Iced tea, take the plunge!

Summer days here again. Now’s the time to try making your own iced tea! On its own or with added juice, slices of fruit, flowers and ice cubes, anything goes, but there are a few basics to get right.

The main thing to remember is that all our teas and herbal teas can be made into iced tea whether using loose tea or teabags. And remember, you can even make great iced tea without a kettle!

How to make an iced tea with a cold infusion

Brewed cold, iced tea is unbeatable. The polyphenols, which cause bitterness, are hardly released at all below 70°C. A good reason to give it a try!

Put the tea in a covered jug in the evening, chill in the fridge overnight and when you wake up it’s ready to drink.

Summer Vibration is a good place to start. This blend of green and black teas, with fruity and sunny mango flavours and a spicy finish is a summer recipe from the the déjan’thés range. A gourmet experience is guaranteed!

The recipe:

Put 5-6 tsp of tea (approx 10-12 grams) of Summer Vibration  in a filter or tea ball then infuse in a 1 litre jug of room-temperature filtered water.

Leave to infuse in the fridge overnight,  remove the tea or the filter and serve in your most beautiful cups!

You can keep this delicious drink in the fridge in a bottle or a covered jug.

Try a room-temperature infusion

Discover more tea flavours! As with a chilled infusion, brewing at room temperature is well worth it and and produces very little bitterness.

Infuse your tea in a carafe of water at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours. Add ice cubes, fruit or juice if desired and enjoy!

Our in-house recipe with no theine Breathe Life is like filling your lungs with oxygen! On a base of green rooibos for an original twist, the fruity notes of a blackberry-blueberry duo, floral lavender aromas and a spicy hint of mace chime together perfectly for a pretty melody of flavours.

The recipe:

Add 5-6 teaspoons (about 10-12 grams) of Breathe Life rooibos to a 1 litre carafe of room-temperature filtered water. Cover the carafe with a lid.

Leave to infuse for 1 to 3 hours at room temperature then filter. If you wish, you can add blackberries, and ice cubes and enjoy your homemade iced tea!

Instant iced tea for those in a hurry

If you haven’t  prepared your iced tea in advance, make a highly concentrated infusion, with twice the quantity of tea, then pour it over lots ice cubes. Be sure to follow the advice for brewing time and temperature set out in detail on our packaging. Also be sure to use a jug that can withstand heat because the sudden transition from hot to cold can cause glass to shatter.

The iced tea version of A tea for the Ocean is a breath of fresh air with its lemony notes of ginger combined with peppermint and rosemary on a wu long tea base.

The recipe:

Make a good strong tea: 4 to 5 tsp (approx 8 to 10 grams) of A tea for the Ocean in ½ litre of almost boiling water (95°C).

Leave to infuse for the time indicated on the packet (4-5 mins) + 1-2 mins to concentrate the brew, then filter.

Fill a jug with ice cubes and pour over the tea. Add ice cubes, slices of lime, a few sprigs of fresh mint, and twigs of rosemary and it’s ready!

The Koridashi method, a surprising infusion technique

Koridashi is a Japanese cold infusion technique. All you do is infuse the tea with ice cubes (without water). As the ice cubes melt, the water gradually takes on the taste of tea. This method is slower but it intensifies the flavours. The iced tea is sweeter, smoother and has very little bitterness.

Japanese green tea lends itself perfectly to this method. Try it with our Sencha Fukamushi this refreshing and thirst-quenching method will bring out its flavour of nuts combined with a beautifully complex blend of seductive vegetable notes.

The recipe:

Sprinkle 12 grams of Sencha Fukamushi into a carafe half filled with ice cubes.

Wait for the ice cubes to melt and enjoy! It can take 1 to 2 hours in summer.

Tip: Try this technique in a glass teapot or jug to watch the tea brew.

Tip: Don’t throw away the tea leaves! You can reuse them to make a delicious pesto: find the recipe here

Without theine, everything is possible

Do you have a preference for caffeine-free drinks – whether fruit teas, tisanes, rooibos, honey bush? They can all be served chilled too!

The meditative herbal tea Dhyâna Serenity for example is well suited to being chilled: this tisane of honeybush flowers, moringa and buchu is absolutely delicious and can be enjoyed by all ages.

Sakura Wild Cherry, an infusion of Japanese cherry leaves, makes a light, flowery and delicately fruity drink. It can be prepared in lots of different ways from an iced tea to a cocktail or mocktail.

The recipe:

For a large glass, infuse three teaspoons (approx 6 g) of Sakura Wild Cherry in your usual teapot (whether it’s made of cast iron, porcelain or glass) with 500 ml of filtered water heated to 100°C for  1 to 5 minutes.

Pour the brew into a 1 litre jug three-quarters full of ice cubes (to make instant iced tea).

In a glass, pour ¾ Sakura and ¼ chilled organic white grape juice. Cheers!

Tip: don’t throw away the Sakura Wild Cherry tea leaves! They can be reinfused several times.

Now it’s over to you! Depending on what takes your fancy, you can sweeten your homemade iced tea with cane sugar syrup or agave syrup, add slices of citrus fruit, fresh fruit (raspberry, blackberry, etc.), fresh herbs (mint, verbena, rosemary etc), spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom etc), or an organic fruit juice of your choice…

Check out our mocktail recipes