Loose leaf tea provides a wealth of
flavors and varieties, hot or iced, without artificial flavor and sweeteners.
Cold Brewed vs. Iced Tea
Traditional iced tea is quick while
cold brewed provides flavor alternatives and great tasting cold green teas
without being bitter.
Brewing hot over ice is fast, yet
extracts compounds which can cause bitterness, especially in green and white
teas.
Cold brewed is ideal for loose leaf
green teas. Cold brewing also offers new tastes to your black teas, leaves
tannins behind and is a simple way to make cold green and white tea. And with
an overnight steep it can be ready first thing on those hot summer mornings!
Iced Tea
Determine how much iced tea in total you wish to make. This helps to determine how much loose leaf
tea and water you need.
For the ice tea, half of your water will come from
ice. If you plan on making 48 oz of iced
tea, you will need 24 oz of water and the remaining in ice.
Use approximately 1 tsp per 8 oz. of water (finished
volume), so for 48 oz you will need 6 tsp total. For white teas, use 1 Tbsp.
per 8 oz. water.
Brew all the tea in the 24 oz of water using the
appropriate time and water temperature as if you were drinking it hot.
Pour through a strainer over an equal volume of ice. Adjust
the amount of ice for stronger or weaker tea.
Cold Brewing Loose Leaf Tea
Determine how much iced tea total you
wish to make.
Use a container that holds the entire
volume of water.
Add 1 ½ tsp loose leaf tea per 8 oz.
of water (1 ½ Tbsp. white tea).
When using herbs or other picked
plants from your garden, add a small amount of boiling water to ensure any
lingering bacteria are killed off.
Fill the container with cold water
and place in the fridge.
After 8-10 hours, depending on
desired strength, strain off infused tea from the leaves with a strainer.
Having trouble deciding on a flavor? Any loose leaf tea will make a delicious iced tea! Try making a cold brew or iced tea with Dominion Tea's Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Pear Raspberry Green, or Sencha, all available from South Mountain Creamery!
Wednesday, June 17, 2015