Tea in Summer
Thanks for the comments guys (and gals). I guess I need to suck it up and get back into it. I’m a programmer as well, except my office’s climate is not very well controlled… At my other job it was always too cold, and here the A/C barely seems to be working yet… We’ll see. The main reason why I haven’t been drinking tea lately is because even with plain old water I’m still breaking a bit of a sweat just by sitting in my seat. We need some A/C, stat.
I drink hot tea in the summer. I work in an air conditioned office (which is actually chilly, and hot tea is very welcome), and my home is air conditioned, though. I was being stubborn about turning it on at home on Sunday when we already reached 90, and after my hot morning coffee, I could only drink iced tea the rest of the day. If I didn’t have air conditioning, my answer might be different :)
Hope your A/C kicks on Soon Raffi.
I drink hot and iced year round. I’ve been drinking iced on the mornings I have to get into work at 5am, just for ease of grabbing it to go. Now that I’ve got my husband into iced fruit teas (Peachberry Jasmine Sutra from Teavana is his favorite), I have two gallon pitchers in the fridge at all times. I’m amazed at how fast he will consume this tea, but won’t drink other teas.
I still try to have at least one cup of hot black tea, if not others throughout the day.
I’m pretty much like the others I need a strong caffeinated beverage in the mornings to get me going. So I usually start the day off with a couple cups of black tea or mate and then switch over to some iced tea and if I’m not overheated then I will drink a cup of hot tea in between times. Even when it’s hot I still crave a cuppa hot tea or rooibos after dinner.
This is the first summer since I REALLY got into tea. I do think I’ll drink less tea in the summertime. I think I’m still likely to have a cup of black tea in the mornings sometimes. And I do like my nightly cup before bed. But I think my tea consumption throughout the day will decrease. It’s not truly super hot here yet, but it’s getting there.
Somehow I don’t think I’ll be as into iced loose teas as I am into hot. In my mind, it just doesn’t seem like they will taste quite as good. I think LiberTEA said they tasted muted to her somewhere above in this thread. Opinions?
My tongue thankfully disagrees w/ you:) There are a couple that I even prefer cold. Maybe a little extra steeping time? I’d never cold brew tea, but you could try that.
Chrine: yes I certainly did.
I’m no chemist, so I can’t actually tell you the chemical reaction as to why this is, but, in my years of working with tea I’ve learned that chilling a tea tends to mute the flavor of a tea. Sometimes you will find a tea that maintains its flavor as an iced tea, and generally these are actually flavored teas… and generally the flavor that is maintained is the actual flavoring, rather than the tea.
Sugar, honey, or agave nectar will assist in maintaining the flavors of an iced tea as well, if you happen to like sweet tea.
In my opinion – which I base upon my years of experience – the best kind of tea to put on ice is a good tea but not a great or exceptional tea. For example, using an exceptional Oolong like an Ali Shan from Norbu just seems like a waste of money (and while it is very good tea, it is not an inexpensive tea) to ice, because you lose much of the tea’s complexity when you chill it. I mean, why spend all that money on such a fine tea only to lose much of the great taste for which you’ve paid? Know what I mean?
I think chilling any food or drink tends to mute its flavor. This is why items like wine and good cheese need to be brought to the right temperature in order for their full aroma and flavor to come out.
I worked in an office that’s usually cold, so hot tea is my companion throughout the summer, at least during the work week. And my daily wake-up cup has got to be hot, no matter what the weather.
I do enjoy iced tea as a thirst-quencher in the heat of the afternoon. I generally brew equal quantities of Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast and their Blackberry Tea, sweeten it while it’s hot, and then add cold water.
Cofftea ~ I’m glad to hear that you enjoy teas iced. =) What I had meant to say was: I’m relatively new to decent loose tea drinking. I only got really into it last fall. I’m not sure how well my nice loose teas will translate to iced teas or if I will just feel like I’m wasting good tea leaf if I can’t taste the nuances. I think cold brewing tea is an intriguing idea that I might try out. I’m not quite sure how it’s done so I’d need to google first.
LiberTEA ~ I think you might have a point there. I cannot imagine my delicious A&D black teas tasting quite a yum chilled. I’d have to think that a basic loose black tea or even nicer bagged teas would work just as well. I do wonder if an oolong would be as yum chilled or a green tea. I have a flavored green that I like but don’t love that I could experiment with. I suppose you’d steep all the steeps then put them together and chill. I usually drink iced tea semi-sweet when I drink it out (half sweet and half unsweet – proportions varied depending on how sweet the sweet is, which can be quite sweet here in the South).
LadyL ~ My morning beverage has to be hot too, no matter the temperature. =) I was thinking about trying a blend of bagged teas, maybe a decent black tea with a fruity herbal.
Chrine- I share your concern only my concern is w/ cold brewing. I’ve never done it w/ low quality tea cuz I don’t buy it (at least intentionally lol) But maybe I’m the wrong person to ask since I think sweetening it kills the nuances lol. I do do about 3 steeps (IF the tea can handle it very well hot) just to save leaf and money since I normally make a gallon at a time. I know it’s not probably giving me the absolute best tea, but I don’t want to waste a bunch of leaf either by only steeping it once… that’s a bigger tea sin IMO. In my ideal world all teas would taste just as good hot, cold, and room temp but some teas are better hot and others cold- you need to find out which teas taste best to you at what temp.
I still drink mostly hot tea during the summer. A little iced every now and then, but even that’s pretty rather. I just find that I’m craving different flavors than I did during the fall when I would drink lots of chai and apple cinnamon. Now I’m drinking mint and floral teas :)
It’s never really that warm here in summer, so I like hot teas. At least for the morning/ brunch. This is usually when I sipdown my winter/ autumn teas.
I try almost everything as a cold brew. I really haven’t had any total disasters.
I have two big jugs in the refrigerator at all times. One steeping and one for drinking. I always say I will remember which teas I have in the refrigerator, but I never remember. I got these cute little blackboard labels/stickers and can write on them with chalk. Now I know what the heck I’m drinking before I start drinking.
I do also have hot tea at times through out the summer.
Like others I drink tea year round as well. In the summertime I alternate between hot and iced teas. Unsweetened iced oolong tea is one of my favorite summer thirst quenchers :-)
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