Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

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Nov 2nd, '10, 12:45
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Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by suppersready » Nov 2nd, '10, 12:45

Hi,
i am a caffeine addict. i decided to purchase some loose leaf tea approx 1yr ago (green tea sampler from adagio) as an alternative to soda (i dislike coffee). i was drinking it for awhile in place of soda/other bottled caffeine drinks, but found myself back to soda for its convienience (ready made) and refreshment (its cold!). recently i got to thinking, why not make ice tea? i have no idea why it took me so long to to come up with this idea. i've been drinking a lot of snapple and sobe tea which gives me a nice caffeine boost and never once did i think i could make it on my own. now that i've realized i can, i'm infatuated with the idea.

So far my method is to fill an empty snapple bottle with some cold water, add some loose leaf tea from my sampler, and stick it in the fridge for 12hrs or so.

My first batch was citron green + some irish breakfast black tea and it was fantastic! Didn't even need sugar it tasted so good. It seems that cold brewing gave me a much less bitter tea.

my post here is to see if anyone has any tips/ideas/systems for cold brewing. Like, what kind of shelf life can i expect from my old brew? Do i lose antioxidants? is caffeine extraction the same as hot brew?

what are some cool blends? So far ive just been combining a green tea with black tea. I figure i need the black tea in there for desired caffeine content.

i think this is so cool i can create wild flavors by mixing teas! that, and the effort required is so minimal. way less than hot brewing. im sure connoisseurs will say hot tea is the only way to go but i live in florida and its frankly too hot to be sipping on hot tea. besides, it burns my tongue! also, i tried to hot brew a tea and then cool it down, but it was too bitter for my taste.

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Nov 2nd, '10, 13:21
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by TwoPynts » Nov 2nd, '10, 13:21

suppersready wrote:...my post here is to see if anyone has any tips/ideas/systems for cold brewing. Like, what kind of shelf life can i expect from my old brew? Do i lose antioxidants? is caffeine extraction the same as hot brew?

what are some cool blends? So far ive just been combining a green tea with black tea. I figure i need the black tea in there for desired caffeine content.

i think this is so cool i can create wild flavors by mixing teas! that, and the effort required is so minimal. way less than hot brewing. im sure connoisseurs will say hot tea is the only way to go but i live in florida and its frankly too hot to be sipping on hot tea. besides, it burns my tongue! also, i tried to hot brew a tea and then cool it down, but it was too bitter for my taste.
Welcome suppersready. I'm in South FL so understand your dilema. I personally like ice mugicha (barley tea) but if you don't like coffee you may not care for it. It seems like you are doing things right, just put the tea in filtered or spring water and refrigerate it for several hours. With some teas, i like to put it in hot water for a short while (to release more of the tea's nutrients and flavor) and then fill the rest of the container with cold water to steep. I do believe you lose a little of the possible nutrients in the tea by just doing cold brewing, but I don't think it would be that much. Also, if you are making hot tea that is bitter, you are likely using too many leaves and/or steeping it for too long. Every tea responds differently to steeping. Many oolongs, whites and Pu-erhs are generally pretty tough and hard to oversteep. Greens are more delicate and can get bitter quickly.

I am not sure what the best blends are, but Adagio does offer some teas ready made to be iced.
http://www.adagio.com/iced/index.html

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Nov 2nd, '10, 17:25
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by nonc_ron » Nov 2nd, '10, 17:25

suppersready wrote:Hi,
i am a caffeine addict. recently i got to thinking, why not make ice tea? i have no idea why it took me so long to to come up with this idea. i've been drinking a lot of snapple and sobe tea which gives me a nice caffeine boost and never once did i think i could make it on my own. now that i've realized i can, i'm infatuated with the idea.

So far my method is to fill an empty snapple bottle with some cold water, add some loose leaf tea from my sampler, and stick it in the fridge for 12hrs or so.

My first batch was citron green + some irish breakfast black tea and it was fantastic! Didn't even need sugar it tasted so good. It seems that cold brewing gave me a much less bitter tea.
Hi, Welcome to Tea Chat!
Try Sun Tea, it will brew a little darker then cold brew.
And you don't lose antioxidants or caffeine. :D

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Nov 3rd, '10, 10:17
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by TwoPynts » Nov 3rd, '10, 10:17

nonc_ron wrote:Hi, Welcome to Tea Chat!
Try Sun Tea, it will brew a little darker then cold brew.
And you don't lose antioxidants or caffeine. :D
+1 :)
http://tipnut.com/making-sun-tea/

Nov 3rd, '10, 13:23
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by bsteele » Nov 3rd, '10, 13:23

If you're worried about not getting enough caffeine when cold brewing, you could always pour in a Red Bull or something :twisted:

In other news, yeah when I realized I could cold brew... amazing. I'm so surprised that I can drink unsweetened cold tea though- grew up on the sweet tea, never imagined I would ever be able to drink tea sans sugar.

I've never tried sun tea. I guess some people grow up doing it? And it's supposed to be a southern thing? *shrugs*

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Nov 3rd, '10, 13:27
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by nonc_ron » Nov 3rd, '10, 13:27

Homemade Sun Tea Recipe
Image
A great way to make tea without heating up your kitchen.

Items Needed:
* 1 large glass pitcher or jar with lid (that will accommodate 8 cups of water)
* 6 to 8 regular size tea bags (or equivalent loose tea)

Directions:
* Fill pitcher with 8 cups of cold water then add the tea. Seal with lid.
* Place pitcher in a sunny location so it can sit out in full sun (getting 4 to 6 hours of sunlight–up to 6 hours if you prefer stronger tea).
* After brewing in the sun, strain out the tea and refrigerate until fully chilled.

Tips:
*You can sweeten tea with Splenda, Steviva or fruit juices (just before serving.)
*Freeze some of the freshly brewed tea in ice cube trays and add these to the tea when serving, this will help prevent the iced tea from getting too diluted and watery from regular ice cubes.

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Nov 3rd, '10, 13:56
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by nonc_ron » Nov 3rd, '10, 13:56

bsteele wrote:I guess some people grow up doing it? And it's supposed to be a southern thing? *shrugs*
Image
I can't tell you how many Sun Tea Jars I've thrown away.
I don't have enough fingers to count on. :?
But you can get them for under $5 bucks. @ Walmart.
And they work great for a couple years. But then, one day you open the fridge and find the Spigot leaking and a sea of tea in the bottom of the fridge. That's when I throw it out. :D

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Nov 3rd, '10, 14:10
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by rabbit » Nov 3rd, '10, 14:10

Cold brewed tie guan yin and gunpowder green are both nice and fairly sweet without adding sugar. Shelf life- I would say (if kept cold) would be 3-4 days.

Nov 3rd, '10, 15:41
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by jodiklaus » Nov 3rd, '10, 15:41

I played around and finally found the solution that worked best for me. I didn't want a process too involved. I finally figured out to fill my infused with 6 tsp of tea (regularly 1.5 for 8 oz) and 16 oz of water. I infuse that at the recommended 195, etc. I have a measuing cup that is 32 oz. I fill that with 16 oz cold water and then put the heated tea into that once it's steeped. It doesn't take long to cool and then I can put it in the fridge in my carafe. So far I've been doing Tahitian Limeade and Raspberry Riot from Teavanna.

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Nov 3rd, '10, 16:49
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by woozl » Nov 3rd, '10, 16:49

9 grams / liter overnight in the fridge.
Several drops of honey will keep greens from oxidizing
without sweetening it.

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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by TwoPynts » Nov 3rd, '10, 16:54

woozl wrote:9 grams / liter overnight in the fridge.
Several drops of honey will keep greens from oxidizing
without sweetening it.
Yep, honey helps the tea keep longer as well.

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Nov 3rd, '10, 16:58
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by Chip » Nov 3rd, '10, 16:58

TwoPynts wrote:
woozl wrote:9 grams / liter overnight in the fridge.
Several drops of honey will keep greens from oxidizing
without sweetening it.
Yep, honey helps the tea keep longer as well.
+1

I happened to put a tad of honey in cold brewed sencha, and immediately noticed the tea stayed green instead of discoloring.

You might have to dissolve it first with a touch of warm water.

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Nov 3rd, '10, 17:49
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Re: Cold Brewing advice/tips/thoughts

by nickE » Nov 3rd, '10, 17:49

Chip wrote:
TwoPynts wrote:
woozl wrote:9 grams / liter overnight in the fridge.
Several drops of honey will keep greens from oxidizing
without sweetening it.
Yep, honey helps the tea keep longer as well.
+1

I happened to put a tad of honey in cold brewed sencha, and immediately noticed the tea stayed green instead of discoloring.

You might have to dissolve it first with a touch of warm water.
This is news to me, perhaps something I will have to try!

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