Cold brewing is the easiest way to make iced tea, and it tastes better than tea brewed hot and cooled down. You just put loose leaf tea in cold water, leave it in the fridge and strain it the next morning. The result is smooth, naturally sweet and never bitter.
Why cold brew tea?
- Smoother and sweeter: cold water pulls out the flavour slowly and leaves behind most of the bitter tannins.
- Less caffeine: cold brewing typically extracts less caffeine than brewing with hot water.
- No waiting for it to cool: it's ready to pour over ice straight from the fridge.
What you need
- Loose leaf tea
- Cold, fresh water (filtered if your tap water is hard)
- A jar or jug with a lid
- A strainer or infuser
How to make cold brew tea
- Measure the tea. Use about 1½ teaspoons of loose leaf tea for every 250ml of water. That's a little more than you'd use for hot tea, because cold water extracts more gently. For a litre jug, use around 6 teaspoons.
- Add cold water. Put the tea in your jar, pour in the cold water and give it a stir.
- Steep in the fridge. Put the lid on and leave it in the fridge. As a guide, green and white teas take 6–8 hours, and black teas 8–12 hours.
- Strain and serve. Strain out the leaves and pour over ice. Add a slice of lemon, a few mint leaves or a little honey if you like.
Taste it as you go: if you'd like it stronger, use more tea rather than leaving it for much longer. Keep your cold brew in the fridge and drink it within about three days.
Which tea is best for cold brew?
- Green tea: our favourite. It's fresh and grassy, and much less likely to taste bitter than when it's brewed hot.
- Black tea: makes a classic, refreshing iced tea. A breakfast blend works well with a slice of lemon.
For fruit and herbal infusions, we'd make them with freshly boiled water as usual, let them cool, then chill them in the fridge.
Can you re-use the leaves?
Often, yes, especially with green tea. Whole leaves can give a second, slightly lighter batch. Broken black tea leaves usually have less left to give.
Using loose leaf tea makes a big difference to cold brew, because the whole leaves have room to open up. Find out why in our guide to loose leaf tea vs tea bags, or see how to brew the perfect hot cup.
Discover new teas every time
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