Tea is usually considered as hot drink, but recently cold brew tea is becoming trendy. Still, not many people know about this way of tea brewing. So can you steep tea in cold water? And if yes, why should you do it and how to do make it properly?

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Can you steep tea in cold water?

The answer is yes! The main point to understand about it is that different temperatures influence tea in different ways. At the end, any tea-steeping process is chemistry. So, if you change one variable (like water temperature) you can affect flavor and a range of benefits of your tea.

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Why should you brew tea in cold water?

This brewing method is really simple. It is mainly because cold water reduces the risk of over steeping. Brewing tea in cold water releases from the tea leaves fewer compounds that make the tea taste less astringent and bitter. Cold brew tea contains twice less caffeine as hot tea. The lower water temperature extracts less caffeine from the tea leaves.

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How long to cold brew tea?

Tea brewed using cold steep method requires at least 2 hours. The duration can be prolonged to as long as 12 hours and even more. You can try to experiment with cold steeping teas. Check on your tea often to taste it and ensure that you like the formed flavor profile of the tea. The only drawback to steep tea in cold water is the waiting time. However, it’s easy to overcome this problem by setting tea in the fridge to steep overnight.

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How to make cold brew tea

You will need the following ingredients:

·2 teaspoons of any type of loose-leaf tea (or 2 tea bags)

·2 cups room temperature or cold water

·If desired: flavoring (like fresh herbs, fruit, spices, etc.)

1. Place the tea into a tea infuser if you use loose-leaf tea.
2. Pour room temperature or cold water into the tea infuser with the tea leaves. You can add slices of fruits, herbs, or spices.
3. Cover it and put in the refrigerator for 6+ hours. Different tea varieties need different time to steep. Black tea – 8-12 hours, white and green tea – 6-8 hours, oolong tea – 8-10 hours, puerh – 10-12 hours, herbal – 12-14 hours.
4. Taste your steep tea to see if you like it. If it is too strong, just add cold water. If it is perfect, remove or strain tea leaves and enjoy your tea!

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