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We all love tea. Iced tea is a form of cold tea that serve in a glass with ice chips  in it. It may be sweetened or unsweetened and also can be mixed with flavours such as lemon, mint, strawberry, peach, passion fruit, pineapple and orange etc. Ice tea has long and interesting history as well as cultural significance around the world.

Ice tea was invented at 1904 by Richard Blechynden and it was started to become popular in south of USA. In 1904, Richard Blechynden had tea pavilion which promote Indian black teas. At the time Chinese green tea was the popular tea all around the USA, but black tea was not popular as green tea.
1904 summer hot tea sales were down due to hot wave in US. During that summer Blechynden decided to buy blocks of ice, make ice chips and serve ice tea for his customers instead of hot black tea to attract customers and increase his sales. This idea gained a huge success, and soon ice tea become a one of the main summer drinks in US. When summer approaches, many people reach for a refreshing glass of iced tea to quench their thirst and cool down.
Iced tea is a alternative to carbonate drink and it is considered to be low-calorie healthy drink. Researches shows that the iced tea market has witnessed sturdy growth over the past few decades in Sri Lanka and it will bluster in coming years. Sri Lanka produces popular iced tea with the range of authentic Sri Lankan flavors using syrups and naturally infused flavours such as lemon, raspberry, passion, strawberry and cherry.

Today, iced tea are enjoyed people in different countries, different cultures putting their own spin on the drink. For example,  in the united kingdom, ice tea often serve with a slice of lemon while, 
Japanese are enjoying their iced tea with green tea which is often use as a base for Japanese iced tea. In the United States, sometimes iced tea mix with lemonade. Thailand is perhaps best known for delicious Thai iced tea, or ‘cha-yen”. It’s a drink which has become popular in Thai restaurants around the world and is made from strongly brewed black tea served over ice. Iced tea is type of tea that has been popular in Sri Lanka in recent.

Benefits of iced tea

Iced tea has many of the same benefits as hot tea, so long as there aren't too many additives like sugar, alcohol, artificial flavors, or carbonated drinks. In general, unsweetened iced tea gives the most health benefits since added sugars in sweet iced tea may negate the positives. Here's what the science says about drinking iced tea.
research has shown that tea drinking is associated with improved cardiovascular health. It reduces the risk for hypertension, stroke, and hardening of the arteries. And also it boosts our immune system and helps to reduce free radical damages. And also it protects your skin from UV rays and improved skin elasticity. Iced tea may improves our concentration and reduces the stress. And also, antioxidant in tea may play a role in lowering the risk of various type of cancers and it is promoting a healthy bacterial balance in your gut.

Home made iced tea

it is easy to make and scale up crisp and refreshing home made iced tea for a crowd. This is always a hit at a summer. Here, we are sharing all the tips and tricks that you need to make the most flavorful refreshing sweetened or unsweetened iced tea.

• Brew the tea
  In  a medium pot, bring 6 cup of water to boil and remove it from heat. Add in the the tea bags and allow them to steep for 10 minutes.
• be sure to measure the water to prevent your tea from turning out too strong or too watery

Remove the tea bags

• Remove the tea bags from hot tea
• Set  a timer. Don't let the tea steep longer than 10 minutes otherwise it will turn bitter

Add sweetness (if you want)

• Add the sugar and whisk until it's completely dissolved. 
  You can also use honey or coconut sugar to sweeten your tea.

Add the cold water

• Add the remaining cold water to the hot tea and whisk. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or untill it chilled.
• Add lemon juice for zingi flavor
  Or you can add any syrup or flavour such as mint, lemon, peach, pineapple, mango strawberry, orange etc. in this step to make fruit-infused flavoured iced tea

Serve

• Serve over lots of ice, garnish with lemon slices and mint springs if you like too.