Crossing the bend into May is a delight every year, with blooming flowers and a sense of renewal and positive energy in the air. And once it starts getting steamy outside, there’s no turning back from perhaps the most satisfying drink around: iced tea. Of course, we’ve spoken plenty about cold-brewing tea on this blog, since we’re all about the glory of loose-leaf. But did you know that there’s more than one way to enjoy your brew cold?
Most people might not give this classic American drink so much thought—tea on ice is just tea on ice, right? But, as tea obsessives, we feel obligated to dish out all the ways in which you can extract flavor from your Heavenly Tea Leaves pick of choice and enjoy it out in the sun (or in the air conditioning, if that’s more your jam). Here are a few methods to get you started.
1. The Gold Standard: Cold-Brewed Iced Tea
The regular and most adored way to cold-brew tea is something worth considering twice. There’s a reason this is the most popular way to drink a proper iced tea. Cool and slow means you slowly and gently extract the tea’s unique notes. Simply fill a vessel (preferably glass) with room-temperature water and add in a strainer filled with about 3 heaping tablespoons of your favorite tea leaves. Then, place it in the fridge overnight (at least six hours for the best result) and watch the magic happen. The longer you leave it in, the stronger it will taste. Like with hot tea, be careful not to under-brew or over-brew it. As soon as you get rid of the tea leaves, you have the perfect pitcher to last you for days.
2. Ice-Brewing (Kōri-Dashi)
Japanese culture is synonymous with artful and sophisticated practices. Ice cubes are meant to melt ultra-slowly to extract the ultimate flavor. It’s straightforward and results in a clean, crisp cup. Simply place a few cups of ice cubes over about 3 tablespoons of loose leaf tea in a large strainer, and place the strainer over a large cup or pitcher. This is a set-it-and-forget-it method—just leave it on your counter to fully melt and discard the strained leaves. Play around with the water-to-tea ratios to find the right potency for you.
The beauty of this method lies in its softness—teas that typically brew with bitterness or astringency become noticeably smoother, rounder, and more delicate in flavor. Adjust the tea-to-water ratio to discover your ideal strength.
3. Japanese Flash-Chilled Iced Tea (Kyūrei)
Craving a quick iced tea without the fuss? This is your method. Although it doesn’t extract the flavor from the leaf quite as gently at the other methods, it’s definitely more efficient. It’s most often used on teas that are innately more bitter, like green teas—especially Sencha. Compared with traditional hot-brewed iced tea, flash-chilling produces a brighter, smoother cup with less bitterness. (This method is used for coffee, too.) It goes like this: Hot-brew tea with 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of the tea leaf for every 8 ounces. Brew for about 5 minutes (for green tea, the water should be less than boiling and the brew time is closer to 3 minutes). Once ready, extract the leaves (aka remove the strainer) and add 8 ounces of ice for every 8 ounces of water, so the ratio is half ice, half water. Then, we wait! Once the ice fully melts, keep the pitcher chilled, and you’ll have a brew that’s bright, brisk, not overly concentrated, and bitterness-free.
4. Sun Tea
The power of the sun cannot be underestimated. This slow-steeping method is very similar to a regular cold brew, but it takes advantage of the slight natural heat of the sun, which could speed up the process by a couple of hours. Simply follow the same instructions as a cold brew, but instead of refrigerating immediately, put the pitcher out in the sun (covered) and watch it brew in about 3 to 5 hours. Then you can add ice and/or refrigerate it afterward so it doesn’t spoil. You can consider this our version of enjoying the great outdoors.
*DISCLAIMER: Modern food safety guidance generally discourages traditional sun tea because water may remain in the bacterial “danger zone” for too long.
5. Fruit-Infused Tea
We’ve mentioned add-ins before—but with fruits, it bears repeating. Here’s our tried-and-true recipe for iced tea lemonade. Simply throw in and muddle whatever else you like–berries, fresh mint, diced melon—for your ideal cup:
Step 1: Add 1 tsp. of Black tea to 6-8 oz. of boiling water
Step 2: Boil your water to 208 degrees and steep your tea for 2-4 minutes.
Step 3: Squeeze in 2-4 lemons for every 6-8 ounces of water.
Step 4: Add sweetener (we prefer organic raw honey) to your hot water & stir
Step 5: Refrigerate until the tea is cool, add ice, and enjoy
While you can use just about any of our teas to beat the heat, this array features the ones we recommend most for beating the heat this May and beyond. They’re organic, they’re customizable, they’re flavorful, and they’re easy on your wallet. After we’ve done the heavy lifting, the only item left on your to-do list is deciding on your brewing technique. Cheers to that.
