Cold Brewed Tea

I have never had cold brewed tea before. I did not even know tea could be cold brewed. So, when The Daughter gave me a box of TEABOX teas, I went ahead and poured boiling water onto the leaves. It tasted ok, like normal Lipton tea. I was disappointed because these teas are, apparently, quite dear. I thought it was a rip off and told The Daughter so.

The Daughter then started a cold brew of the remaining 3 portions of tea leaves in the packet. The same tea leaves produced a very different flavour profile. The cold brew tasted sparkling clear with notes of pear that seemed to linger around my head for a while before dissipating.

Hot water destroyed the delicate flavours.

I am going to try cold brewing other stuff now: fruit teas, tisanes, coffee and even the normal supermarket teas. It is even easier to make cold brewed tea than hot brewed tea. No need to boil water. No need to use a thermometer to make sure the water is not too hot. No need to set a timer so that the tea won't over steep and become bitter. Cold brewed tea also contains much less caffeine than hot brewed tea.

Just pour cold filtered water onto the tea leaves and then put the whole thing in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Since the steeping takes so long, it is best to brew many cups at once.

Funny that there is no 茶道 that cold brews tea. It really tastes very nice when cold brewed! 茶道 (whether Japanese or Chinese) always involved a lot of elaborate dos and donts and musts and hows. Cold brewed tea is fuss free and delicious!