Spring iced tea

I recollect a while ago being manoeuvered into a Starbucks and searching the menu board in desperation for a drink that was not coffee or Tazo black and opted for an iced tea. I was curtly told "Oh, we only serve iced tea in summer". This was in England in June!

Nigel at Teacraft

Sadly I work for a university and good 'ol Starbucks is in every direction from me. I have visited them about 10 times and 8 of those were because I won a gift card. My personal favorite is how they claim they only have two iced teas (sometimes only one) either a black tea or a mint green tea. After I become tired of dealing with the stupidity I simply ask for them to brew me a small hot tea of my choice and I ask for an extra cup filled with ice... Viola! more than two choices and I brewed it so it is at least close to acceptable. Why they don't just offer this option I will never know, they'd rather argue that they only have two types. Oof.

But America loves it, so I must be wrong.

- Dominic

/And yes, it is waaaaay too early to begin thinking about iced tea for me.

It's much easier for them to make you a Venti Tazo Chai Latte by adding tea concentrate and milk to a cup of ice than to actually BREW the tea for each cup ordered.

Alan

Wait!?! So you're telling me the best tea doesn't come from a cardboard/foil container containing "tea" concentrate? Get right out of town! :)

- Dominic

has anyone come accross good quality iced tea concentrate, I have tried the pouches you get at whittards and found them to be overloaded with sugar and taste way to sweet. Cant seem to find anything that is refreshing. Maurice

No, and I think part of the problem is that you cannot effectively concentrate it without chemical changes.

Ordinarily, you brew very strong tea, then you add ice or water to turn it into iced tea. So the actual brewed product is perhaps twice final strength and you could think of that as a concentrate.

But if you want it any more concentrated than that, you have to remove water either by freeze-drying or boiling, and that's when the nasty off-flavours get generated.

A lot of the commercial tea drinks have huge amounts of sugar and/or lemon in order to hide off-flavours.

--scott

i once tried a Yamamotoyama "Iced Green Tea powder instant tea" unsweetened it tasted pretty weird, also felt like it had dust in it, i didn't like it (but 3 people left me comments that it was good and refreshing ...)

I've had a green (matcha) iced tea in Imperial Tea Court in Berkeley of all places. They put the matcha in the blender with cool water and ice. It worked out well and was pleasant. For some bizarre reason, which I can't possibly explain, iced tea, and particularly Southern "sweet tea", doesn't seem like tea to me. I categorize it as a unique beverage and not really related to the tea I have it my gaiwan or cup.....I guess when a tea is iced the coldness shakes so much of the true flavour off and I find it disconcerting. Shen

I completely agree. In the summer, if I feel too hot for hot tea I brew and drink tea at room temperature. I don't particularly enjoy freezing my throat, and why sacrifice the taste of tea?

/Lew

I agree about sweet tea; the sugar overpowers any tea flavor.

Since cold mutes flavors, I drink a strong black iced tea (no sugar or lemon). The flavor of most greens is too subtle for iced tea, IMHO.

Alan

Iced green tea just requires a different approach but once you get it, it is a rewarding thing. Most people brew their black tea extra strong and then water it down with ice cubes to get a full flavored iced tea, and you can't do that with green. The way I tend to go is I brew a larger quantity of green tea just as I would brew a single cup (about

1.5L for around 2L of iced tea) and then add in a smaller amount of ice and let it refrigerate until cold.

Sencha's are the easiest, but I have made really good Dragonwell iced too. One time and one time only did I get a really good BLC iced tea, I'll have to experiment again with that one this year. Shamefully I really like the Tazo Black tea made just for iced tea. It has a hint of orange peel in it and it's really refreshing. I bought a few boxes of it on clearance and still have some left, I'd never pay full price for it but it is actually good. for reference here is a link to the product:

- Dominic