Different types of iced tea

Iced tea is a form of cold tea. Usually served in a glass with ice, it can also refer to a tea that has been chilled or cooled. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with multiple common flavors including lemon, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, peach, orange, strawberry, and cherry. While most iced teas get their flavor from tea leaves , herbal teas are also sometimes served cold and referred to as iced tea. Iced tea is sometimes made by a particularly long steeping of tea leaves at lower temperature. Some people call this "sun tea".

Different types of iced tea

Iced tea is traditionally served with lemon slice used as a garnish, which is often placed on the rim of the glass.  But there is many different types you can try.

Sweet tea

Sweet tea is tea that is brewed very strong with a large amount of sugar added while the tea is still hot. The mixture of sugar and tea is then diluted with water, served over ice and is occasionally garnished with lemon. Sometimes the diluted mixture is allowed to cool to room temperature. Other times the sugar and tea mixture is diluted by pouring the hot tea and sugar over a full tumbler of ice to cool it instantly. Sweet tea is traditionally the most common variety of iced tea in the South; elsewhere, unsweetened iced tea is more common, although there has been a growing trend of offering both sweetened and plain since the early 2000s. Because of the popularity of sweet tea in the South, plain iced tea is often called unsweet tea

Sun tea

Iced tea can also be brewed by placing tea bags (or loose tea) in a large glass container with water and leaving the container in the sun for a number of hours. This often results in a smoother flavor. An advantage is that sun tea does not require using electricity or burning fuel, thus saving energy. Sun tea is sometimes served with syrup or lemon.

Bottled iced tea

Manufacturers of bottled or canned iced tea include: Honest Tea, Lipton, Nestea, Snapple and Turkey Hill. Such tea can be found on the shelves of most Western groceries and convenience stores, or online, in a variety of flavors, and leaf types (usually black or green, occasionally white). With iced tea mass-produced at this scale, unsweetened varieties are somewhat rare: most are sweetened with corn syrup, and their sweetness places them in the same market as soft drinks. Brands such as Snapple and Lipton offer iced teas sweetened with sugar in place of corn syrup. Both the sweetened and unsweetened varieties usually contain the additive citric acid, labeled either "for flavor" or as a "preservative." Canned varieties are canned under high pressure to prevent the cans from being crushed, which may result in very mild effervescence.

Half and half

There is also a growing popularity in the United States of a mixed drink called "half and half". Often called an Arnold Palmer, the drink was eventually marketed by Snapple, Nantucket Nectars, and AriZona Iced Tea; half and half is a mix of both iced tea and lemonade, giving the drink a much sweeter taste. In 2012 an ESPN short documentary was produced on the drink, featuring Palmer, beverage experts, a group of PGA golfers and comedian Will Arnett discussing the drink's history and popularity.^[18] A John Daly is an alcoholic version of the drink, often made with sweet tea, vodka, and lemonade.

Another popular use for the term half and half is that of a mixture of sweetened and unsweetened tea at a restaurant or fast food establishment that offers both choices. This provides a middle ground for those who want sweetness but not as much as the sweet tea being served. In certain areas of Florida, this drink can be ordered as a "Caddy Cooler".