Texas doesn’t have an official state drink. But, Dr Pepper and longnecks aside, you could make a pretty convincing argument for iced tea. Nothing is quite so refreshing on a hot day, and since summer lasts about 10 months here, iced tea’s popularity isn’t surprising.
But there’s iced tea and there’s iced tea. To discover the best of the best in Austin, the Tea Embassy is hosting an iced-tea tasting and contest on Saturday, June 17, both to honor this iconic summer beverage and to benefit the Helping Hand Home for Children. Along with a variety of teas prepared by Austin-area restaurants and served on the shady Tea Embassy grounds, there will be a series of acoustic musical performances, refreshments, and door prizes. Attendees will vote for their favorite tea presentations, with People’s Choice and Critics’ Choice prizes awarded for Austin’s “Best on Ice.”
One of the judges is Pearl Dexter, tea expert, author, and editor and publisher of the 12-year-old Tea: A Magazine, based in Connecticut. During the afternoon, Dexter will sign copies of her books Tea With Presidential Families; Tea Poetry; and Scones, Shortbread, and More.
As much as we love it, iced tea wasn’t born here. According to Carol Sims, the Tea Embassy’s proprietor and ambassador of all things tea, iced tea has been around at least since the early 1800s. The first cold tea concoctions were punches of tea and alcohol, and apparently iced green tea was preferred to black. It’s an oft-repeated misconception that iced tea was invented at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair by a frustrated tea merchant trying to move his wares on a hot day. In truth, iced tea’s popularity grew along with the development of refrigeration throughout the mid-19th century.
The Tea Embassy is housed in the historic Campbell-Miller house built in 1872 at the corner of Ninth and Rio Grande, just west of Downtown. The Best on Ice event is Saturday, June 17, 1-5pm; admission $5. For more information, go to www.teaembassy.com.
This article appears in June 16 • 2006.
