Cold Brewing Tea


The idea of cold brewing tea seems enticing, unique and interesting. It uses only cold water to steep teas and is moving Westward, mainly from Japan, into the minds of Americans. However, cold brewing in Japan is used for pure green teas prepared in a clean, controlled environment and traditionally the teas are consumed very quickly. Teavana doesn’t recommend this type of cold brewing for a number of reasons:

  • Hot water kills germs! The FDA recommends using a water temperature of 171 degrees Farenheit or more to ensure that the household bacteria, viruses and germs don’t survive the steeping process. In addition, starting with hot water helps you end up with a better brew.
  • Teas need hot water in order to fully open and release the flavors. The teas are fermented and dried which seals the teas to most moisture. Hot water gets the flavor and health benefits out of the teas in a way cold water can’t.
  • Most Teavana teas contain fruits, flower petals, nuts or other flavorful herbal additions. These natural additives need hot water to fully release their flavors as well.
  • Normal cold-brewed teas are extremely light and require a very long steep time. Starting with hot water means more flavor and a fewer minutes to steep, and in the end a better cup.

A better way for Cold Brewing
There is a better way to “cold brew” that fixes all of these issues. Using the correct pitcher, you can add a small amount of hot water to the tea, then ice after a quick steep and put the pitcher in the refridgerator. This is cold brewing and results in a delicious iced tea, but it still starts with hot water to open the leaves, pull out the flavors and protect you against bacteria that might otherwise still be present in your tea.

Teavana offers the Camellia Cylindre and the Amandine Decanter which both handle this process beautifully. And you can leave the tea leaves in the pitcher for a very unique experience (both feature a filter to keep the leaves out as you pour the tea). Remember to use double the amount of tea you would use for hot tea and count the ice as part of your total water volume when deciding on how much tea to use.

Enjoy your tea!

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August 5th, 2009
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Sandy
Posted on:
August 5, 2009 at 7:04 pm

I’m confused. The last time I was at Teavana, the sales person recommended I try cold brewing tea exactly the way this article says not to do it. What’s the deal?

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Melissa
Posted on:
August 6, 2009 at 7:32 am

I bought the Amandine Decanter at the store in Woodfield Mall, IL because I saw how pretty it looked in the store. I asked the staff how to brew cold and they say they use cold water and brew it for the whole day. After 6-8hrs, then they throw out the leaves. I asked if they used hot water, they said no. So I’m confused with the cold brew technique. I also have a phobia that the Amandine Decanter will crack if I use 175f degrees water in it and add ice. Will it crack? But it looks beautiful and it does a great job straining the tea!

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
veritas
Posted on:
August 7, 2009 at 8:52 am

Melissa – Rest assured adding near boiling water (175-208 degrees)and then directly adding ice to the pitcher will not crack or break the Amandine Decanter. Teavana’s Verre Illumine glass collection is made from borosilicate glass which is much more resistant to heat/cold than normal glass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
veritas
Posted on:
August 7, 2009 at 8:55 am

Sandy – Since this idea is fairly new to the U.S. our store staff is being educated with this recommended method, but may not be completely familiar with the proper guidelines. I advocate using the method recommended above.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
loose leaf tea lover
Posted on:
August 10, 2009 at 7:09 pm

I never thought of cold brewing tea. Sun brewing was an interesting new concept too. But I have to agree with Teavana in that killing germs with hot water is the safest way for plain loose leaf tea.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Debra
Posted on:
September 8, 2009 at 11:50 am

leaving the leaves in won’t make it oversteep?

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
veritas
Posted on:
September 8, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Debra – if you use warm water (175 degrees) you’ll get it to brew, and it will be a much longer time until it becomes bitter.

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Rob
Posted on:
December 11, 2009 at 7:34 pm

In how to brew tea it appears that timing is everything in order to avoid bitterness so how to these pitchers work if the leaves sit in the water for perhaps hours?

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Cindy
Posted on:
June 30, 2010 at 4:28 pm

I’m new to iced teas made with loose tea. I ordered the Amandine Decanter and made my first pitcher of Raspberry Iced tea using Hot Water and then adding ice. It worked very well. I actually used a large tea bag for steeping and the removed it after the 3 min. steeping time was reached. I would love to leave the loose tea leaves in the pitcher but won’t this make the iced tea bitter? Can I just leave the loose tea leaves in the pitcher until I am finished drinking the tea? Thanks. I am a little confused.

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
veritas
Posted on:
July 1, 2010 at 10:02 am

Cindy – Depending on the type of tea (green, white, oolong, or herbal) you’re going to steep at the recommended temperature with the loose leaves directly in the Amandine pitcher (using more tea, usually double, since it’s an iced tea) then add ice when the recommended brewing time is complete. The addition of ice slows/stops the brewing that the hot water was doing. I recommend adding sugar to the hot steep, then adding ice when the sugar is dissolved/recommended brewing time is completed, or make a simple syrup to add to the brewed tea (found here http://www.heavenoftea.com/tea-recipes/sweeter-side-how-to-sweeten-iced-tea/). I find this brewing method works well for all teas.