HOW TO MAKE ICED TEA
Most “Iced Teas” are comprised of finely ground tea leaves or a fine cut of whatever herbal leaf (like Rooibos or Hibiscus). The finer pieces make a stronger brew than larger leaves, so you can usually use less tea.
But YOU CAN MAKE ANY TEA ICED! There are a couple of methods. We’ll spell out the basics.
Iced tea gets diluted by melting ice, so you want to make it strong so you know you're pouring a flavorful glass.
The longer the leaves are in the water, the stronger the tea will get.
Mind your water temperature if brewing hot, especially with Green Teas. You don't want a bitter iced tea.
For an Iced Tea blend, a half ounce of tea leaves (14-16 grams) will brew up to 64 ounces of tea. Use a whole ounce if you want a stronger brew.
For teas that are not usually iced, you may want to double the amount of dry leaf you're using. A whole ounce is recommended for brewing 64 ounces of tea.
Method 1: Cold Brewing
Any tea can be cold brewed, but remember cold brewing doesn’t pull much caffeine from tea leaves, so if you’re wanting a caffeine boost, this may not be the method for you.
To cold brew most teas, you’ll want two things: a container to brew it in, and a brew bag or infuser to keep the leaves out of your cup. We recommend a cotton brew bag.
Most iced tea pitchers, including our Flask Iced Tea Pitcher, hold about 64 ounces of liquid. For that amount of water you’ll want to steep up to an ounce (28 grams) of tea leaves. For the Iced Tea specific blends, you can use as little as half an ounce (14 grams) of leaves. We usually make a stronger brew for our guests so the melting ice won’t water down a flavorful glass, but each tea can be made to suit your taste.
Cold steeping time is typically a minimum of 10-12 hours, so it’s easy to get a pitcher ready and put it in the fridge as a lovely treat for tomorrow. The longer the leaves stay in the water the stronger the cold brew. Once brewed, most teas are good for about 5 days in the refrigerator.
No time for Cold Brewing? Try Iced Tea Method 2: Start Hot
Iced Teas that are brewed hot are either poured over ice so you can serve right away or the hot tea is added to cold water and given time tin the refrigerator to chill.
Green teas should only steep for maximum 3-4 minutes and the water shouldn't be more than 180°
For the average iced tea pitcher (approximately 64 oz capacity, like our Flask Iced Tea Pitcher) you’ll steep an 23-28 grams or about an ounce of tea (minimum14 grams for one of our Iced Tea blends). Brew your tea in 20 ounces of hot water and add to pitcher. Fill the rest of the way with cold water. We use our Teaze infusers to steep the leaves, and after we add the hot tea we pour cold water through the same infuser to make sure we get every bit of flavor we can.
When we brew up a single-serving iced tea for our guests here in our tea room, we’ll fill a glass (16-20oz) with ice and then we’ll steep (hot) 5-7 grams of tea in only 10-12 ounces of water and pour that over ice to dilute and get the drink nice and cold. We use our
Teaze infusers to prepare most 12-20oz drinks.
For a carafe (usually a capacity around 26-32 oz) we fill our carafe about halfway with ice, then we steep approximately 11 grams of leaves in a full 20oz of water. With our Teaze infuser. Once steeped, we pour the hot tea over the ice. If more water is needed we pour cold water through the same infuser until the carafe is full.
Method 3: Tea Bags
The rules here are pretty simple. Use at least two tea bags for every 8-12 ounces of water. After you've given them a good steep, remove the tea bags and pour your tea over ice or add cold water and allow time to chill in the refrigerator.
Method 4: Sun Tea
Add an appropriate amount of tea and water to a jar of your choice. Place the jar in the sun for about 6 hours, long enough to let the tea release plenty of flavor. Remove the bags or infuser. At this point you can pour over ice or give it time in the refrigerator to chill.
If you plan on making it sweet:
Honey and sugar don't dissolve as well in cold water. We recommend using 1 part hot water to 1 part sugar or honey and stirring them until dissolved to make a simple syrup that will mix in with your tasty beverage. If you're brewing hot, stir your sweetener in until dissolved before you pour over ice or add cold water.