Tea preparation

How to make homemade iced tea

Publish on 09.20.2024 by Gaia Gardens

Now that the warm weather is here, it's time to try your hand at homemade iced tea! Pure or with added juice, fruit pieces, flowers and ice cubes, there's no limit to what you can do to refresh yourself, but there are a few rules to master when it comes to preparation.

The essential thing to remember: all our teas and herbal teas can be made cold, whether loose or in infusettes. You can even make a good iced tea without a kettle!

Cold-brewed iced tea, no kettle required, instructions for use

Cold-brewed iced tea is unbeatable. In fact, the polyphenols responsible for bitterness are released only to a very limited extent below 70°C. Good news for those who dare!

Simply place your tea in a closed jug, pop it in the fridge for a few hours to reach the desired intensity, and you're ready to go. Ideally, you should prepare your jug in the evening, so that your infusion is ready for the next day.

Summer Vibration is a good way to start. This blend of green and black teas, with fruity, sunny mango flavors and a spicy finish, is a delicious summer recipe. Gourmet sensations guaranteed!

Recipe steps:

Put 5-6 teaspoons (approx. 10-12 grams) of Summer Vibration in a filter or tea ball to be placed in a 1-liter jug of filtered water.
Leave to infuse in a cool place overnight, remove the tea or filter and serve in your finest mugs!
You can store this tasty beverage in the fridge in a bottle or jug with a lid (48 hours maximum).

Test infusion at room temperature

Discover other tea flavors! As with cold-brewing, room-temperature brewing is easy to use and has very little bitterness.

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

Our theine-free home creation Breathes Life is a breath of fresh air and oxygen! With its original green rooibos base, the fruity notes of the blackberry-blueberry duo, the floral notes of lavender and the spicy notes of mace combine perfectly to create a lovely melody of flavors.

Recipe steps:

Add 5-6 teaspoons (approx. 10-12 grams) of Breath of Life rooibos to a 1-liter decanter of filtered water at room temperature. Cover with a lid.
Leave to infuse for 1 to 3 hours at room temperature, then filter.

If you like, you can add blackberries and ice cubes and enjoy your homemade iced tea!

Iced tea in a hurry

Couldn't plan ahead? There's a solution: prepare a more concentrated infusion by over-infusing for a few minutes and/or doubling the quantity of tea, then pouring it over a large quantity of ice cubes. Be sure to respect the infusion temperature, but also to take note of the recommended infusion time on each of our packs. Be sure to use a suitable jug that can withstand the sudden change from hot to cold.

In its iced tea version, Un thé pour l'océan will provide a breath of fresh air in the mouth with its lemony notes offered by ginger and the combination of peppermint and rosemary on its oolong tea base.

Recipe steps:

Prepare a well-concentrated tea: 4 to 5 teaspoons (about 8 to 10 grams) of Un thé pour l'océan in ½ liter of almost boiling water (95°C).

Leave to infuse for the time indicated on the bag (4-5 min) + 1-2 min to concentrate the infusion, then filter.

Fill a jug with ice cubes and pour in the tea. Add ice cubes, lime slices, fresh mint leaves and rosemary sprigs, and you're ready to go!

The Koridashi method, a surprising infusion technique

Koridashi is a Japanese cold-brewing technique. Simply infuse the tea with ice cubes (without water). When the ice cubes melt, the water gradually takes on the taste of tea. This method is slower, but intensifies the flavors. Iced tea is smoother and softer, with very little bitterness.

Japanese green tea lends itself perfectly to this exercise. Try it with our Sencha Fukamushi this refreshing and thirst-quenching method will reveal its nutty flavors allied to a beautiful complexity of particularly seductive herbal notes.

Recipe steps:

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

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

Tips:

Perform this technique in a glass teapot or glass jug to watch the liquor form.

Don't throw the tea leaves away! You can reuse them to make a delicious pesto: discover the recipe here.

Without theine, anything is possible

Do you prefer theine-free drinks? With fruit or herbal teas, rooibos, honeybush... the choice is yours!

For example, Dhyâna Sérénité meditation herbal tea is delicious in a cold version: very tasty, this herbal tea made from honeybush, moringa and buchu flowers can be sipped at any age.

Sakura Wild Cherry, an infusion of Japanese cherry leaves, offers an airy, flowery and delicately fruity drink. It can be adapted to all types of preparation, as a plain iced tea, a cocktail or a mocktail.

Recipe steps:

For a large glass, infuse 3 teaspoons (approx. 6 g) of Sakura Wild Cherry in your usual teapot (whether cast-iron, porcelain or glass) of around 500 ml of water filtered at 100°C for 1 to 5 minutes.
Pour this infusion into a 1-liter jug filled to ¾ with ice cubes (to make a minute iced tea).
In a 1 glass, pour ¾ Sakura and ¼ well-chilled organic white grape juice. Drink up!

Anti-waste tip:

Don't throw away the Sakura Wild Cherry infusion leaves! They can be re-infused several times.
Now it's your turn! Depending on your taste, you can sweeten your homemade iced tea with cane sugar syrup or agave syrup, accompany it with slices of citrus fruit, fresh fruit (raspberry, blackberry...), fresh herbs (mint, verbena, rosemary...), spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom...), or the organic fruit juice of your choice..