HOW DO YOU ICE YOUR TEA?

DIY-IT : Do.It.Yourself.Iced.Tea.

Summer time is here. You know what that means? Iced tea! When the heat rises, many start drinking their favorite beverage in the iced variety. You might be familiar with iced tea in bottled or powder form. But did you know that you could prepare your iced tea in a more natural & delicious way?

Let the tea experts at Cérémonie Tea teach you some of the more popular ways people make iced tea at home! This DIY approach allows you to control the flavor and sweetness to your liking.

When brewing iced tea the major question is how do you infuse the tea flavor? With a hot cup of tea, the hot water will do the job of releasing all the flavor from the tea leaves & herbs. Can we infuse flavor using just cold water?

We will also need to deal with how to sweeten your iced tea. Traditionally iced tea is a sweetened drink. Most sweeteners, especially sugar, dissolve well in hot water, but not as smoothly in cold. Furthermore, some might be looking for a more natural, low sugar, sugar alternative, or sugar free options. We will discuss sweetening at the end.

And now, (drumroll please) after extensive research & experimentation in the Cérémonie labs, we present various methods in which to prepare iced tea:

HALF & HALF

This method is the quickest way to prepare iced tea. With this method you make half of your amount in the regular hot brew method.

– If you plan on making a 1 liter pitcher, brew a ½ liter water hot water using double the amount of tea bags or loose tea you would normally use, to make your tea concentrate.

– If sweetening, add that now and mix.

– Let that steep for 6-8 minutes.

– Then remove the tea and pour this into a pitcher with ice and then the other ½ liter of cold water.

COLD BREW

This method does not require hot water, but does need lots of time.

You take double the amount of tea you would normally use.

– Place the tea in your ice filled pitcher.

– Fill with cold water.

– If sweetening, add your simple syrup (instructions for that add the end).

– For full flavor infusion, place in the fridge for 8-10 hours. (Don’t sweat it if you drink it before the 8th hour- it will still carry plenty of flavor!)

– Remove the tea and serve with ice.

– Plan ahead and prepare your pitcher for overnight steeping for some iced tea on the go the next day.

SUN BREW

Here is a fun low-tech route.

– Place the tea into your pitcher of water.

– If sweetening, add your simple syrup and mix.

– Place in the sun for 3-5 hours.

– Remove the tea & serve with ice and a wedge of lemon!

O N T H E G O

If this is all too much- don’t fret! Take a few tea bags & throw into your water bottle. Leave it the fridge or let it sit out for a little and you will have iced tea. Perfect for your on the go needs! (Just don’t forget some ice…)

Sweet Talkin’

This is where a lot of the personal preferences come into play. Which sweeteners to use? Sugar, honey, agave… And some might prefer their drinks unsweetened. In that case, just prepare it and leave out the sugar all together!

What if we do want to sweeten our iced tea? If you are using the half & half method, no problem. Add the sugar with the hot water, mix, and it will dissolve easily. When cold brewing we run into an issue. Sugar does not dissolve smoothly in cold water. We have a simple solution for you: use a Simple Syrup. Add this simple syrup to sweeten your drink. You can substitute sugar with honey or most any other sweetener you prefer.

All you need is equal parts water/sugar (or any of the other forms of sweeteners) & a saucepan.

Place the water & sugar in your saucepan over a medium flame. Boil until the sugar is dissolved. Add syrup to taste in your iced tea for a sweet & refreshing drink! Simple syrups will store well in the fridge. Make a big batch and have it ready when you need it!

We highly recommend using Ceremonie’s Wild Berry or Lemongrass & Verbena for iced teas! Now you are now well equipped to brew your own batch of iced tea at home! Go for it!

Here is a downloadable pdf of the Half & Half method for Wild Berry Iced Tea. Keep an eye out on our blog for more iced tea recipes. Share them with friends & loved ones!

Email us with pictures or questions @ info@ceremonietea.com