Take your pick!
Welcome to the Coot’s News Service for June 10. Today you can take your pick because it’s either Ball Point Pen Day or National Iced Tea Day. No one can deny the importance of ball point pens in today’s society but. It is difficult to imagine living in a world where pens meaning fountain pens or even quills are the only writing implements available. The world would stop. Ball point pens are indeed a marvel.
Fascinating facts about the invention of the Ballpoint Pen
But life would stop without iced tea.
Today this Coot is celebrating National Iced Tea Day. Forget those pens. Iced tea is the perfect accompaniment for any meal and a refreshing pick me up in between meals. Iced tea is the essential Summer time refresher and these days it’s not just for Summer.
Iced tea was invented in America but not by an American according to legend. The story is that a British tea grower was frustrated that his tea wasn’t selling at the Chicago Worlds Fair in the hot muggy Chicago summer weather. He poured his tea over ice and changed the world forever. Since the fair iced tea has become an American national drink served and enjoyed throughout the entire 50 states. In the South it takes the form of sweet tea, pre-sweetened whether you want it or not while the rest of the country allows individuals to sweeten only if they so choose. American ingenuity never settles for good and has been improving and amending iced tea every since. Fruit infused teas were only the beginning. Choices abound to the point where you wonder where the tea went but at least they still call it tea. These days there are flavored iced teas available in bottles and in restaurants. Iced tea is everywhere
National Iced Tea Day; Sunday!
When I was a kid, the tea was just plain tea. You could add lemon and sugar if you liked but that was it. These days you have all kinds of variations available in bottles or at restaurants. It is my contention that adding flavors turns iced tea into fruit punch. Nothing against fruit punch but it’s not iced tea and putting some tea in fruit punch doesn’t add anything to either.
So this Sunday, I’m celebrating National Iced Tea Day with real iced tea. Maybe sun tea like my mother used to make or else hot tea poured over ice. I like lemon but not sugar so I’ll be getting all the benefits (and flavor) of tea and none of the calories of sugar. Nothing matches the refreshing lift of iced tea on a hot day. That’s my favorite glass of iced tea. What’s yours and how will you be celebrating National Iced Tea Day?
