Homemade iced tea for the summer

Iced tea for summer

The Origins of Iced Tea

Tea originated in China and East Asia long ago. It is a rich universe, full of legends and flavors. It was consumed in dishes as a spice, and then brewed hot.

The origin of iced tea, also called cold tea, would be in Great Britain, where it was common to add ice to your tea during hot days.

Then imported to the United States by the French botanist André Michaux at the end of the 1790s, tea, and particularly cold green tea, was almost immediately used in recipes for very sweet and alcoholic cocktails, notably in the famous "punch" which mixes tea, fruit juice and alcohol.

Traces of it can also be found in Russia, where the first writings on the subject appear in the middle of the 19th century. It was a drink sold in the street, to which natural ice was added.

Today, iced tea is mainly prepared with black tea, and flavored with lemon or peach for the versions found in the shops. But it is also very easy to make it yourself!

Making your own iced tea

Hot days make us want to drink something cool, and iced tea seems to be THE perfect drink to help us cool down. And just like everything else in the kitchen, it's often better to make it yourself! And not to spoil anything, it is really very simple.

For this you have two options, cold brew or hot brew. You can then add sugar, chopped fruits, syrups, herbs... Go ahead according to your tastes and your desires!

Cold brewing

This technique is longer than the hot infusion. It requires several hours of preparation, so the ideal is to prepare your tea the day before and let it steep for several hours before putting it in the refrigerator. You will obtain a tea with little bitterness but also with little theine. You can then serve it with ice!

Hot brewing

This is the quickest technique since it takes only a few minutes to brew your iced tea. The flavor will be more pronounced. Brew your tea at the right temperature and time according to its family, then pour it into your glass previously filled with ice. The ice will melt and refresh the freshly brewed tea. Wait one or two minutes, and enjoy!

How to proceed ?

As explained above, depending on the method you choose, the infusion will be longer or shorter, and the quantity of tea used will be different. Cold brewing is recommended for the Camellia Sinensis teas that we will introduce below. The technique is longer but releases the flavors better.

For hot infusion, you have to respect the infusion time and the temperature, otherwise you will get a bitter tea where the infusion will not be optimal.

For the cold infusion:

Put 1 teaspoon (or 2.5 grams) of tea for 250 ml of cold water.
Add sugar (or not) according to your taste (about 1/2 teaspoon for 250 ml)
Leave to infuse for 6 to 10 hours in the refrigerator, then strain to remove the tea leaves and keep only the infusion.

For hot infusion:

Use 2 teaspoons (or 5 grams) per 250 ml of hot water (brew at 95 degrees Celsius)
Add sugar (or not) according to your taste (about 1/2 teaspoon for 250 ml)
Let infuse for 5 minutes, strain, then pour into a cup filled with ice.

Iced tea can be stored for two/three days in the refrigerator with proper cover.

Tips:

Sugar can be replaced by honey or an aromatic syrup.
If you don't want the ice to turn your iced tea into water, you can replace the ice with pieces of frozen fruit (orange, lemon, raspberry, strawberry, grapefruit...) or aromatic plant (mint, basil...). To prepare them, simply cut the fruit or leaves the day before and put them in the freezer. The frozen fruit will add freshness, sugar, punch and decoration to your iced tea.