Armed with the necessary processing, filling and distribution systems, dairies can make tea an ideal addition to the beverage line-up
Indeed, through the centuries, many have found that they agreed with the emperor’s assessment of tea. In fact tea is second only to water in worldwide consumption. It is consumed in a variety of forms: Hot, iced, spiced and flavored, as well as with or without sugar, honey, milk, cream or lemon. In the United States, more than three-fourths of all tea consumed is in the iced form, which just so happened to be invented by chance in 1904 at the Louisiana State Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Mo. Accordingly, one day of the fair, the temperature was soaring and the staff in the Far East Tea House couldn’t get fair-goers to sample their hot tea. So, they got inventive and poured it over ice cubes. The drink quickly became the exposition’s most popular beverage.