The calorie-free beverage steeped from leaves is quite literally our cup of tea -- or more precisely, our glass of tea.

Years before trendy cafes put ice into coffee and christened it with an exotic-sounding name, there was iced tea. Today, more than eight out of every 10 servings of tea we take in the U.S. are chilled.

"Consumers like the taste. It is light and refreshing," said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the USA. "Plus, it is increasingly associated with a great many health benefits."

Richard Blechynden is commonly credited for popularizing the summertime beverage more than a century ago, when he was manager of the Indian tea pavilion at the St. Louis World's Fair.

Blechynden served black tea over ice to great fanfare in 1904, though cookbooks dating back to the early 19th century show that American housewives already had been enjoying chilled tea as an ingredient in summertime punches.

Spout Off

FOX talk-show host Bill O'Reilly enjoyed a meal in Harlem with Rev. Al Sharpton. “There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, ‘M-F'er, I want more iced tea,'" said O'Reilly. “You know, I mean, everybody was – it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun." .