Iced tea is the perfect complement for a summer high tea! Season's blend has become our new favourite for making iced tea because it really doesn't need anything added to it except perhaps a touch of something sweet :)
We tried making iced tea with Season's Blend in 3 ways - hot steeping, cold steeping, liquid concentrate and ice cube concentrate and the winning method was cold steeping.
Cold steeping black tea is ideal for a few reasons. The brew ends up being lighter, therefore more refreshing, with less astringency and bitterness. Cold brew extracts less of the tannic compounds, so the tea is smoother. Cold brew also makes a less caffeinated cup - up to half! This is perfect when you end up guzzling a jug of iced tea on hot summer day!
This is how to make the Season's Blend cold brew:
Using a 500mL glass jug or mason jar, add the contents of one sampler pouch of Season's Blend black tea. Fill your jug with cold water from the tap, corked the jug and placed it in the fridge overnight for just about 8 hours. In the morning, we poured the tea through a stainless steel tea filter and back into the jug. We use less than a tsp of maple syrup to sweeten, but you can try agave or honey. If you have a couple thin slices of orange or lemon, you can add those to the jug or to your individual glasses of ice. Voila!
General guidelines for cold-steeping is simply 1.5 times the amount of tea you would use if you were making it hot. So, 1.5 tsp/cup instead of 1 teaspoon. Add a cup of cold water and refrigerate for 4-8 hours.
Want to make just a cup? We love using our libre tea tumbler for this.
- add 1.5 tsp of Season's Blend to your tumbler
- pour 1 cup/8oz of cold water over the leaves
- steep in the fridge for 4-8 hours
- no need to strain! Just take the tumbler to go - there's a built in screen in the lid.
Looking for a libre tea tumbler of your own? Send us an email and we'll give you details!
twoo [at] amodatea.com