On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, my wife and I attended the Summerville, SC attempt at a world record by making the largest container of SWEET TEA. Our town attempted to break the current world record held by Chick-fil-A of 1,140 gallons in 2010. Our attempt was to make 1,400 gallons of sweet tea.
The ingredients to make 1,400 gallons of sweet tea include:
- 10-foot container made by Scout Boats – nickname Mason
- 1,400 gallons of sweet tea
- 116 pounds of tea leaves from The Charleston Tea Plantation
- 3,000 pounds of of ice
- 2,100 pounds of local sugar from Dixie Crystals
The town began brewing the tea at 7 a.m.. At 11:30 a.m. they added the sugar and concentrate. At 3:00 p.m. the official world record was held. After the determination of the record, from 5 – 8 p.m. the town held a block party, where you could buy a $5 Mason jar and drive from the winnings.
Here is Mason, the 10 foot container the sweet tea was brewed in.
We arrived for the block party about 5:45 p.m. and had to park a great distance away. It was well attended and the line wrapped around Richardson Ave.
We waited in line for about 45 minutes. Eventually we were able to see Mason, so we knew we had to be getting close. We were concerned that we had waited all this time, and then they would run out of mugs.
We then made it to the tent to pay for the mugs, $5 each with unlimited refills.
After you paid, you wrapped behind the pay tent, where you gave them your tickets and they gave you your mug filled with the world record sweet tea.
The sweet tea was actually good. For mixing 1,400 gallons they did a really good job. It had a nice flavor and properly sweetened and chilled.
We did not stick around since it was so crowded. So we headed home for the evening, to enjoy further tea drinking at the house.
Finally, a coworker of mine, was in line approximately 20-25 minutes behind us. Well on the way home, she texted me that they did not make it. They ran out of the mugs prior to them making it up to Mason. That was really sad! The town says they are going to order more mugs within the next few weeks, but to have waited all that time in all that line, only to not get the reward was disappointing.
They should have done a 1,400 gallon to Mason Jar equivalency test!
This was a really cool event to be a part of. I am glad we decided to go out on the town and participate. Enjoy!
