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Iced tea has been served with lemon from the very beginning. Even those highly alcoholic tea punches usually contained a citrus element. No doubt this is because lemon is a natural complement to the astringent qualities of both green and black tea. Orange appears occasionally even through to the 1930's, both in so-called Russian, or spiced tea, mint tea, and on its own, but never as universally as lemon. Happily, Mrs. Dull's suggested canned fruit garnishes did not survive the test of time, and disappeared within a decade of the first edition of her book.
Unlike iced coffee, milk and cream have never been commonly served with iced tea, and by Mrs. Dull's day, it was unheard of. Note her matter of fact statement: "milk is not served with iced tea."
The earliest mention of mint garnish, which was and is so popular in the South, is also in Mrs. Dull's 1928 recipe. Since then it has sometimes been added during the brewing, but this practice has never become universal, and is usually differentiated from regular iced tea as "mint tea."
Next : Putting That Iced Tea Away: Consumption Facts
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