Cold brew tea is a method of making tea by steeping tea leaves in cold water for an extended period, typically starting from at least 4 for a fresh taste to even over 12 hours for a stronger flavour. This technique differs from traditional hot brewing, where tea is steeped in hot water for a short time. High-quality tea can also be brewed for two more times using the same method.
What are the benefits of drinking the tea cold?
Cold brewing offers several unique benefits and characteristics, such as smooth flavour and low caffeine with enhanced sweetness and less acidity. Researchers have found that cold water steeping can maximise tea health benefits due to higher antioxidant activity and total phenolics and gallic acid content. In addition to greater antioxidant power, cold brew may also be helpful for overweight patients who are at risk of cardiovascular complications.
Cold brew tea tends to have a smoother less bitter flavour than hot brewed tea. The slow extraction process in cold water reduces the release of tannins, which can cause bitterness. Interestingly, brewing the tea at low temperatures often results in a tea with slightly lower caffeine content as the extraction process is gentler. Furthermore, The natural sweetness of the tea leaves is more pronounced in cold brew tea, often eliminating the need for additional sweeteners.
Choosing the right tea
Cold brew tea is a versatile and refreshing beverage, perfect for warm weather or any time you want a smooth, flavourful tea without the bitterness of traditional hot brewed tea.
Not sure how to get started? Using a Cold Brew tea bottle can make it a much easier process for you! Choosing a bottle with an easy filter helps you to brew and separate the loose tea without any trouble.
But the most important thing is to choose the right type of tea. And theses are the general types of tea that have used frequently with the cold brew method:
– Green tea: provides a light, refreshing taste with grassy notes.
– Flower/Herbal tea: surprisingly great for a refreshing taste complemented with strong aroma.
– Black tea: offers a rich and bold flavour, especially with the ones that have a sweet and fruity profile.
– White Tea: delivers a delicate and subtle flavour, often with a sweet but earthy note.
– Oolong tea: balances between the robustness of black tea and the lightness of green tea.
How to make cold brew tea?
We have personally tested all tea from our collections as an experiment to find the secrets of making the perfect bottle of cold brew tea. What surprised us is that every tea is different, there is no standardised recipe!
However, we did figure out a general rule to get you started:
Take 5 grams of tea with 750ml water and keep it in the fridge for 4-8 hours. We recommend preparing it in the evening before you go to bed, or in the morning so you can enjoy it during the day.
If you want to keep it in the bottle for longer hours, start with a lower amount of tea to avoid getting too strong. Especially for green tea, it is always better to remove the tea leaves after a whole evening.
Our cold brew favourites
Using high quality loose tea
With high-quality loose tea, the leaves can normally be reused 2-3 times. It is also a very convenient way to try out our general rule, and slowly adjust the portion according to your flavours.
It may also be interesting to save those tea dust and broken leaves you always find at the bottom of the package. They still preserve the tea’s quality, while having a looser shape to allow a quicker and stronger infusion.
Get started today with your own cold brew recipes, and enjoy the gifts from mother nature!
