it would be interesting to learn about/hear the history of ice in "non ice producing" parts of america. i remember my grandmother telling stories about the ice man delivering ice for the "ice box". But where was it procured, stored, how did delivery go, etc? wish i would have asked those questions now, lol

 

They make or used to make propane freezers and fridges for RVs. I brew my own beer so the heck with tea

 

I guess I'll just start drinking beer.lol. But really the same problems exist. How do you keep your beer ice cold in the summer heat without ice or refridgeration?

 

Not sure about iced, but I stock the Lipton Cold Brew tea bags to make pitchers of tea, guess it would be cold in the winter where I am.

 

Root cellars!!

Still to this day, in my neck of the woods anyway, the Amish cut ice in the winter and store it in dug out root cellars buried in sawdust.

I have read that if packed properly this ice can last into the severe heat of Summer, which is July/August around here. I guess if you have a late Spring and a mild Summer you could have ice all Summer!

Also, I think only American's are stuck on ice cold beer. It's a cellar-cool temperature in the rest of the world.

 

"Little Home on the Prarie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder described the same process used in pre-electricity days (extremely "off-grid"!) Ice was cut off the surface of lakes in winter, transported with horse-drawn sleds to ice cellars, where the blocks of ice were buried in the ground packed in sawdust. Kept the ice reasonably solid throughout most of the summer, if I recall correctly...

 

There is a video about making a clay pot refrigerator. It will keep things cool. As a big tea drinker, I will be using that method for tea but there won't be any ice to go in it unless the ice man starts coming around again.

 

Hang it in a cold running brook. Even here in Texas we have those.

 

You could cool drinks using a pot.

 

I guess my question is this, will mild climate areas, the gulf states for example, ever be able to have sweet iced tea after SHTF scenarios?

SHTF in New Orleans. They still have it no?

 

From what I've read... the old ice blocks were insulated with straw, sawdust, etc. Insulation is the key.... if warm air can't get to it...the ice will stay unmelted. Simple physics but soooooo hard to maintain in the south /

As far as sweet iced tea goes - you can make all the sweet iced tea you want, but you won't be able to store it long as the sugar is what causes it to spoil. When we visited N'awleans, I was quite amazed that sweet tea could not be ordered in any of the restaurants we visited, only unsweet. Unsweet tea will keep for much longer even without refrigeration. My friend was born in LA, and she said her mom would make a 5 gal bucket of tea, then they would leave it on the counter FOR A WEEK!!!! then drink it !?!?!?!? I can only imagine how strong and black it must have gotten by then lol, too much for this old girl to handle!

You can also keep things cool by placing damp sand between graduated size buckets.

Keeping beverages cool is as simple as tying them in a sack and putting them in cold running clear water, or by lowering them into a cold well.

Ice can be 'made' in small quantities using ammonium nitrate, water, and a couple of reactive (metal) bowls.http://voices.yahoo.com/how-ice-using-fertilizer-5422755.html has some interesting links if you would like to dig deeper, or let it get you started on your own googling expedition

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_7801095_diy-solar-icemaker.html

 

for the beer part of this i know that a lot of beers shouldnt really be ice cold like the micro breweries it opens up a whole lot more flavor profiles and that kind of thing the cold masks a lot of subtleties in a finely crafted beer. i could go on for a long time about this but ill spare you lol. so basically store some good beer in a cool room like a basement or root cellar.

 

I think everyone is on the right track. I remember as a little kid making a huge snow ball in the winter time. It was probably 3ft in diameter. It lasted way into summer. Getting smaller and smaller each day.

So I guess using winter to supply ice and creating a cellar type "fridge" to store ice or foods would solve my sweet tea problem.

Thank you everyone for staying on point.

 

There are ways to make ice with nothing but some shallow trays, in Above-Freezing nights.

A Cascade of Peltier Junctions could make ice with a little Coleman Super Cooler and some Ingenuity. Just need sufficient 12VDC.

Cool water down as much as you can, and then Pull a vacuum on it - look up adsorption Refrigerators. Just was a recent spate of College Engineering and Physics Students making them.

Use Air for the Refrigerant. Compress it, Cool it, then pass it through a Critical Flow orifice. Downstream will be cold enough to freeze relatively small amounts of Ice at a time - system gets real big for reasonable amounts of Ice per Hour.

Use Butane/Propane for same process.

Steal a CO2 Fire Extinguisher, build a tunnel of Beverages, insulate the outside of the Tunnel, then Blast through the Tunnel. Start Drinking the outside ones.

 

You should buy one of those camping type ice makers, I bought one from "Campers world" and it will run off of a solar panel set up.
You just add the water and it makes ice, it will fill a whole bin (10 pounds) in a Hour and a half. One of the more expensive models has a built in water filter. I think mine was $199.00 plus $45 for shipping

 

I'm afraid solar ice cooler will have to be our way. We may get ice 5 times in a winter, and that's only enough to need to defrost the car. Running water will not freeze here and it stays warm Feb-Dec lol. The ground is too marshy and warm to dig any kind of a basement or root cellar, I guess no ice for us lol

 

On our property, near my great grandma's house there is the remains of an old 'ice house' where they'd store delivered ice and use sawdust/hay to keep it from melting. This was in central Florida and my family has lived on the property since the late 1800's. They had and icebox in the house and would chip off pieces to keep in the icebox.
Till about ten years ago there was the old broken down 'ice truck' near an old block building about five miles away from the house-that was where the ice was stored and delivered to whoever ordered it nearby.

 

:thumb: Thank you!

 

I endorse Sweet Tea but I wont go to water if it isn't iced...if SHTF, ice for my tea will be the least of it

 

If you don't have off-grid power, assuming civilization doesn't retreat further back than the 18th century, ice in the deep South will depend on trade with the north, just as it originally did. Of course, you may have a problem coming up with the tea to ice as well, at least until clipper ships get sailing again.

http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/ice-house.html

Roasted chickory/dandelion root and mint make a delicious tea. Yaupon holly makes great tea also!

 

FYI : "Sweet tea" is not a reference to the sweetening, but to the limited brew time (4 min. max) that minimizes bitterness -- hence 'sweet'.

- - - saith Alton Brown ("Good Eats")

 

FYI : "Sweet tea" is not a reference to the sweetening, but to the limited brew time (4 min. max) that minimizes bitterness -- hence 'sweet'.

The folks at Cracker Barrel would beg to differ.

Even if SHTF, refrigerators won't disappear and we won't forget how they work. You might have to go a few months without ice for your tea, but it will be back.

 

I found that Sweet Tea in the Southern States is different that Sweet Tea in the Northern States.

The proper way to make Sweet Tea is to bring the water to the boiling point, let it boil for a couple of minutes and take if off of the heat and add the Tea Bags. Let steep for how strong you want your Tea and then add sugar to taste.

Yankess put the water into boil and throw in the tea bags and boil away.
And then add the sugar while boiling.

I've had to teach many of my friends who live north of the Mason/Dixon Line how to make Sweet Tea. And most of them really like to make it the southern way now.

Jungle Work

 

My grandparents in Michigan used to set things to be cooled in the well house / spring house. Constantly running water gently rising out of the ground. There was a shallow cement shelf set into the ground and the tea pitcher, butter, etc. were set in the gently flowing water on the shelf in the cool darkness of the well house.

Funny thing, I can't remember where the flowing water went after it flowed out of the ground.

I was a little kid and memories from that long ago are kinda fading away. :xeye:

But, the sweet tea was excellent and, even without ice, tasted cool after sweating in the fields.

 

Trying to tell Southerners that Sweet Tea doesnt involve sugar is borderline blasphemy and is grounds in some states for divorce, murder("But Yer Honner...,He NEEDED killin") or taking your dog and leaving

 

I love sweet tea.

I don't "need" cold drinks.

I like them if I am battling one of my many headaches, but not a requirement. It drives my husband nuts.

I made a gallon of tea when Hurricane Ike was on the way, and drank it over the next couple days. I brewed it, took the bags out, didn't sweeten, and left it on the counter. I thought it would go off but the tannic acid must have kept the mold off.

 

Generally, around here, sweet tea refers to tea that had sweetener stirred in and dissolved while the brewed tea was still hot and before it was chilled.

Renders a smooth tea without the grittiness of semi-dissolved sweetener which is what happens when sweetener is added when the tea has already been chilled.

So good it makes you want to slap yo mama!

 

Put your tea in the spring box.