(Visit our Secrets of Brewing and How to Brew pages for more helpful info on
brewing and steeping)Add loose tea or tea bags to hot water and steep:
Green tea – 3 minutes
Black tea – 5 minutes
Oolong tea – 3-4 minutes
Remove loose tea leaves or tea bags from water and let hot brewed tea cool down a
bit before adding to 8 cups cold water in a 1 gallon jar or pitcher. Stir brewed tea
and water in pitcher to mix, and refrigerate.
Add sweeteners, garnishments, or flavor additions or just leave plain.
Visit our
Measure and Yield page for more on measuring different types and styles of
tea, and our Herbal Teas page for measuring equivalents for fresh, powdered, and
dried herbs and spices. Also see our Measuring Loose Leaf Tea page for info on how
to weigh the correct amount of tea for different sized cups, mugs, teapots and travel
mugs.
Adding Flavorings
Some like their tea straight up, no sweeteners, no
lemon, or garnishments of any kind. But many
people (myself included) love to experiment with
different flavors and combinations.Iced tea goes together well with many different fla-
vors, from fresh mint, to lemon, lime, orange,
raspberry, strawberry, peach, blueberry…well, you
get the picture. It’s only really limited by your imagination.
Use a
flavored tea as a base, and add from there. Either fresh or frozen fruit
makes a great flavoring. Cut fresh fruit up into small pieces or freeze fruit juice
in ice cube trays and add for a nice flavor boost.Herbs and spices also add a nice kick of flavor. Start with a mint gunpowder
tea as a base and add fresh chopped or whole mint leaves (maybe from your
own herb garden?), for a fresh, invigorating taste. Or if you like it spicy you
can add a teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or whole star anise to the
hot tea while it’s steeping, so the spices can infuse with the tea.
Rather than sweetening iced tea with sugar or honey, add
half a cup of fruit juice to sweeten, giving it a fresh, sweet
flavor, and so healthy, too. You can use any kind of fruit
juice you enjoy, be it apple, cranberry, raspberry, orange,
even pomegranate makes a great flavor addition.
Try using flavored tea as a base, (such as
Strawberry Tea
for an extra punch of flavor) and just add from there. Have
fun creating tasty, complex flavor combinations for your iced
tea, and sit back, relax, and as always, Enjoy! |