• Cold, sweetened green tea has been an element of alcoholic punches at least since the beginning of the 19th century (cf. Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery).
  
  
• The earliest known recipes for iced tea called for green and not black tea.
  
  
• Printed iced tea recipes appear as early as the 1870s (cf. Housekeeping In Old Virginia), suggesting that iced tea was already being enjoyed in some parts of the South as early as the late 1850s.
  
  
• Black tea begins to be included in the brew as early as 1880 (cf. The Buckeye Cook Book), and became more common as less expensive black Indian teas became more widely available at the end of the century.
  
  
• A blend of green and black tea was sometimes used for iced tea into the 1920s. By end of the decade, however, green tea and blends are never mentioned, and blends of black tea became the standard (cf. Mrs. Dull's Southern Cooking).
  
  
• Special glasses, spoons, and serving ware specifically designed for iced tea begin to appear as early as 1900.
  
  
• Iced tea had become a widely accepted drink at teatime and supper in hot weather as early as 1880 (cf. Housekeeping in Old Virginia, The Buckeye Cook Book).
  
  
• Iced tea became an accepted beverage for dinner during the prohibition years of the 1920s (cf. Mrs. Dull's Southern Cooking).
  " By the 1930s, Southern cookbooks rarely included recipes for hot tea, and mention it only in passing.
  
  
• Cold-brewed tea, which nowadays is called "refrigerator" tea, dates back at least to 1890.
  
  
• Presweetened iced tea dates back to those cold tea punches of the early 19th century and appears specifically as "iced tea" as early as 1880. It did not become the standard until after the mid-1920s. From the 1930s until the mid-1970s sweet iced tea was served almost exclusively in the South, becoming known as the South's "house wine."
  
  
• Lemon has been served with iced tea from the very beginning; the earliest recipes suggested lemon as "an improvement".
  
  
• Mint garnish made an appearance in print in the 1920s. It is sometimes included in the brew after 1930, but has never been usual, and as a garnish has not been as universally popular as lemon.
  

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