, fresh is best but according to Prevention, even the pre-made iced tea blends retain their antioxidant benefits.

This link to a great site that offers a variety of teas for purchase and gives more information about tea including a historical time line: Inpursuitoftea.com.

There is also a Tea and Coffee World Cup sponsored by the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal. The exhibitions are a showplace for tea and coffee products. The links is: http://www.tcworldcup.com/

For those who desire a refreshing drink that packs a little more of a punch, there is also Long Island Iced Tea which contains no tea at all. The recipe for Long Island Iced Tea includes equal parts of rum, tequila, vodka and gin along with a half part of triple sec. Sweet and sour and splash of cola are then added to achieve the color of iced tea.

Other celebrations for June: Turkey Lover's Month, National Fruit and Vegetables Month, National Papaya Month, and National Dairy Month.

Other sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase_Expo sition

Prevention article link: http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/cool-news-abou t-iced-tea/b83a50d1fa803110VgnVCM10000013281eac____/ nutrition.recipes/power.foods/tea/0/

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