How to Cold Brew Tea
Many parts of the world, including Toronto, have been suffering from heat waves and heat warnings this summer, and you might crave some cold, refreshing tea rather than warm/hot infusions.
We've introduced how to cold brew tea to our customers, social media followers and email subscribers, and we've got great feedback. Many of them have told us they found it very simple and convenient and that they love the refreshing flavours!
Cold-brewing tea is very simple and easy. I always cold brew different teas before going to bed and enjoy the teas the next day. You don't need to worry much about over-steeping as the cold-brewing method results in a lighter-bodied tea with less or no bitterness.
The cold-brewing instructions we are going to introduce below is our suggestion. However, as everyone has different preferences when it comes to flavours of tea, you can experiment with different amounts of tea leaves and/or different steeping times according to your preference.
Instructions:
1) Put tea leaves in a glass container or a travel mug. We recommend starting with 2g for Woojeon, Sejak or Balhyocha, 1g for Barley Sprout, 3g for Mistletoe or Yuja Balhyocha. If you wish to have more than one cup of each tea, you can increase the amount of tea leaves by 1g per 1 cup of water added. (You don't need to increase the amount of tea leaves at the same ratio for each cup of water added.)
2) Pour in one cup (8oz or 240ml) of room temperature or cold water.
3) Close the lid of the container and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. If you prefer stronger infusions, you can increase the steeping time (e.g., Mistletoe up to 10-12 hours). If you prefer lighter infusions, steep the teas for 6 hours or less.
4) Strain the tea leaves and enjoy the refreshing flavours of each tea!
5) (Optional) You can add ice cubes when you have cold-brewed teas, but if you leave the tea at room temperature for too long, the tea will be diluted with ice and taste lighter than you desired. If you love adding ice cubes into your cold-steeped tea, we recommend making ice cubes with the same kind of tea. However, you might want to make sure to cover the ice cube tray as the smell of the freezer can get pulled into the ice.
6) (Optional) When having cold-brewed Barley Sprout, it's our strong recommendation to add a few slices of cucumber! They are a great refreshing pair!
