Cold, sweet, smooth, earthy, and garnished with a lemon, nothing says the south like sweet tea. A guest favorite at Pawley’s Raw Bar, sweet tea says, “welcome to the front porch” or “I’m glad you came to visit.” You can find it in restaurants, fast-food joints, and homes throughout the southeastern states and other non-southern places; it just doesn’t taste as good. Sweet tea may be what you reach for on a hot day, but it means much more. Join us for this month’s blog as we delve into where sweet tea comes from.
Sweet tea is so entwined into the southern culture that there is a “Sweet Tea Trail” in Summerville, South Carolina. Summerville claims to be “The Birthplace of Sweet Tea,” however, there are several claims that it was created at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that the 1904 edition of the World’s Fair also claims responsibility for the hamburger, hot dogs, peanut butter, Dr. Pepper, cotton candy, and many more items.
But the reality is French explorer Andre Michaux introduced brewed tea leaves to wealthy Charleston planters in the mid-1790s in an effort to attract their extravagant taste buds. At that point in history, South Carolina was the only colony in America producing tea plants. It didn’t take long for this drink to spread across the country as recipes started popping up all over the southern half of the “New World” over the next century. However, Michaux’s concoction was quite different than the refreshing beverage we enjoy today. Most of the early recipes included alcohol and green tea leaves.
The oldest known recipe for the sweet tea we know and love today wasn’t printed until 1879. Marion Cabell Tyree shared the original recipe in a cookbook titled “Housekeeping in Old Virginia.” However, this recipe used green tea, but it was the first recorded to be sweetened with sugar and lemon. Just a few years later, the head of Boston Cooking School, Mary Lincoln, created her take on the drink. Lincoln was the first to use black tea. Shortly after this recipe became popular, America began to import black tea from other countries worldwide at a much cheaper price than green tea.
The prohibition of the 1920s helped sweet tea gain even more popularity as it became a suitable replacement for alcohol. In 1928, “Southern Cooking” published the sweet tea recipe that further catapulted this fantastic drink to the stardom it experiences today. Thanks to this cookbook, societal women, churchgoers, and many others across the south now had the ability to create their own renditions, and BOOM! A southern treat was born!
Sweet tea has such an essential part of southern lifestyles that South Carolina adopted it as the state’s Official Hospitality Beverage in 1995, and Georgia introduced a House Bill in 2003 requiring all restaurants in the state to serve sweet tea. Yes, sweet tea is that important.
Sweet tea may have started as a high-society treat, but it has now become an everyday drink loved and cherished by all. We would love for you to stop by and join us at a table, the bar, or outside on the patio to raise an ice-cold glass of Sweet Iced Tea. Join us at Pawley’s Raw Bar, where we treat everyone like family!
Pawley’s Raw Bar is proud to be a part of the Divine Dining Group family of restaurants. Check out our sister restaurants, view our open staff positions, and/or purchase gift cards for your next visit here: https://divinedininggroup.com/