Did you know? Today is National Iced Tea Day.

Iced tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, behind water, and began to appear in the US in the late 1860s. It can be enjoyed unsweetened or sweetened; many of us in the Holy City prefer the latter.

Summerville, ~30 minutes from Charleston, is known as the "Birthplace of Sweet Tea." Fun Fact: Downtown Summerville is the location of the world's largest sweet tea container, a Mason jar-style attraction fittingly named "Mason."

The town is celebrating by serving up free sweet tea with purchase at these participating local businesses:

Five Loaves | 214 N. Cedar St.
Montreux Bar + Grill | 127 W. Richardson Ave.
Sweetwater One Twenty Three | 123 W. Richardson Ave.

Some Summerville businesses will also offer sweet tea-inspired dishes and specialty beverages:

Five Loaves | Sweet tea brined fried chicken and a salad special with black tea dressing
Sweetwater One Twenty Three | Sweet tea fried chicken and sweet tea glazed pork chop
Cuppa Manna | Ginger peach sweet iced tea and Summerville traditional sweet tea frappe

See the full offerings.

By the way, National Sweet Tea Day is later this summer — Aug. 21 — and we can’t wait to see how Summerville celebrates. Stay tuned.