With beautifully warm weather coaxing us outside and plenty of time at home with the kids, we are all thinking about how to keep everyone hydrated. While we always recommend drinking as much water as possible, we know from experience that kids (and us grown ups too) are always reaching for something a little more tasty. Rather than reaching for sugary sodas or those overly sweet squashes, have you ever thought about a really refreshing iced tea?

It’s the perfect swap for a lot of the soft drinks on the market, and a great way to give your kids a healthy alternative throughout the day. It’s thirst quenching, bursting with flavour, and can be enjoyed from dawn until dusk. Now, for a bit of history… iced tea has actually been enjoyed for centuries all over the world. People have used tea leaves or tea bags to brew tea and then let it cool naturally for well over a hundred years.

Some sources say that the first iced tea was sold when an American merchant couldn’t attract anyone to his stall on a boiling hot day. Thinking on his feet, he added ice, and bingo – people came flocking! (And if you’re a real history buff and you want to know about ice itself – the first ice started to be sold in the 1880s, with ice-making machines following in the 1850s. Actually the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks all stored ice before then, we’re just talking about the manmade kind!)

For years everyone from the Americas to Europe has enjoyed all sorts of tea. Imagine walking through the forgotten cities in Asia, exploring the humid jungles of the Amazon, or just a day in the local park with your kids, what better than an iced tea to cool you down?