The subject will terrify most of you :) I suggest only cold tea drinkers participate in this thread.
How do you prepare your iced green tea? The way I do it is, I would boil 1 liter of water and cool it down to 170F. I'd then throw in 33g of looseleaf sencha in it and time it exactly for 3 minutes and then transfer them to a pitcher while straining the leaves. I'd leave it out for 15 minutes, for it to cool down and then mix in 1 liter of ice cold water. I would then leave it in the fridge and drink it all day long. It's refreshing. This batch is 2 liters. You could add a leaf of mint in your glass before you drink it. Just enough to taste the mint but not overwhelm the tea. I think this batch equals 10 servings. That may sound like a lot of caffeine, but it isn't. I get a wired up with just one cup of coffee but drinking this entire 2 liter batch doesn't do a thing to me. When I say 3 minutes, I mean exactly 3 minutes. Your batch should be transfered, strained, and seperated from the leaves in exactly 3 minutes. The temperature has to be exactly
170F. Another thing, don't add ice! When ice melts, it dilutes the tea. The top half of the glass will taste watery. Use a frozen beer mug instead.I've tried bancha with my method above and it's nasty. Gunpowder tea is somewhat tolerable. For me, Sencha is the only way if you want it iced cold. I've tried those imported bottled green tea but it just isn't the same because they have sugar in it. Sugar just mask the taste of the tea. The aroma and the essence of the bottled ones seems absent, making the tea taste flat.
Drinking it cold, I could taste the characteristics of Sencha. The aroma, that distinct taste as it spread across my taste buds. Sometimes when I'm thirsty and on my way home from work, I'd hold off buying any sodas. All I crave for is to get my 16 oz frozen beer mug from my freezer, pour my iced green tea, take my shoes and socks off, and just drink. ahhhhh :)