How Instant Tea Made Our Lives Better

Instant tea might be the greatest thing since, well, regular tea. The ability to make a glass of tea on the fly is quite impressive and satisfying. You get options, too, since you can make it hot or cold.
It has been around for over 80 years. Then, another decade later, a major company took it to the public market. You could use that version for hot tea only. Soon after that, an instant was released that could be mixed in cold water rather than hot water.
Purists say there is not as much antioxidant as you would get in a regular brew. It just goes to show you once again that the more a food is processed, the less nutritious it becomes.
Most people also say instant tea doesn't as good as a leaf brew. The same thing goes for instant or freeze-dried coffee and, if you give it a chance you will soon get used to it, and eventually look forward to drinking it.
Keep this in mind if you drink iced tea: There are some ingredients in it that you would not get with loose-leaf tea. Some of those are to keep the powder from forming clumps, some are undesirable or sweeteners which may be harmful to some people, and others are there to add increased flavor such as tartness. Due your due diligence on this. As soon as you start making it only from tea leaves, health enthusiasts remind you about insecticides or some kind of chemicals. It's hard to win in the food arena.
The best part about powdered tea is the fact that they are available in endless variations and tastes. For example, it is available sugar already in it or without sugar, and you can get with or without caffeine. It is available in organic varieties, too, that claim to be free of any pesticides and other harmful chemicals. 
It comes in flavors such as peach, pineapple and strawberry. There is instant green, black, and oolong. Herbal varieties are available in cassia, ginger, jasmine and more. Many of them claim to do something for you such as give you energy, get rid of your sleepiness in the morning, sedate you, increase your thinking power, keep your waist trim, cure the blues, normalize the sugar in your blood, or help with hypertension. All of that stuff is good news; that is, providing it does a good job of quenching your thirst.