General Guidelines For How to Make Cold Brew Tea
- Put loose-leaf tea in your container of choice (a jar, water bottle, etc.)
- Add cold water. Use 50 ml of cold water for every gram of tea (make sure to use good quality filtered water for best results)
- Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight
Although these are the general guidelines, to be more specific, you just have to use 1.5-2x the amount of loose leaf for a cold brew than you would use for a standard hot brew.
Cold Brew vs. Iced Tea
So what is cold brew tea exactly? And yes, there is a difference between cold brew and iced tea!
If you are a coffee lover, you may already know the difference between the two and why many people prefer cold brews (and why they cost more).
To make iced tea, we usually make a strong hot brew and mix it with plenty of water (strong enough that it doesn't get watered down by the ice).
Generally, the potent hot brew would have a lot more bitterness and astringency. You wouldn’t want to drink it on its own.
On the other hand, when we perform a long extraction with cold water, the components extracted from the tea are slightly different.
In other words, cold water extracts tannins and the more astringent catechins more slowly, which is a big part of why cold brew tastes cleaner and sweeter. At the same time, the much longer steep time and the absence of heat-driven degradation mean cold brew often ends up with comparable or even higher overall antioxidant activity than a hot brew of the same tea.
You can try it at home by comparing both side by side and decide what you think. Perhaps you’ll actually prefer iced tea. Either way, let us know in the comment section!
Tip for Your Own Cold Brew Tea Recipe:
Have you ever had leftover already-brewed tea leaves (for example, after gongfucha) that didn’t quite get used up? Happens to us all the time! You can use those same leaves to make cold brew tea. It might not be as flavorful anymore, but it's still an excellent way to use the leaves instead of just throwing them away (click here to see some other tips on reusing brewed tea leaves!)
Additionally, you can add some cut-up fruits or other herbs to make a more flavorful concoction!
One last thing. As with all teas, both cold brew and hot brews, these are just general guidelines, and the best resulting brew will always vary based on the likes of the consumer. So experiment and experiment with the amount of loose leaf and how long to leave it in the fridge for (maybe 24 hours? Up to you!)
