Tea in summer? We infuse it cold!

When the summer heat arrives, it is normal for the desire to use the kettle and drink steaming cups of tea to pass a bit. But just change the method of preparation and tea becomes a great ally to quench our thirst and refresh us in a healthy and tasteful way even in summer!

Cold brewing, in fact, is a very simple way to be able to continue to enjoy the goodness of our favorite teas even when the temperatures outside seem prohibitive.
How to do it? Here is a quick guide.

How to prepare a cold brew

1. We choose the tea we want to brew: for cold brews, the most suitable are the green teas, the oolongs low-oxidation such as Tie Guan Yin and white teas such as Silver Needle
2. For 1 liter of water, we measure 12-15gr of tea leaves and put them in a glass teapot
3. We pour 1 liter of room temperature water (filtered water or water with very low fixed residue) onto the leaves
4. We cap the teapot and place it in the refrigerator with the infused tea, leaving it chilled for 3-5 hours
5. After this time has elapsed, we take our teapot out of the refrigerator and strain into a pitcher, removing the leaves
6. Our iced tea is ready to be served!

Black tea can also be cold infused, but since this type of tea is best expressed with water at high temperatures, the risk is that the aromaticity and fullness of flavor we desire will not develop in the cup. If we want to try cold infusing a black tea, we can achieve a tasty and refreshing variation by adding washed and chopped summer fruits, such as peaches or mangoes, to the leaf tea. At the end of the infusion, when we take the teapot out of the refrigerator, we can decide to strain along with the leaves also the fruit, or to leave it in our tea as if it were a sangria…non-alcoholic!

Koridashi: the Japanese technique for infusing with ice

You read that right: you can infuse leaf tea using ice instead of water! This Japanese matrix technique will result in a very sweet and very umami liquor, minimizing the bitterness of the tea. Just to enhance the umami note, we recommend using Japanese teas such as a gyokuro, kabusecha, or a good sencha for this type of infusion.

Here are all the steps to experiment with this alternative infusion technique:

1. We prepare a large bowl or kyusu (the traditional Japanese teapot with a side handle)
2. We fill the container with ice cubes previously prepared with filtered water
3. Let’s weigh the tea: the ideal is 2.5gr per 200 ml of water, depending on the capacity of the container chosen
4. We pour the leaf tea over the ice cubes and let them melt completely
5. When all the ice has turned into water, we can strain the tea and serve it. For a stronger taste, we can also let it steep for another 2 minutes before straining.

The advantages of cold infusion

In addition to the simplicity of the procedure itself and the fact that we get a natural and refreshing beverage, cold brewing will give a tea with a sweeter taste. Caffeine and catechins, which are responsible for bitterness and astringency, are in fact released mainly with high temperatures: if we infuse with water at room temperature, then further chilled by being refrigerated, the levels of caffeine and bitter catechins contained in our tea will be very low.
On the other hand, L-Theanine, which is also extracted at lower temperatures, will not be lost: this is an amino acid that promotes relaxation and helps sweeten the tea’s flavor profile. Cold infused tea will therefore also be less exciting and perfect for enjoying at any time of day.

Iced tea and traditional Chinese medicine

Referring to traditional Chinese medicine, we find instead that “iced tea” does not mean exactly what we have talked about so far.

For traditional Chinese medicine, in fact, it is not the temperature that determines whether a tea is to be considered hot or cold, but rather the type of tea itself. For example, green, white and puer sheng teas are considered “cold”(yin), while red and puer shu teas are considered “hot”(yang). Ideally, with a view to balancing the two yin and yang energies, we should take a tea that helps us cool down or warm up as needed to achieve a balance of our qi (we discuss this here).

In addition, according to Chinese medicine, it is generally advisable to avoid drinks that are too cold: rather than cold extraction in the refrigerator, following this principle it is preferable to brew the tea instead with water at room temperature, leaving the leaves to steep for 40-45 minutes and consuming the tea immediately after brewing. Those who wish, after 2-3 hours have elapsed, can put the remaining tea in the refrigerator to consume it a little cooler later.