Worlds Largest Sweet Tea

World’s Largest Sweet Tea

Why would the Chamber of Commerce in a small (but growing!) town commission a local artist to paint a larger than life-sized mural of a tea glass? 

And why would a town try to break The Guinness World Record for largest iced tea-- and win the title twice?

It may have something to do with Summerville’s history as “The Birthplace of Sweet Tea”.

The Beginning 

It all started back in the late 1700s, when the tea plant, “Camellia Sinensis” first made its US landing in Summerville. French explorer and botanist, Andre Michaux planted tea near Charleston at Middleton Place. 

The US Government 

In 1884, almost ten years after two failed attempts to grow tea (first in Greenville, SC, and then in Georgetown, SC), the federal government became interested in this new tea experiment and established a tea farm in Summerville, SC.

A Wealthy Philanthropist

Four years after the government's Southern tea experiment, a wealthy and scientific philanthropist named Dr. Charles Shepard acquired 600 acres of the Newington Plantation property and established the Pinehurst Tea Plantation not far from the governments' farm. 

He cultivated about 100 acres and built a factory to manufacture and package the tea. This is believed to be one of the first industries in Summerville, as evidenced in this NY Times article. 

The World’s Fair 

Dr. Shepard won the public's favor at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, where his tea won first prize. President Theodore Roosevelt visited Shepard to see the tea-making operation during a trip to the famous Pine Forest Inn.

Lipton
Shepard's plantation thrived until he died in 1915, after which it lay abandoned until 1960. That was when the Lipton Tea Company bought the property. Lipton salvaged the remaining plants and used them to open a research facility on Wadmalaw Island.

Meet the Tea Taster

In 1987, William B. Hall, an expert third-generation tea taster trained in London, purchased the tea farm to establish the 127-acre Charleston Tea Farm. In 2003, Bigelow Tea Co. partnered with Hall. The tea from the Charleston Tea Farm, derivatives of Dr. Shepard’s Camellia Sinensis, earned the honor of an Official White House Tea and the Official Hospitality Beverage of South Carolina.

What in the Rizzo...

As Will & Dottie Rizzo gathered Summerville stories for their local magazine, Azalea Magazine, a recurring theme was the history of tea grown in Summerville. Researching the history, they found receipts of tea and sugar for a Confederate reunion in 1890. 

The cover of the 2010 Azalea Magazine proclaimed, “Summerville, The Birthplace of Sweet Tea”. The Greater Summerville/Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce (aka “the Chamber”), who manages tourism for the town, took Azalea Magazine's bold claim and used it to market the town, causing (quite literally) a stir!

In 2015, the Town of Summerville brewed up a move into the record books by setting the Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Tea (Sweet, of course) on National Iced Tea Day. 

Lipton Tea very quickly broke Summerville’s record after only a few months. 

Persistence or stubbornness had Summerville breaking the record again in 2016 by serving tea to the town from “Mason”, a tea container that stands over 15 feet tall, and holding 2,524 gallons of sweet tea.

Sip-Sip Hooray

Well, there you have it: the reason behind Summerville’s obsession with tea.

If you are a sweet tea lover, make plans to pay a visit to the Birthplace of Sweet Tea.

Take a selfie in front of the Chamber sweet tea mural, or stop by Mason to pay your respects for a job well done. Pick up a Trail Guide for the Sweet Tea Trail and discover all that this charming town has to offer.

And for sweet sakes, while you’re here, enjoy a tall glass iced-cold sweet tea! After all, can you even say you have been to The Birthplace of Sweet Tea if you don’t?