Iced Tea Suggestions and Favorites
It’s almost that time of year to whip out some iced teas but I am inexperienced and would like to hear from the community. What are some of the tools and techniques you personally use to make iced tea? What are some of your favorite teas to try over ice? Do you add any condiments or just drink it straight? Please share your favorite iced tea recipes. I would love to try them.
I cold brew my iced teas.
This means that I add double the suggested amount of tea to 24 ounces of water in an airtight glass jar.
I then let it steep overnight up to 18 hours or so, maybe more for rooibos and honeybush.
Then I strain the leaves and pour into a glass.
Sometimes I add stevia to sweeten because it doesn’t have any calories, and I am trying to watch my weight.
What effect does steeping it overnight have on the flavor as opposed to steeping for a few minutes?
Well, I find since you’re not using boiling water, any teas you may have found bitter in the past – are not bitter at all when cold brewed.
Some teas you’ll find no change at all!
Honestly, why I prefer coldbrewing when making iced tea, is because the ice cubes in my freezer sometimes have a funky gross freezer taste to them. So if I made iced tea with ice cubes it tastes a little off. I could brew tea hot and then put it in the fridge to cool, but if I’m going to wait to cool it like that, cold brewing is just handier!
That’s my take on it anyways. And yes, Amanda just posted a great article down there too!
(Edit: I should say, when I cold brew, like Amanda, I don’t use double the amount of tea and I find it turns out just fine! So if using more tea is turning you off from trying it, just experiment with the amount of tea and find out which works for you! I know some teas I double up for more flavour, but some teas work fine with just one teaspoon!)
i do the exact same,, just cold steep overnight in a pitcher, its just not the time to do iced tea!! its far too cold now.. but in the summer, ah perfect!!
Edit: I double the amount of tea because I am doubling the amount of water that I would normally use!
I usually cold brew too, Golden Moon had a great newsletter on it: http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9494c5eec5d02a94ecadb1160&id=92aba9bfbd&e=423ca10028
It can bring out different flavors than brewing hot, but subtle teas wouldn’t do so well with it. For example, just recently I used this raspberry oolong. When hot, the first steep tasted too much like raspberry flavor. When I cold brewed it, I had a more refined flavor plus it actually tasted like oolong.
I’ve never used double though, always the same amount I would use if I was making hot tea. It’s never resulted in a diluted flavor, though also I do not add ice to a glass.
anyone have any good teas to suggest for me? for iced tea?? I really want to know about fruit tea and herbal if they are good for iced,, rather than a black tea
I love hibiscus tea iced. In fact, it and lemonade are probably the only things I drink all summer. Cold-steep the leaves, add a dash of lime juice, maybe a smidge of honey and it’s delicious.
The best iced tea that I’ve had was the Rainbow Sherbet from 52Teas … it is good hot, but incredibly AMAZING iced. I don’t think that there is any more of this available though. But maybe we can start bugging Frank to make some for the coming warm weather. Also good is the Black and Blue from 52Teas.
I just did a tea log on one I think would make a LOVELY iced tea!
http://steepster.com/teas/rare-tea-republic/25100-chamong-sftgfop1-tippy-131?post=105539
I almost always make iced tea by brewing hot tea 2x the strength, then pouring over an equal amount of ice. Cold brew brings out a whole different range of flavors. I enjoy it, but it takes a long time and has a lot of caffeine.
I just made a refreshing blood orange iced tea using Taiwan Assam Tea. This is a great base tea for iced teas because it’s got a nice rich body, and low astringency. The blood oranges I made into a syrup by soaking the peels in equal parts juice and sugar.
I love Fruit Medley from Adagio iced. I hot brew, then let it cool before pouring it over ice.
And I just tried Tavalon’s Summer Fruits tea iced. Great flavor! It’s a green tea with a light apricot flavor. Good stuff.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I will definitely check them out and experiment with these different techniques to find what’s best for me. If there’s one thing I learned from drinking tea it’s that you have to find your own personal taste and preference. Each experience is unique and personal. Thanks again!
Last night I brewed up the last of my Lime Jello Salad tea from 52Teas for the fridge. I had some iced, and it was pretty amazing… not quite as good as the rainbow sherbet, but still really good.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.