The Iced Tea Topic

[slkinsey]

I have enjoyed iced tea brewed from rooibos, a South African herb.

[Katherine]

Black or green tea is great with mint tea cubes. Good to the last drop.

[ErinB]

I have enjoyed iced tea brewed from rooibos, a South African herb.

I just started icing this tea at night - because it has no caffeine in it. It's also known as red tea, and the brand i buy is republic of tea.

[jpr54_]

i have found my favorite iced tea -

rishi-tea www.rishi-tea.com

rose melange blend which includes white tea, roses, peppermint and lavender-

(the company changes blend so read label)

the fragrant leaf-www.rishi-tea.com

rose bouquet-this is basically the same tea different company-

the rose fragrance is not overpowering and the peppermint gives tea a refreshing taste.

i enjoy this tea also hot-

rishi teas can be found at whole foods in edgewater, nj

joanne

[Human Bean]

With a long weekend and elevated temperatures, iced tea seems like a good idea. I came up with a pretty good tasting brew with what I had on hand: 3.5 parts (by volume) cheap Darjeeling (Lipton Green Label) .5 part Chinese oolong (Ti Kuan Yin) and a trace of Japanese green.

Cheap Darjeeling seems to be a good foundation for an iced tea; Assam might also be a good choice, but I don't have any of that right now. The oolong adds some complexity to the flavor - not much is needed; it can easily be overpowering, and if I'd wanted iced oolong, I'd have made that. The Japanese green is probably not necessary; I had it, so I put some in. More than a trace though, and it might add too much grassiness to the flavor.

It doesn't look as though it'll be as warm today as the last few days, but the iced tea experiments will continue.

[weinoo]

I usually make a double strength brewed tea (today I used earl grey leaf) and then pour that into the same quantity of slightly sweetened (1 tsp. sugar per cup of water) cold water. Let come to room temp before refrigerating - this keeps the tea from becoming cloudy.

I really think it's important to brew the tea for less than 5 minutes to keep the tannins in check. I'm drinking a glass of the brew right now (no other additives) and it's great!

[pim]

I really think it's important to brew the tea for less than 5 minutes to keep the tannins in check.  I'm drinking a glass of the brew right now (no other additives) and it's great!

I definitely agree with you. Most people make the mistake of brewing tea longer to get a darker brew---which will produce tannin galore! Instead, you should brew more tea in proportion water, but never brew full leave tea longer than 5 mins.

In fact, I would suggest 3 minutes or less if you use teabags, which contain Fanning grade teas.

[mrbigjas]

With a long weekend and elevated temperatures, iced tea seems like a good idea. I came up with a pretty good tasting brew with what I had on hand: 3.5 parts (by volume) cheap Darjeeling (Lipton Green Label) .5 part Chinese oolong (Ti Kuan Yin) and a trace of Japanese green.

I've been mixing teas too for iced tea lately. My latest batch was mostly assam, with a little each of formosa oolong for that mid-mouth flavor that oolong gives and bancha for grassiness, and even less each of lapsang souchong and yin hao jasmine for a little smoky and flowery flavor. It was really an interesting mix. I'm not sure the bancha added much to the mix, though--I think I'll just leave it out next time.

I don't find that letting it come to room temp works for preventing it from clouding up when refrigerated, though. I follow the advice of the nice people at the Tea Leaf in Reading Terminal Market here in Philadelphia--she said if you give it just a little shot of hot water, it'll clear up the cloudiness before pouring it over ice. It seems to work pretty well.

[Richard Kilgore]

My favorite for iced tea is Texas Passion Flower Tea, a blend found at Sequoyahs.com. This is a full leaf black tea flavored with apricot and mango. (The site is named after the Cherokee intellectual and is an on-line book and art coffee house that features western americana books and Native American art.) No financial interest here, but have been drinking this tea in the summer or years.

[bloviatrix]

I've been making a lot of herb infused iced tea. Most of the time I use spearmint, but I have also tried lemon verbena.

Anyway, I decided to infuse a combination of spearmint and lemon verbena, and the combination resulted in a strange outcome. The initial taste is of mint then followed by the lemon verbena. But the finish is reminiscent of anise. Is anyone familiar with this? It's oddly refreshing, but definitely not what I expected.

[alacarte]

What's your technique for making iced tea from the brewed stuff?

When I try it always turns out too strong or too bitter.

[Jaymes]

Down south, we make a lot of sun tea.

Quicker and easier....heat up a cup of water in the microwave. Dip in a bag of tea. Pour that over ice, and add water to taste.

I had a friend that really disliked bitter tea, so she'd heat up two cups of water. Dip the bag briefly into the first cup....said that got out most of the strongest, bitterest part, and then into the second cup. That's what she made her iced tea from.

Edited to add: If you make a lot of iced tea, you might want to invest in an Iced Tea Maker.... I've never owned one, but many of my friends find them quite handy.

Edited June 21, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[sanrensho]

It seems like most instructions for iced tea recommend a strong brew brought down to temperature with ice.

Personally, I just brew a large pot the normal way (to my desired strength), filter out the leaves and let it cool to normal temperature before refrigerating. Of course, this needs to be done the day before.

In Japan, they sell teabags specifically used for cold-brewing iced tea. Those are quite nice, but are limited in terms of variety.

Edited June 21, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[Pam R]

I have an iced tea machine... and haven't used it for about 2 years! I don't know why... but I just stopped using it and then it got misplaced in a move.

Now I take a pitcher - about 2.5 liters. Boil water in a kettle. Tie about 4 teabags around a wooden spoon and hang over the pitcher - pour in the water and leave for 5-10 minutes. I now do this using herbal teas though (right now the favorite is Passion Tazo tea from starbucks). I think the bitterness comes from the tea leaves themselves ... herbals don't have actual tea in them - so my tea has no bitterness. Then add some splenda to taste and refrigerate. Serve with lots of ice.

Using regular tea, I like to add some lemon juice as well.

The other morning I was at a coffee place and they had no iced tea - and that's what I wanted. To I just asked for a cup of tea (cherry vanilla) and a big glass full of ice. Made it right there and it was great! (It wasn't bitter either... and this one had tea leaves so maybe somebody who actually knows about the bitterness could explain )

Edited June 21, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[weinoo]

I like to brew a double amount of tea (i.e 6- 8 bags or tsps. for 4 cups of water). Water should not be boiling when you brew the tea but, at about 180 - 200 degrees. I only brew 3-4 minutes - any longer = bitterness. Then, I pour the tea into cold water (2 - 3 cups), sweetened if you like, in the pitcher. Let the tea come to room temp. before refrigerating (this will eliminate any cloudiness), or serve directly over ice.

[food mom]

It seems like most instructions for iced tea recommend a strong brew brought down to temperature with ice.

Personally, I just brew a large pot the normal way (to my desired strength), filter out the leaves and let it cool to normal temperature before refrigerating. Of course, this needs to be done the day before.

In Japan, they sell teabags specifically used for cold-brewing iced tea. Those are quite nice, but are limited in terms of variety.

←

Ah, Sarensho, you are absolutely correct. The best iced tea is made exactly as you have described. Easily done either before leaving the house for work, or before going to bed.

Good tea will always give good tea. Good water helps. Many people are fussy about their hot tea, using the best water available, but then for "iced tea", add ice cubes that often come from the commercial part of the freezer. Yuck.

One can brew a double-strength tea infusion, then cool a bit, then add the equal amount of ice cubes. Though, we often drink cold juice without ice - why not chilled tea?

Botannicals (non-camellia sinensis/assamicus) have no tea, so do not get bitter, no matter how long they steep.

Most iced tea mixes are not top-quality leaves. They are commercially cut (CTC) leaves, which are blended to impart a quick-brew (often called "brisk"), but one sacrifices taste for convenience. Some better quality iced tea bags are blended specifically not to cloud, but if clouding does occur, it can be cleared up by adding a bit of hot water and stirring (A BIT. not another cupful). Clouding is not harmful, just not always aesthetically pleasing.

Splenda is an artificial sweetner. The Sugar Council has just won a judgement against Johnson & Johnson for misleading advertising, as Splenda is chlorinated sugar.

A good tea really needs no sugar, though one can always add fruit juice.

[sanrensho]

The "brew to normal strength and chill" method also works wonderfully for most other teas. My current faves are chilled jasmine, oolong and rooibos teas, as well as various types of black teas.

One of these days, I'll have to try a chilled Moroccan tea steeped with fresh mint leaves.

[helenjp]

It helps to remember that you want strong tea made with an ample amount of tea-leaves and strained promptly, not tea allowed to steep until it gets "strong".

Lemon balm leaves are great for mellowing tea, while concentrated lemon juice seems to emphasize the tannin.

[alacarte]

I talked with someone yesterday who recommended brewing double-strength tea (he suggested 3 teasp. tea and 4 cups water), then cool it down with ice, but never add cold water to the brew. When the ice melts, add more ice.

He also recommended adding apricot puree to plain brewed iced tea -- I thought that sounded like a nice drink !

[Rachel Perlow]

I bring a 6 qt pot of water up to the boil. Turn off heat then put a fine mesh strainer into the pot (resting on the edges), and add about 1/3 cup of loose tea leaves into the strainer. Set timer for 4 minutes, stir the tea or bob the strainer up and down a bit, then remove the strainer. It is much easier to do it this way than to strain a hot liquid by pouring through a strainer.

I like to sweeten my iced tea with honey, but it must be done while the tea is hot. So, after the leaves are strained out, add a big spoonful of honey to the pot. At this point, you could have a cup of hot tea, or pour some over ice, using a ladle to have some iced tea. Cover, allow to cool, then pour into a 1 gallon pitcher and store in the fridge. If there's no sweetener or lemon in it, you can store it out of the fridge. But if there is, it must be chilled or it will spoil in a day or so on the counter.

[Pam R]

The iced tea makers work buy brewing the tea through a drip (just like a coffee maker) into a pitcher filled with ice. So the tea does't sit in the water for a long period of time. I liked the tea the machine made, but without an ice maker and just a small freezer, this method wasn't practical for me. I make a pitcher every other day - it's a lot of ice.

As I said before, I'm now on an herbal tea kick, so the bitterness isn't an issue.

[onehsancare]

I make a slightly-stronger-than-usual pot of tea in my glass pitcher, remove the leaves fairly soon, pop the whole thing in the refrigerator. I've usually got more than one pitcher going at a time, so there's always enough cold tea to satisfy.

I've been enjoying our house standard, 2:1 Constant Comment:Lemon Lift (both Bigelow brand).

[Jean Blanchard]

I've just started making ginger iced tea. I just boil about 3 cups water with maybe an inch of chopped fresh ginger and let it steep for about 10 min or so (depending on how much you like the ginger taste). If you want it sweetened with honey, you need to do that while it's hot. It's great because it's spicy, cold and sweet all at once - and it's good for you!

jb

[TMus1111]

For as long as I can remember, my family has made mint iced tea using Plantation Mint tea bags. After water boils, remove from heat (I always thought the bitterness came from putting the tea bags in the water while still on the burner) and add 5 or 6 tea bags. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, remove tea bags and add warm water and sugar. Allow to come to room temperature and then refrigerate. Repeated almost daily in the Summer as this refreshing tea disappears very quickly. We give a very weak version of this to fussy babies and my son still uses this as his tonic whenever he doesn't feel well.

[Toliver]

When I was a kid we used to always drink sun tea during the summer. The problem was occasionally you'd get a "bad" batch. The tea would taste "fermented". Every once in a while my mom would brew a "starter" on the stove (a small pan of water with tea bags in it) and then dilute it in a large pitcher of water.

Today I use the 3-quart Mr. Coffee Ice Tea Maker. You pour in a quart of water into the machine, put the tea bags in the basket and then fill the pitcher with ice. When the hot tea hits the ice it melts enough to give you 3-quarts of iced tea.

My mom has the 2-quart Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and uses a combination of Lipton orange pekoe tea bags with orange blossom herbal tea to make a refreshing beverage.

edited to add I prefer iced green tea.

Edited June 23, 2005 by Toliver (log)