All you need to know about Cold Brew tea!
Do you still pour the hot tea brew over ice to make your iced tea? Well, being a veteran tea seller, let me give you a small tip. Using hot tea to make iced tea is so old school, and we don’t do that anymore! Instead, here are what most iced tea lovers do, the cold brewing of tea!
Literally, the process of cold brewing is very straight forward. Even though there could be certain variations in individual brewing techniques and recipes, the core idea is to steep the tea under refrigerated conditions. You simply have to put the tea leaves in water and then into your refrigerator! Wondering why the trend has moved away from hot brewing to cold brewing?
Here is why! During hot brewing of tea, the process extracts more astringent compounds from tea leaves into the brew and when we turn it into iced tea, these bitter notes become prominent, and it might not be appealing anymore for regular consumption. In contrast, when you let your tea be cold-brewed the slow and prolonged extraction process makes the tea less astringent, delicate, and mellow.
So let me take you through the Tuk Tea’s way of making cold-brewed tea, and trust me, once you start brewing cold, you will never go back to the old-school iced tea making.
First, you need to select the tea that you are going to brew. Simply you could pick any tea from Tuk Tea’s collection for this purpose, as we have specially crafted our blends to suit cold brewing.
Each of our teas comes in a variety of sizes. Our 2 quart large tea bags, 1 oz. loose tea or 3 oz. loose tea give you options as to your preferred brewing method.
Select a glass jar or pitcher that holds approximately 64 oz. of water, and best if you can seal it with a lid. I prefer the Takeya Pitchers with the removable tea infuser or a mason jar.
Place the large tea bag in the container, or approximately 8 teaspoons (.5 oz) of your favorite tea and add water. Ideally, you should use cold and filtered water for cold brewing tea and try to avoid water that contains heavy minerals and odd tastes.
Place the jar or container in the refrigerator for an average duration of 10-12 hours but certainly not more than 24 hours.
Plan this brewing phase overnight, so you have fresh cold brew tea for the next day.
Finally, remove the large tea bag and gently squeeze to release all the flavors. If your tea is loose in the container, strain the loose-leaf tea by pouring the tea through a fine mesh strainer into a closable container.
Serve the tea over ice preferably after adding a dash of sweetener if desired.
Just don’t stop there! If you have many cold-brewed teas, try fusing different beverages for elevated enjoyment.
Unlike hot tea, for cold brewing, you need to plan ahead, as it often needs an 10-12 hour brewing period. So make sure you get ready in advance if you plan to serve a large crowd. If you are like us, we keep cold brewed tea in rotation by starting a new tea every day.
Simply get into the habit of making this perfect anytime treat, and perhaps, you will enjoy the process of cold brew tea!