Cold Brew Tea Bags: Make The Perfect Iced Tea

Have you ever used cold brew tea bags to make your favorite iced tea? Did you know that making tea does not always require boiling water?

You can also cold brew your tea.  A cold brew iced tea is just what you need to combat the heat. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss how you can brew a refreshing and delicious cold brew iced with tea bags!

How to Make Cold Brew Iced Tea

Here is the whole process for you!

What You'll Require

1. Your preferred cold brew tea bags
2. A pitcher, mason jar, or an iced tea brewer
3. A strainer or filter bag.
4. Cold water (preferably filtered or spring)
5. Refrigerator

Directions

1. Fill your container with tea.
2. Fill the brewing pot halfway with cold brew tea bags
3. Place the tea in the fridge for 2 to 8 hours, or boil it overnight.

In general, the stronger or more astringent the tea (pure green teas, black teas, Oolong), the sooner you should taste it. Lighter teas (hibiscus, herbal, and white teas) can be steeped for longer periods to extract more flavor.

Recent studies reveal that the health benefits of most teas are ideally extracted at the 1-2 hour point, so start taste-testing then and enjoy your tea after it's achieved your desired flavor.

1. Remove the tea from the refrigerator, sift the leaves or remove the tea bags, and serve! To appreciate the full depth of flavor, serve cold brew tea without ice.

Measurement Guide

• For a single batch of cold brew iced tea, use 1-2 teaspoons of loose leaf tea for every cup of water, or 4-5 teaspoons of loose leaf tea for every quart for a big pitcher.
• When it comes to cold brew tea bags, less is not more! When brewing a pitcher of tea, use at least 3-5 tea bags per quart to ensure you wake up to a strong, excellent drink.
• For glass or bottle with 1-2 serves, 1-2 tea bags should be enough. If your coffee is too strong, you may easily add extra cold water to alter the flavor.

Cold Brew Iced Tea Seeping Time

Here's a breakdown of how much time you need to seep each kind of cold brew:

• White tea: 6 hours
• Black tea: 12 hours
• Green tea: 3-6 hours
• Oolong tea: 12 hours
• Herbal tea: 12 hours

Best Teas for Making Iced Tea

Even though there are many kinds of teas, you can cold brew only a few. Here is a list of teas that you can turn into the perfect cold brew:

1.Black Tea

Cold-brew black tea creates a typical chilled drink - experiment with several varieties, such as Nilgiri, Darjeeling, and Assam, to determine which taste profile suits you best! Iced black tea blends and flavored teas, such as peach, coconut, or mango, may also be quite pleasant.

2.Green Tea

You will adore cold-brewed green tea! Cold brewing green tea enhances the fresh, crisp flavor, while avoiding the bitter part that many people loathe.

The seeping makes the green tea lose its bitterness.

3.White Tea

Cold brewing white tea yields a smooth, caffeine-free, hydrating tea with sweet, fruity undertones. Because you can process white tea without heat, give it a short flash boil of hot water to eliminate any bacteria on the leaves.

4.Herbals with Caffeine

Members of the herbal family include Yerba mate, gauze, and Yaupon.

Cold-brew herbal tea is wonderful since the procedure eliminates the majority of the bitterness and softens the caffeine levels. 

5.Oolong Tea

When cold-brewed, Oolong teas bloom with flavor! Because of how tightly rolled oolong expand, you don't need to use as many leaves as the other teas.

You can either have a delicious hot or cold brewed Oolong tea.

6.Non-Caffeinated Herbals.

You can combine herbs, flowers, and dried fruits to produce a delicious cold brew herbal tea infusion!

To mention a few, you can enjoy tulsi (holy basil), mint, ginger, hibiscus, nettles, rose, and lemongrass. 

Be cautious with new herbs, and always verify with a herbalist or on the packaging to ensure they don't need cooking first.

How to Make Sugar-Free Iced Tea

I prefer my iced tea slightly sweetened, but I don't want to sweeten it with white processed sugar.

Here are two substitutes I have sugar that make my iced tea sweet:

1.Liquid Stevia

Liquid stevia is my personal favorite way to sweeten cold-brewed iced tea.

Stevia is a sugar-free, plant-based sugar replacement that has no calories and has no effect on blood sugar levels

It's ideal for iced tea because it's already liquid and will dissolve straight into the drink. I find that using 6-8 drops produce a nicely sweetened glass of iced tea.

2.Honey

Honey is another option for sweetening your iced tea without using refined sugar. I've discovered that 3-4 teaspoons of honey may sweeten a full batch of iced tea (depending on your taste preferences, of course!).

Just be sure to dilute the honey with warm water before adding it to your iced tea. 

Why Cold Brew Tea Is Better Than Regular Tea

Drinking cold brews is better than drinking regular tea. It is not only good for you in terms of nutrition, but in my opinion, also tastes better.

Here is why cold brew tea is better than regular tea:

It Carries More Nutritional Benefits

Did you know that cold brewing caffeinated teas release around half the caffeine amount of a hot infusion? This might be a significant benefit for many tea drinkers.

"Cold-brewed teas and coffees are chemically different from their hot counterparts and tend to have less caffeine and less acid,"

Cold Brewed Tea Is Always Sweeter

As tannins, which make tea bitter, are not steeped out of the tea in cold water as they are in hot water, cold brewing produces a sweeter, smoother tasting tea.

This means there will be no more bitter iced tea!

Moreover, as sweet, fruity taste notes emerge during the cold brew process, cold brew tea drinkers may choose to use less sugar in their iced tea.

Cold Brewed Tea Is Safer and Lasts Longer

There is no risk with cold-brewed tea because the tea infusion is clean, fresh, and cooled.

Cold-brew tea, on the other hand, contains the same number of antioxidants as hot tea.

While you need to use hot-brewed tea on the day you brew it, you can enjoy your cold-brewed tea for several days if refrigerated!

Cold Brewed Tea Tastes Too Good

While pouring hot brewed tea over ice to produce iced tea quickly works, it can occasionally result in a watery, diluted brew that reduces the depth of taste and overall experience.

Cold brewing tea, on the other hand, is distinct because it allows the tea leaves to soak extremely slowly over time, resulting in a different balance of chemicals than hot steeping.

Cold brewing allows the tea to generate more nuanced taste notes and smells while avoiding the harsh tannins and astringent qualities that are generally extracted near the end of hot steeping.

Any tea may be cold-brewed, and the technique normally decreases the caffeine concentration by half.

The end product is a smooth, easy-to-drink tea that is both soothing and invigorating.

Consider how slow-roasting a food for several hours produces exquisite aromas that a microwave cannot accomplish.

Cold Brewed Tea Is Hassle-Free

Tea leaves or tea bags, water, and a brewing vessel are the only ingredients needed for cold brewing.

All you have to do before going to bed is put the tea leaves and water in the brewing pitcher to wake up to freshly brewed and cooled tea!

This makes preparing iced tea for occasions or parties much easier because you can do all of the work ahead of time.

Furthermore, cold-brewed tea is very difficult to goof up or over-steep, making it an excellent choice for teas that are more difficult to brew, such as delicate greens and oolongs.

Tips and Tricks For The Best Cold Brew Tea

• Combine different flavors of cold brewing tea, sweeten your tea flavored simple syrup, or combine cold brew tea with lemonade for a delightful treat!
• Because the tea is already frozen, adding ice is optional, but it will keep it cooler for longer.
• You can also add some crushed mint leaves to your cold brew tea for an added boost of flavor. 
• Not all teas are cold brewed for the same duration. Green tea, in general, is more difficult to cold brew. If not prepared correctly, it might taste harsh, so consult the brewing recommendations given in this blog.
• Instead of filtering the tea into another container, the easiest way to cold brew tea is in a cold brew machine, which allows you to simply remove the infuser.
• Cold-brew tea should be made and stored in glass containers. Plastic tends to discolor and emit scents.
• By starting a new brew, you can keep cold-brewed tea in regular rotation. 1-2 days. Cold-brewed tea can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.

 FAQs

Is caffeine present in cold brew tea?

Cold-brewed tea contains caffeine unless it is an herbal tea. A cold brew tea has roughly half the caffeine of a hot brewed tea.

Is it possible to cold brew any type of tea?

Yes! All kinds of teas can be cold brewed.

How long can I store chilled brewed tea in the fridge?

Chilled brewed tea can be stored in the fridge up to four days. After that, it loses quality, and begins to taste moldy.

Why should I use loose tea rather than tea bags?

As loose tea is of superior quality, cold brew prepared from it is considerably more delicious. Tea sachets are also excellent for cold brewing.