The Iced Tea Topic

[pim]

I am so inspired today.

I thought I'd start my very first thread with this timely recipe. It's such an unusually hot day today in San Francisco.

Mariage Frères, the delightful Paris tea salon, serves this refreshing take on the classic iced tea at their brunch service. (The recipe is mine of course, I couldn't wrestle it out of them)

32 oz water (about 4 cups)

5 heaping tsp of best quality Earl Grey tea--loose leaves of course, preferably Mariage Frères French Bleu. Should you only have tea bags, you might as well stop here. The only thing they are good for is to rid your plastic containers of the smelly oily residue.

3 tbsp of mild honey (or to taste)

1.5-2 cups of fresh squeezed orange juice, depending on how acidic the juice is.

Bring 32 oz of water to just boiling temperature, brew the tea for exactly 5 minutes. Strain the tea into a large pitcher, mix in the honey, then the orange juice. Let cool in the fridge for a bit before serving with ice---if you pour immediately the ice will melt and dilute the magic from the tea. Cover it while in the fridge or the use of the aromatic and, bien sur, expensive tea will be pointless.

A note on the tea pot: Make sure that there is enough room in your brewing basket for the leaves to unfurl properly. This means your tea ball, unless it's a giant one, should go the way of the bin. Most pots on sale in the US have brewing baskets that are too small, so be warned. The best thing to do is brew the tea loose in the pot and strain it into a pitcher after 5 minutes. This way your tea leaves will have all the room they need to do their magic.

This is definitely my favorite summer drink, what's yours?

Enjoy.

Pim

Edited June 26, 2003 by pim (log)

[Fat Guy]

Thanks for the wonderfully evocative post, and welcome.

Of course, Earl Grey would be the ideal choice for this beverage because it is flavored with bergamot orange oil. So why not go all the way and use orange-blossom honey!

[torakris]

This sounds great!

There is a lovely tea/coffee shop in the Tokyo/Yokohama areas call Afternoon Tea that sells an Earl Grey/fresh orange juice drink that sounds just like this. I have never tried it myself but now I will!

Pim,

welcome to egullet!

[Fat Guy]

Here's an iced tea methodology discussion we had awhile back. I plan to continue my experiments this summer, now that we finally have summer.

[Elissa]

i drink rose hips ice tea unsweetened

Edited June 27, 2003 by lissome (log)

[trillium]

I like the Casablanca blend from Mariage Frères on ice and a blend I make myself from a decent (but not too pricey) green like dragonwell or a lightly fermented pouchong and lemon verbana. Another nice one is a blend of Ceylon from Uva and a cheapie Darjeeling. Small amounts of sugar stirred in while they're hot (probably 1 tsp for a 6 c teapot) then poured over fresh ice.

regards,

trillium

[ErinB]

I also make iced green tea. It's pretty much the only kind of tea i ever have, green tea, white tea, and red tea. But i make the iced out of what ever loose green tea i happen to have, unsweetened.

But i would be happy to hear any ideas people have for it. I really like this kind of iced green tea i get at stores, that has passion fruit in it.

[jpr54_]

I have several teas from mariage freres, le palais des thes, and floriage-

I will try experimenting making iced teas-

I will keep ppl psted with my results-

I also have frosty green imperial iced tea from imperial tea

joanne

[KatieLoeb]

There is a very fine tea shop here in Philadelphia called House of Tea (Click Here) that is walking distance from my home. They sell every variety of loose teas and there is one called Four Red Fruits that I particularly like as an iced beverage in the summertime, slightly sweetened with honey. It's reminiscent of many berries and delightful on a hot day. The Earl Grey with Violets also makes a delicious iced tea. The store is run by the original owner's daughter now that he has passed. It is a real treasure. My restaurant (Striped Bass) purchases teas from House of Tea, as do many other fine restaurants. But the most fun is to go in there and just ask to sniff the contents of the various tins and bring home a new flavor to try from time to time.

[Bux]

I have little or no interest in iced tea. I've just never developed a taste for it, except for Mugi Cha, which I believe is either barley or buckwheat tea. We had it in Japan. When the weather was hot, it seemed to replace green tea as the welcoming drink in Japanese inns. We've bought it here in NY's Chinatown and when my wife brews a pot, I will have some.

I like iced coffee and I like it made with espresso and milk, although I never have milk in hot coffee. I don't make iced coffee very often, but when I do, I like to make coffee ice cubes, so the drink is not diluted as the ice melts. Does anyone make their iced tea with tea ice cubes?

[gus_tatory]

bux, pim, torakris, and others:

i have also had that roasted barley/"popcorn" green tea, it smells so good, and is really refreshing on hot days. don't know what the proper name is...

but a chilled green tea, as mentioned here, with pineapple juice, is also excellent

[Elissa]

genmaicha

[torakris]

bux, pim, torakris, and others:

i have also had that roasted barley/"popcorn" green tea, it smells so good, and is really refreshing on hot days. don't know what the proper name is...

but a chilled green tea, as mentioned here, with pineapple juice, is also excellent 

lissome already answered, but here is some more on Japanese leaf teas:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...T&f=19&t=20288&

[torakris]

and another one of my favorites:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...T&f=25&t=17727&

oksusu-cha Korean corn tea

[JFLinLA]

In my weeking digest of the LA Times food section, there was an article about using syrups infused with different flavors to enhance fruits. Interesting stuff on what goes well with what, and what doesn't. Gotta think it translates, at least some, to iced tea.

Edited June 27, 2003 by JFLinLA (log)

[pim]

In my weeking digest of the LA Times food section, there was an article about using syrups infused with different flavors to enhance fruits.  Interesting stuff on what goes well with what, and what doesn't.  Gotta think it translates, at least some, to iced tea.

I had another tea/orange juice drink at a lovely brunch place on La Jolla Cove near San Diego. It came in a large clear glass, with about 3/4 inch of raspberry syrup at the bottom, then OJ up to about a half mark, the rest was darkly brewed black tea. It was called the Sunset, and stirring the three layers together did bring the image to mind.

I've done it at home with dark-brewed Assam or Ceylon, and they both worked really well.

pim

[ErinB]

Thai iced tea (and coffee) is very good, and I especially like the taste of Vietnamese iced coffee. I had some in NYC Chinatown in March and it was a real taste treat.

What makes thai iced tea thai ? vietnamese ? Is it the type of tea they use or something they add ?

[Elissa]

did ii acutually forget to say: mint day tea

mint in water in the sun for a day

[bloviatrix]

During the summer I make herbed iced teas. I don't use specific quantities - just eyeball it based on the pot I'm using. I make a sugar syrup. In another pot I boil up water. Then add 4 or 5 tea bags and a bunch of mint/lemon basil/whatever smelled good at the greenmarket and steep for 7 or 8 minutes. Then I combine the tea and syrup in a container along with the herbs and add some additional water and chill in the fridge. I like the tea with a hint of sweetness but not overwhelmingly sweet.

[pim]

What makes thai iced tea thai ? vietnamese ? Is it the type of tea they use or something they add ?

Thai iced tea has added coloring to give it the tint of red. The tea itself is probably regular black tea, likely of Broken Orange Pekoe or even Fanning grade.

The traditional way of making it calls for condensed milk as sweetener (read: cheap), not milk or cream (read: expensive).

The tea snob side of me told me to turn my nose at it, but Thai iced tea has sort of a forbidden fruit allure for me. Thai iced tea in Thailand is found only at street vendors--which means it is served with ice of questionable origin. I was hence never allowed to have it as a child, so now that I am an adult and can gorge myself with just about any food item I damn well please, I could hardly resist it.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee is a culinary inheritance the French Colonialists left for the Vietnamese. The coffee is made with the old style french stove top espresso maker, the condensed milk and ice are definitely the Vietnames addition the classic.

[Tremor]

Unsweetened, iced Hibiscus tea is wonderful.

However, y'all are getting too fancy. Good ol' strong Southern sweet tea (made with the "commoner" blend of Pekoe and Orange Pekoe) works just fine. Can't beat it.

[jpr54_]

I have done a few experiments with my teas-

my floriage teas do not do well iced-they are better prepared traditionally-

le palais des thes did wll iced-prepared traditionally with added ice cubes

the du hamman

the de viollette

the des moines

mariage freres

marco polo-did well iced

1854-horrible iced

Joanne

[torakris]

What makes thai iced tea thai ? vietnamese ? Is it the type of tea they use or something they add ?

Thai iced tea has added coloring to give it the tint of red. The tea itself is probably regular black tea, likely of Broken Orange Pekoe or even Fanning grade.

The traditional way of making it calls for condensed milk as sweetener (read: cheap), not milk or cream (read: expensive).

The tea snob side of me told me to turn my nose at it, but Thai iced tea has sort of a forbidden fruit allure for me. Thai iced tea in Thailand is found only at street vendors--which means it is served with ice of questionable origin. I was hence never allowed to have it as a child, so now that I am an adult and can gorge myself with just about any food item I damn well please, I could hardly resist it.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee is a culinary inheritance the French Colonialists left for the Vietnamese. The coffee is made with the old style french stove top espresso maker, the condensed milk and ice are definitely the Vietnames addition the classic.

There is a Thai restaurant by my house that makes an incredible Thai iced tea but with coconut milk instead of the condensed milk. Don't know how traditional it is but it sure is good!

[Kim WB]

This thread inspired me to work on my own iced tea preferences. I've decided, for ease, drinkability and taste, that I prefer strong brewed Earl Grey, cooled down, poured over crushed ice and macerated fruit. Fruit must include lemon, and my fav combo so far was a slice of peach, a slice of orange, and a wedge of lemon. It does not taste the same if I add muliple slices to the pitcher and let them linger in there..there is a big taste difference between preparing a la minute than in advance.

[Jason Perlow]

We always take the mint thats growing around outside the house and either brew it straight with some sugar, or combine it with a regular black tea. Really refreshing.