Pure Leaf Wants To Give You Diamonds On National Iced Tea Day

What beverage comes to mind when you think of diamonds? If you're picturing these pricey gems as the epitome of luxury, then chances are, you're thinking of Champagne with a capital C. Pure Leaf, however, would like you to associate these sparklers with a different kind of beverage: iced tea. Huh? Iced tea, while it makes a great summertime refresher, does seem a little downmarket for diamonds. Well, it seems Pure Leaf is playing up on the "ice" association, as this is one of the gem's many nicknames and is also an important component in iced tea (since without ice, it's just tepid tea).

In order to convince us to equate "ice" with iced tea, particularly in light of National Iced Tea Day coming up on June 10, Pure Leaf will be giving away 25 pairs of diamond earrings of the half-carat size. While prices will vary with cut, color, and clarity, half-carat manmade diamond earrings can be purchased for about $70 from Walmart and mined conflict-free ones had for under $150 on Amazon.

People who would like to enter the Pure Leaf giveaway can do so in one of two ways, both involving Instagram: Tag a friend on Pure Leaf's giveaway post (going live at 9 a.m. Eastern on Friday the 9th), including the hashtags #PureLeafIcedTeaDay and #GiveawayEntry, or else post an Instagram story with a Pure Leaf pic using those same hashtags. Would-be entrants have until 11:59 p.m. Saturday the 10th to do so, whichever method they employ.

What, if any, town can be credited with being the birthplace of iced tea? We don't know for sure and probably never will, although it rose to national prominence at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Summerville, South Carolina, lays claim to having been the first place to create the sweetened version popular in the southern states, but Pure Leaf is instead anointing Atlanta, Georgia as its candidate for Sweet Tea City, U.S. A. In honor of this, they have a special treat in store for Atlanta-area tea lovers on June 10.

For that day only, between noon and 6 p.m., anyone using the Pure Leaf vending machine located in the Park Tavern will get a free bottle of iced tea. And for a few lucky tea fans, 10 of those free bottles will come with an additional perk: a code or something similar that will "unlock" a pair of diamond earrings. Rather than dropping the jewelry right in the bottle, Pure Leaf has opted for the safer route of mailing the prizes to the winners at a later date.