Sweet Tea in South Carolina: Hospitality Beverage

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State law names South Carolina grown tea, not sweet tea, the official hospitality beverage. Summerville's claim to be the birthplace of sweet tea is the town's own, and is labelled as one below.

State LawGrown teaCode 1-1-692
ClaimSummervillethe town's own
Tea GardenWadmalawCharleston area
CheckedOct 262026

What The Sources Say

SC Code Section 1-1-692 reads: 'South Carolina grown tea is designated as the official hospitality beverage of the State.' History: 1995 Act No. 31, SECTION 1. The statute says 'South Carolina grown tea', NOT 'sweet tea'. source
SC PRT's state-symbols page says 'sweet tea' was designated the official state hospitality beverage in 1995. This wording differs from the statute; use the statute wording on the site. source
CLAIM (Visit Summerville, the town's tourism site): Summerville presents itself as 'The Official Birthplace of Sweet Tea'. The tea-history page asserts the claim without explaining how sweet tea originated there. source
Visit Summerville's Sweet Tea Trail is a self-guided route: pick up a Trail Guide at the Summerville Visitor Center or a participating stop (or download it), make purchases at participating stops to collect a stamp at each, then redeem enough stamps at the Visitor Center for Birthplace of Sweet Tea keepsake gifts. source
Visit Summerville tea history: Andre Michaux planted tea at Middleton Place in the late 1700s; 1880 federal experimental tea farm at Newington Plantation; 1888 Dr. Charles Shepard founded Pinehurst Tea Plantation (called the first successful commercial tea farm in the U.S.); 1960 Lipton opened a research facility on Wadmalaw Island; 1987 William B. Hall established the Charleston Tea Garden; 2003 Bigelow Tea bought the farm. source
Visit Summerville: 'Mason', a tea container over 15 feet tall holding up to 2,524 gallons of sweet tea, was used to set a Guinness record in 2016 (page wording). source

What We Could Not Confirm

Not confirmed: we looked for these on official pages and did not find them. Check with the town or operator before you rely on them.

Note this differs from SC PRT, which puts light tomato in the Pee Dee.
South Carolina Barbecue Association: searched for sauce-style / whole-hog pages; no usable official page found.
Shrimp baiting 2026 exact open/close dates: no SCDNR 2026 announcement found. The rule (noon on last Friday on or before Sept. 15, 60 days) is stated by SCDNR; 2026 dates would be inferred, so not given. Also 2026 commercial shrimp opening date not found (2025 only).
1976 grits designation: the actual act/resolution text was not found on scstatehouse.gov; only the 2014 resolution's recital.
Sweet tea: statute text says 'South Carolina grown tea'; PRT says 'sweet tea'. Summerville birthplace claim is the town's tourism claim; independent historical support not verified (a Charleston City Paper piece from 2013 questions it, but not an approved source and not read).
Charleston Tea Garden hours, factory tour price and trolley price: charlestonteagarden.com did not load for us on every fetch. unofficial summary only (Mon-Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4, free factory tour, trolley from $16 adult) – NOT verified, do not publish without re-fetch.
Peach county list (Edgefield, Saluda, Aiken, Lexington, Spartanburg, Cherokee): no read official page lists current main peach counties. SC Dept of Agriculture Market Bulletin PDF (Aug 2, 2018) could not be read. Only Edgefield (Ridge Peach Meeting) and Spartanburg (1935 figure) appear in read pages.
Peach season months: Clemson HGIC says mid-June to mid-September in the Upstate; SC PRT says May through August; the two differ by region and source.
Peachoid official Gaffney/Cherokee County page not found; only SC PRT description used.
SC Peach Festival 2026 full day-by-day dates: not on organizer page; only July 19, 2026 concert. 2027 dates not stated.
Ridge Peach Festival (Trenton) and Johnston Peach Blossom Festival: only a 2020 listing on visitold96sc.com; no organizer page found, no 2026 dates.
Pelion Peanut Party 2026 dates: organizer page (Facebook) gave no date; only a 2023 newspaper report.
Green peanut season: SC Dept of Agriculture says summer and fall; Clemson specific maturity guidance came from unofficial summary only and was not read.
Collard greens and peach second-in-nation figures: SC PRT's collard 'second nationally' claim not checked against USDA.
State Farmers Market exact open/close hours: official page says only 'Monday through Sunday, vendor hours may vary'.
Carolina Gold rice history, she-crab soup from Charleston CVB (charlestoncvb.com pages not read), pimento cheese: no official SC source found.

Sources

Read on October 26, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.

Cite this page: It's South Carolina, “Sweet Tea in South Carolina”, itssouthcarolina.com/things-to-do/food-and-drink/sweet-tea-in-south-carolina/ (updated 2026-10-26). By the It's South Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.