Making iced tea.
In British culture, we tend to think of iced tea as a unusual alternative often seen in supermarkets but rarely chosen. Yet in other cultures, iced teas are much more popular and come in a huge variety. In countries like China and Japan, flavoured green teas are used as a chilled alternative on summer days and are widely sold. Whereas in Brazil, Yerba Mate is often served chilled with lime juice. These examples just scratch the surface. Iced tea can become something deeply personal based on how you choose to serve it and what additions or garnishes you want to add.
Drawing inspiration from this sub-culture of tea, we would like to present our guide to making some of your favourite teas into cool, refreshing iced teas.
Iced black tea
The classic iced tea in Britain serves as a great starting point.
Any black tea can be used to make this. We recommend using teas with large leaves, such as our Ceylon Kenilworth OP (Orange Pekoe) as broken leaves might add too much tanginess to the infusion.
How to make iced teas
- Boil 1 litre of water in a pan.
- Take the water off of the heat and add 3- 4 heaped teaspoons of your favourite black tea.
- Allow to steep for 5 minutes.
- If you prefer a sweeter iced tea, add sugar or honey to your taste at this point.
- Once steeped, pour the tea through a sieve into a pitcher full of ice.
- Mix well until completely chilled and serve.
Adding the boiled infusion to the ice to cool it down rapidly is a important step in getting a clear iced tea as cooling the tea slowly will make it cloudy. Often these teas served with a garnish of lemon or in some countries with lime, but this is down to your own personal taste.
This recipe can also be used for our green teas and fruit infusions. The differences are in the infusion time and how it is cooled.
Making iced green tea
- Allow to steep for 5 minutes
- Leave it to cool down to room temperature and then place in the fridge
Making iced fruit infusions and tisanes.
- Allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- Cool down to room temperature and then place in the fridge.
