How To Make The Best Cold Brew Tea?
The numerous benefits of tea consumption have made many individuals switch over to this healthier beverage almost every other year. In countries with hot climates, iced teas have now emerged as a popular cold beverage. But did you know having cold brew tea is even more beneficial than your regular iced tea?
In case you haven’t thought of including cold brew tea in your daily beverage list, this article could change your mind. It talks in detail about the methods of making cold brew tea, the benefits it possesses, and much more!
Before jumping on to the cold brew method, let us first know about the taste of the cold brew tea and the factors influencing it.
Contents
Taste Factor
A cold brew tea feels delicate, naturally sweet, and could even be flavorsome. The leaves are not brewed in hot water in the cold brew method. Therefore, the tannins present in the tea leaves aren’t released entirely. The process saves the tea from getting an unpleasant bold flavor and gives the tea a sweeter and refreshing edge over the traditional tea making methods.
Since there is no heat involved in preparing cold brew tea, the preparation method is considerably easier, and the results are delightful. This cooler way of brewing the tea allows the flavor to release slowly, and as a result, the end product tastes less bitter.
With the cold brew method, you can enjoy tea in the icy tea without any bitterness! The primary reason behind the better taste is that the cold water reacts differently with the tea extracts and strikes a different chemical balance than hot water.
Next, let us have a look at the methods of preparing cold brew tea.
How To Make Cold Brew Tea - The Best Method
Following is a detailed elaboration of the method of preparing your favorite cold brew beverage.
Leaves
The recommended tea leaves are the ones that are more on the sweeter side. For example, oolong tea leaves would be an excellent option for a cold brew tea. You could either use a loose set of tea leaves or steep the tea bags instead of separate leaves.
Method
To begin with, take a container and fill it with water to the brim. Next, add a few tea leaves and allow the container to sit at normal room temperature level for about 30 minutes or more. Next, place the container in the fridge and let it sit like that overnight. You can also leave the container outside for around eight to nine hours
After this long steeping duration, your tea beverage is ready for consumption. You could directly strain the leaves from the container and sip on the beverage through and through on a hot summer day!
Quality
If the tea leaves you use is of explicitly higher quality, then you could also use the leaves to re-steep the brew the next time. Remember to allow the leaves to sit for a longer duration if reused the second time. The flavor would seem to be having a slightly lighter undertone than the regular, but the cold brew would still be fantastic.
Content
It is suggestive to consider one to two teaspoons of tea leaves for each cup of water that’s used. In case you require to make a large quantity of cold brew tea add four to five teaspoons of leaves for a litre of water. While steeping large quantities such as one litre with tea bags, remember to use at least three to four of them. Steeping just one tea bag into a whole container of water is not sufficient at all.
Next, let us understand the difference between regular iced tea and cold brew tea.
How Is Cold Brew Tea Different Than Regular Iced Tea?
Many of us think that iced tea and cold brew tea are the same. Well, they are not. The whole process of preparation is different for the two kinds of tea. The only similarity between them is that they are both consumed cold. Let us now explore the differences between iced tea and cold brew tea.
- Iced tea
While preparing iced tea, the water is boiled, and then either the teabag is soaked in hot water, or leaves are added to the boiling water. Later, this mixture is kept in the fridge to cool down, or ice cubes are added to the mix to prepare the iced tea. Through this process, many potential benefits of the tea are lost due to the heating process. The amount of antioxidant in the tea decreases considerably, and the content of acid increases. Did you know hot brewing the tea also intensifies the flavor of bitterness? Hence, most iced teas contain a high content of sugar or sweeteners.
- Cold Brew tea
To prepare cold brew tea, all you need to do I steep the tea bag or the tea leaves in cold water for several hours. There is no process of heating involved whatsoever in preparing cold brew tea. As it is allowed to steep in cold water, the contents are gradually released.
The tannins liberate less intensely as compared to when the tea is hot brewed. This reduces the beverage's bitterness and instead gives the drink a subtle, gently refreshing sweet flavor. The amount of acid content is also less as compared to when the tea is hot brewed.
Now, as we have seen the difference between cold brew tea and regular iced tea, let us look at the health benefits cold brew tea can provide us with.
Health Benefits of Cold brew tea
Tea in itself contains varied health benefits, however, consuming it in the cold brew fashion has additional advantages.
Lesser caffeine
Increased intake of caffeine poses several demerits for the body. Do you often find yourself anxious and jittery after consuming a caffeinated drink? This could be because of the caffeine present in your drink. Did you know caffeine is stated to temporarily increase heart rate and even your body's blood pressure? Excess quantity of caffeine could even give rise to headaches and migraine attacks.
Cold-brew tea can eliminate these adversities to a great extent. On cold brewing the tea, a lesser amount of caffeine is released into the drink. Hence, you could enjoy your cup of tea without the harmful effects of caffeine.
Sugar-free
Are you looking for a sugar-free yet naturally sweet beverage? Cold-brew tea tastes much sweeter as compared to its hot brew counter-part. The cherry on the cake is that you need not add extra sugar to your drink, yet it would taste mildly sweet by the cold brew process. Consumption of sugar-loaded beverages and food items would cause a spike in the insulin level of the body. This extra insulin could affect the wall of the arteries by inflaming, stiffening, and thickening it. This could invite several heart diseases, weight gain and could also cause the onset of diabetes.
As the tea releases less bitter components in the cold brew process, the credit of making the beverage taste naturally sweeter goes to the cold brewing fashion.
Hydration
Consuming cold brew tea is a healthy way of keeping yourself hydrated. During the summer we are at a constant urge of gulping down sugary beverages to quench our thirst. You could replace those cola and soda drinks with cold brew tea. This would be healthier and also aid in keeping your system cool. You could even have it multiple times during the day without worrying about any negative side effects.
Also, as it can be set in the fridge it is readily available for consumption whenever you feel like drinking, making it super convenient. Do you find it boring to drink water to remain hydrated? Try switching to cold brew tea to get flavour, refreshment, and hydration during the summer days.
High in vitamin C
A healthy system could create a barrier and stop the invaders or antigens from creating havoc in our bodies. This makes it essential to have good immunity. It is stated that the amount of vitamin C getting activated through the process of cold brewing tea is quite commendable. This spike in vitamin C could increase your body’s immunity. Vitamin C is also called ascorbic acid. Did you know, this acid is essential for the healthy growth and repair of the tissue system of our body? Body functions like the genesis of collagen and absorption of iron is possible only under the presence of vitamin C.
Presence of antioxidants
You would already be aware of the myriad of benefits one could find while having antioxidant-rich food. Antioxidants limit the damage caused to the cells present in our body by the free radicals. The free radicals under oxidative stress constantly affect the normal and healthy functioning of the body. Did you know these antioxidants are lost while brewing the tea at temperatures greater than 90 degrees Celsius?
Hence, cold brew tea contains even more antioxidants than regular hot brewed tea. The cold water prevents the antioxidants from undergoing the process of denaturation and preserves their goodness. It would aid in preventing life-threatening disorders like cancer, coronary heart diseases, etc.
Lesser acidity
Do you often feel bloated or face acid reflux issues? This could be because of higher acidic food intake. Whatever you consume could alter the normal pH levels of your body. Tea contains tannin, which increases the acidity in your body. High tannin content is released only when the tea is hot brewed. On cold brewing the tea, the adverse effects of increased acidity are eliminated.
In this manner, you could enjoy the aforementioned health benefits of consuming cold brew tea.
Enhancing Your Cold Brew Tea To The Next Level
Another great thing about preparing your cold brew tea is that you can customize it as per your taste by adding the flavors and ingredients you love. Next, let us learn about how you could enhance your whole cold brew tea experience.
Use multiple teas or tea infusions
You could use more than one kind of tea while cold brewing. You could pair your favorite teas, especially the ones which have a similar steeping time. For example, you could steep white tea and green tea together, or you could also steep oolong tea along with black tea.
Adding in
Do you like the flavor of lemon, berries, or any other fruit? Then, you can go ahead and add them to your tea as well. You could even add mint leaves, orange slices, blueberries, or diced mangoes to enhance the whole flavor of your beverage.
Cocktail version
Would you want to have your favorite beverage with a flavor of your favorite liquor? You could infuse liquor with tea as well. Adding a bottle of vodka or rum are options available. Just pour the liquor of your choice in a container and steep the tea bags overnight at room temperature. Add ice cubes to it and your beverage is ready. (Consumption of liquor is not suggested, as it has adverse effects on health.)
Here are our top recommendations for tea infusions that are perfect for cold brew tea -
1. So Berry Ceylon - For berry flavoured cold brew black tea
Savour a Berry blast while sipping this unique tea infusion crafted with the freshest of fruits. Picked at the peak of perfection, this tea is grown in the lowland region in Sri Lanka. Filled with a delightful bouquet of Berries, Apples, Sultanas, Strawberries and Blueberries are prominently featured in this tea.
Read - Complete guide to Ceylon tea: Benefits, types & how to drink
2. Lemon Kandy - For lemon flavoured cold brew black tea
Our Lemon Kandy tea infusion demonstrates the value of balance: fresh lemon and black tea meet for a light, tangy flavour that refreshes both body and soul. Harvested from the Kandy District, an area rich in history and tradition, this tea represents a culture that has preserved itself in time.
3. Summer Isle - For tropical fruit flavoured cold brew black tea
Whisk yourself away on a tropical mental vacation in exotic Sri Lanka with this exceptionally infused tea. Raised to succulent tenderness in the low regions of Sri Lanka, this tea retains its tropical properties which are infused with Mango, Papaya and Pineapple for a flavour explosion that is certain to delight you
4. Ceylon's Peach - For peach flavoured cold brew black tea
Delicately delicious our Peach tea is lovingly grown in the low region of Sri Lanka where it’s gently picked at the perfect moment. The sumptuous aroma of baked apricot prepares your taste buds for the enticing taste of Apricot with just a hint of peach.
5. Serendipity - For peach and jasmine flavoured cold brew black tea
When fully brewed this delightful tea infusion shows a bright pink colour and makes a wonderful Iced tea. Blending the nectar of Peach with the fragrant floral Rosehip and Jasmine, this tea enhances the flavours of both fruits and flowers.
6. Shakti Veda - For orange flavoured cold brew green tea
Inspired by Ayurveda and the feminine power of the universe, this pink coloured tea infuses you with a boost of energy supported by the powerful benefits of Green tea. Linden and Ginseng are combined in this delicate infusion to reduce your anxiety while giving you a mental boost that will help you think clearly through the entire day.
7. Ceylon Emerald - For tropical fruit flavoured cold brew green tea
Like only the finest Ceylon gems can do, this tea sparkles brilliantly, bewitching your taste buds with its flavour. To this unique, high grown green tea base we have added the makings of a tropical vacation. Tangy pineapple and tropical fruits including strawberry, mango, and peach compliment the Green tea base, teasing out its hidden flavours.
These are some of our top recommendations for tea infusions that are perfect for cold brew tea. You can check out the complete range of cold brew teas here.
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