Iced tea can be purchased, like soda, in canned or bottled form at vending machines and convenience stores; usually, this pre- made tea is sweetened with corn syrup, and sometimes some other flavoring, such as lemon or raspberry, is added. Also, like other soft drinks, it can be purchased as a fountain drink, though in some establishments it is pumped from a Bag- In- Box, and in others, it is simply poured from a separate container that contains freshly brewed tea. In restaurants, iced tea is usually served unsweetened except in the Southeastern United States where iced tea is much more common and is available both sweet and unsweetened and "iced tea" is often considered to be "sweet tea" unless otherwise specified. The reason for the presweetening is that it may be difficult to dissolve sugar in iced tea, even with constant stirring. The result can be insufficiently sweetened tea or gritty, undissolved sugar crystals in the tea.
Some restaurants have begun serving iced tea that has been pre- flavored with fruit essences, particularly passion fruit, often as the only iced tea made available. Iced tea's popularity in the United States has led to an addition to standard cutlery sets; the iced tea spoon is a standard flatware teaspoon, but with a long handle, suitable for stirring sugar into the taller glasses commonly used for iced tea.
Tea bags[edit]. Tea bags were invented in the United States. Thomas Sullivan is credited with inventing tea bags in 1. Sullivan, a New York tea importer, inadvertently invented tea bags when he sent tea samples to clients in small silk bags to cut costs, and they mistakenly steeped the bags whole.[1. The customers were more interested in the brewing convenience of the novel silk bags than his bulk teas. Sullivan did not realize this until they all started to complain that the orders they received were not in the same small bags the samples had been in. Silk was too expensive for everyday disposal; therefore, he invented tea bags made of gauze.[1. The tea bag made of paper fiber was a later American invention.
The nylon pyramidal teabag containing broken teas and semi- leaf teas made an appearance in the marketplace for aficionados. The pyramidal shape - it is said - allows more room for the leaf to steep. Environmentalists prefer silk to nylon because of the health and biodegradable issues.[1. Recipe Sweet Potato Chicken.