Cold brewed tea pulls the fruity, grassy, or bright flavors from the tea offering a different flavor profile than the hot brewed counterpart. And no messing around with boiling water either! One of my most popular posts has been my cold brewed coffee post. Cold brewed coffee was how I started to actually enjoy coffee because it is less bitter and smoother, and it helps even inferior or old coffee beans taste good!
So I was curious about cold brewed tea, and set up an experiment. I made three kinds of teas, an Earl Grey, a chai rooibos, and a white tea. I then kept taste testing them between the hours of 1-5 ½ hours, and then overnight to see how the flavor was. At the end, I made iced tea with hot brewed tea and compared them.
Before I get into those results, I should mention that since cold brewed tea is done in the refrigerator, it also helps reduce the risk related to sun brewed tea which can harbor bacteria since it is warm, but not hot enough to kill any growing bacteria. My mother always made sun tea growing up, and we never had a problem with it, but it is a possibility to be aware of. Whatever method you are using, using very clean containers is helpful in keeping bacteria counts down, and then if you are worried about any bacteria in the tea itself, doing a quick hot brew (which you can dump) for 3-4 minutes will kill the bacteria and also decaffeinate the tea naturally before the cold brew. I didn’t bother, but those who need or want to be especially careful could consider it. Fridge brewed tea is considered safer across the board, regardless of whether you do a pre-hot brew or not.
Plus, according to this serious eats writer, fridge (or cold) brewed tea tasted better than sun brewed! Something to consider at least.
The results:
The white tea was grassier in flavor when cold brewed, and tasted best at about 2 hours to me personally. When it was compared at 5 ½ hours cold brewed to the hot brewed iced tea, the hot brewed was much lighter in flavor.
The chai rooibos was also spicier at 5 ½ hours of cold brewing in comparison to the hot brewed iced tea. Some of us preferred the hot brewed, some of us the cold brewed. I like this one best at about 3 hours of brew time, however, even after an overnight brew, I liked it as it didn’t get much stronger after 5 hours.
For the Earl Grey, the cold brewing process pulled the essence of bergamot more to forefront, while the tannins of the black tea were weak. I actually like this one really strong, and I liked it even after it has brewed overnight (longer than 12 hours).
In the end, I think that which method you prefer is going to be a matter of preference per tea. As far as which is easier, I have a super simple method to making an excellent cup of iced tea for one (I’ll share this in another post), so I tend to use this hot method a lot. However, I find the cold brewed method excellent for making large batches of tea. I especially hate brewing and chilling large amounts of hot brew tea, so this takes the angst out of making large amounts of iced tea for a crowd or just to have on hand.
As far as what tea to use? My cupboard is crowded with loose teas, bagged teas, gourmet teas, cheap organic teas, etc. You can use whatever you like! My partner Mountain Rose Herbs has very fresh tasting teas that I enjoy, and I also appreciate their more thorough testing for heavy metals and toxins in their products. You may, like me, also have excellent organic teas available from local tea shops. Those are my top preference, but I also buy cheap, organic teas at times too.
- Tea of choice
- Water, filtered
- Give a quick rinse to loose tealeaves. (Pur-eh tea or fresh herbs should go through a quick hot brew since they can be dusty and to cut down on bacteria.). Place in a large very clean/sterilized pitcher or jar, for 4 servings, 4 cups of cold water and 5 tea bags or equivalent in loose tea. Cover and place in the refrigerator.
- Starting at 2 hours, taste-test tea until it achieves desired flavor.
- Serve with a simple syrup, cream, coconut milk, or almond milk, muddled fresh herbs, or lemon slices or wedges.
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So funny that you just posted this … I just threw a tea bag in my water bottle as I was running out the door earlier today and thought it was deliciously light and flavorful after only 15 minutes. No bitterness.
That’s great, Christie! What kind of tea was it?
I love making cold brewed tea at work. I put a few bags into a jar of cold water, cover it and put it in the fridge. Then I drink it full strength or diluted during the day. Everyone else can drink their sweetened, bottled iced tea or soda, but I am not tempted. My current favorite? Pomegranate white tea.
*I believe you might have meant ‘muddled herbs’ rather than ‘muddied’… 🙂 To muddle herbs is to take and crush them in a mortar with a pestle to get the most raw essential oils extracted. Muddied herbs is something I tend to avoid in my cooking. lol!
Ha! Yes! Thank you for catching that. I’ll fix the typo right away.
Ha! Yes! Thank you for catching that. I’ll fix the typo right away.