How to Make Iced Tea

There are a few things you need to know about brewing great iced tea.  The first thing to remember when brewing any kind of tea (hot or iced) is “good water brews good tea.” If you live in an area where your water is chemically treated or has a chlorine-like taste, it is good idea to use bottled or filtered water for your tea; it will definitely taste better.

Additionally, to strengthen your tea, add more tealeaves; do not increase steeping time. Over steeping tea brings out the bitterness of the tealeaves, leading to a very unpleasant drinking experience. For a weaker tea, simply decrease steeping time.

To avoid cloudy iced tea, make sure to cool your tea completely before placing it in the refrigerator. Putting hot tea directly into a cold environment will definitely lead to cloudy tea. Adding some boiling water to cloudy tea can clear it up – sometimes.

Cold-Brew Iced Tea: This recipe is a great way to try out lots of different tea varieties without getting too fancy. Fill a pitcher/container with 10 cups of water. Add 3-4 tbsp of your favorite tea leaves. Place in refrigerator overnight. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another container. You can also purchase pitchers that have removable sections for tea leaves. If you drink large quantities of tea this is a great investment; we love ours. Stop by our retail location to check out our selection!

This iced tea method works great for a number of different teas. Some of our favorites include:

• Raspberry Fruit Black Tea
• Passion Fruit Black Tea
• Winter Blend Black Tea (apple cinnamon flavor and B.J.’s favorite)
• Pomegranate Green Tea
• Citrus Green Tea
• Crimson Berry Herbal Tea
• Triple Berry Herbal Tea
• Passion Berry Herbal Tea

Hot-Brewed Iced Tea: Don’t have time to steep your tea all night? Simply add 3-4 tbsp of tea leaves to 2 cups just boiling water. Allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain tea leaves and transfer to a pitcher. Add 8 cups cold water and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Single Cup Iced Tea: If you only want a single cup of iced tea, add 1-1 ½ tbps tea leaves (in an infuser) to 8 oz. of just boiling water. Steep for necessary time, depending on tea type. (See our Blog Post “How to Steep Tea” for steeping times). Fill a 16 oz. cup with ice. Pour the hot tea over the ice and allow to cool; add additional ice if necessary.