TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

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Have you tried "cold brewing" to make a refreshing smooth glass of iced tea? If so, please share your experiences with this method. If not, listen up and learn.

Yes
16
67%
Yes, and I prefer it to hot brewed iced tea
1
4%
No, never heard of it
0
No votes
No, but want to give it a try
6
25%
No and I have no desire to try it
1
4%
Other, but please explain
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 24

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Jun 23rd, '13, 11:39
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TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by Chip » Jun 23rd, '13, 11:39

Celebrate a new TeaDay by brewing and sharing what is in your cup throughout the day. Let's see how many TCers are drinking tea!

The TeaPoll and discussion topic for the week or so is a pretty simple one...either you did or you didn't. Have you tried "cold brewing" to make a refreshing smooth glass of iced tea? If so, please share your experiences with this method. If you have not tried this method, listen up...you might learn something.

I know I learned something on this subject after resisting this change for years! :mrgreen:

See you all on TeaDay!!! COLD brew on ... and bottoms up! Enjoy your TeaDay. :mrgreen:

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Jun 23rd, '13, 12:00
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by debunix » Jun 23rd, '13, 12:00

Yes, I've cold brewed tea. It took me a long time to try it, because of memories of Mom's pitchers of lipton tea in the refrigerator that I abhored. But when things get hot enough, it's lovely.

One unique issue with the cold brewing is that it locks up a brewing vessel for a long time, so I have to get creative. I have several of these glass mugs that I don't use anymore for hot tea--the slits in the infuser cup clog easily, and they drain too slowly for quick brewing of short infusions. But setting a couple of these up at a time with an inexpensive sencha for drinking 4-8 hours later is very pleasant.

Image
Glass infuser tea mug - 3 by debunix, on Flickr

And for larger volumes, putting leaves right into a water bottle, covering with water, and putting that into the fridge can be very nice. It may be a bit tricky to drink tea without leaves getting in the way afterwards, though, if not decanted through a strainer into another container.

Biggest thing for me to learn with these cold brew techniques was to not use too much leaf--to use the amount of leaf I'd use to brew up the entire volume of tea in the cold brew vessel, not the amount I'd use for one of several or many infusions in that vessel; and to figure out the right teas to use. I enjoy greens like an inexpensive sencha (one that was just mediocre brewed hot), and various chinese greens and some green/low roast oolongs.

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Jun 23rd, '13, 18:55
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by Jspigs » Jun 23rd, '13, 18:55

I have tried it but it always turns out bitter when I do. I may try again with less leaf and time.

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Jun 23rd, '13, 19:20
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by Muadeeb » Jun 23rd, '13, 19:20

As the weather warms up, I've been drinking more iced tea and cold brewed oolong. I use a 14-oz travel mug with a removable inner perforated plastic lid. 5 grams of Jin Xuan or other rolled oolongs need some time to open up, about an hour for a nice, sweet flavor with no bitterness. The tea is not as durable as it would be when hot, so one refill is pretty much all I can get out of it. It makes a good choice to bring along when driving, as long as I remember to make it a little while before I leave.

Lately, though, it's been a lot of Den's green tea poured into my matcha bowl that's been filled with ice.

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Jun 24th, '13, 00:29
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by FlyedPiper » Jun 24th, '13, 00:29

Cold brewing yields a rich, thick green tea flavor with little to no caffeine. I do a 1:2 leaf to water ratio in the fridge for 4-6 hours for the first "steep". 8 hour or more second go around.

Hot to ice brewing yields a sharper brew... and gives you a caffeine hit as well. be sure to brew stronger than normal to compensate for the melted ice.

I use hibiki-an's sencha superior for cold brews. For hot to cold brews I usually use inexpensive TGY or similar roasted oolongs.

I have also done "ice brews", ie a gyokuro or fukamushi sencha in the kyusu with ice on top until it melts at room temp, but it requires a lot of leaf and can get expensive.

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Jun 24th, '13, 16:50
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by entropyembrace » Jun 24th, '13, 16:50

I really like ice brewed sencha :)

I just use a normal amount of leaf in my kyusu, fill with ice cubes, top up with cold water and cover. Then I let it sit at ambient temp until the ice is melted completely and pour into my glass to enjoy. This shifts the flavour balance to sweetness and makes for a nice refreshing drink for hot weather :)

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Jun 25th, '13, 00:57
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by amaranto » Jun 25th, '13, 00:57

I've been meaning to try this forever. Thanks for the tips, everyone.

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Jun 26th, '13, 22:08
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by minor_glitch » Jun 26th, '13, 22:08

I usually do a sort of poor-man's cold brewing with semi-spent leaves. Once I've had a few hot brews of something like a spring lishan I'll toss the used leaves in a tall cup, fill it with cold water and stick it in the fridge overnight. Makes a nice refreshing drink to enjoy in the morning and sucks a little extra life out of leaves that would have otherwise been tossed.

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Jun 27th, '13, 02:11
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by Muadeeb » Jun 27th, '13, 02:11

minor_glitch wrote:I usually do a sort of poor-man's cold brewing with semi-spent leaves. Once I've had a few hot brews of something like a spring lishan I'll toss the used leaves in a tall cup, fill it with cold water and stick it in the fridge overnight. Makes a nice refreshing drink to enjoy in the morning and sucks a little extra life out of leaves that would have otherwise been tossed.
I'm going to try that tonight!

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Jun 27th, '13, 14:25
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by BioHorn » Jun 27th, '13, 14:25

I made a long post about this a year or so ago and cannot find it!

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Jun 27th, '13, 15:55
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by Chip » Jun 27th, '13, 15:55

BioHorn wrote:I made a long post about this a year or so ago and cannot find it!
Yes, but you did win the Private Collection Sample for OTTI 19 OriginTea! :mrgreen:

(did you do a search of your posts?)

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Jun 28th, '13, 02:26
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by BioHorn » Jun 28th, '13, 02:26

Chip wrote:
BioHorn wrote:I made a long post about this a year or so ago and cannot find it!
Yes, but you did win the Private Collection Sample for OTTI 19 OriginTea! :mrgreen:

(did you do a search of your posts?)
That did make me feel better. I did search my posts. Next time I will do a random search!

Jun 28th, '13, 03:38
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by pennanhuo » Jun 28th, '13, 03:38

Does anyone have experince with cold brewing black teas?

I have tried to make ice tea from black tea with normal brewing, but the coldness always seems to emphasize the bitterness…

Somehow I usually just end up buying my ice teas during the summer from a thai food store nearby. But they are made from tea extracts, and with 4g to 10g of sugar :O

Maybe I will try to experiment with this cold brewing today for the drive to our summer cabin…

Jun 28th, '13, 17:42
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by edkrueger » Jun 28th, '13, 17:42

I like ice brewed sencha, but other iced tea does better hot brewed IMO.

Supposedly, cold brewed tea extracts less tannins, but I'm not convinced that it makes the tea taste less bitter.

Jul 1st, '13, 19:54
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Re: TeaDay 6/23/13 Cold brew it!

by HollyHelt » Jul 1st, '13, 19:54

It's boiling hot in Kyushu right now so we are amping up our cold tea options. My favorite right now is high-class matcha whisked to foamy perfection and then adding a handful of ice cubes. Sometimes we put the ice cubes in the chawan/bowl and sometimes we pour it into a glass. My hubby likes to hit his with a drizzle of agave nectar but I'm more of a purist! :lol:

I've also been known to make a tea go that extra mile by taking my second pot or even third pot of Japanese sencha/gyokuro, adding cold filtered water and leaving it to sit (ususally forgetting I've made it!) for anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours. Sometimes it's great, other times it's limp...but definitely worth a try!

Most important tip is to have FUN! :D

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