July 2003

Last Words: Pass the Tea, Please

Iced tea takes its rightful place in the lineup of Southern icons

by Patrick Evans-Hylton

Summer brings long, warm days and cool, tall drinks. A perennial favorite, iced tea, shines this time of year as the beverage of choice for the season.

What could be better on a sweltering July day than a tall glass filled with ice cubes and this golden elixir, the sides of the tumbler dripping as much perspiration as the holder? A sip flows through the body, cooling it down instantly, and a touch of the glass on the back of the neck sends an icy shiver to the spine. Iced tea must surely have been the first air conditioner.

And although iced tea can be found from sea to shining sea, it is really a Southern drink at heart. Maybe that’s why it is such a favorite around here; it is our drink—the house wine of the South, a culinary icon of the region, along with grits, biscuits and pork barbecue.

For the rest of this story, you can order the July 2003 issue of Hampton Roads Monthly magazine.