Cold Brew Iced Tea

There is a new drink in town and its name is Cold Brew Iced Tea!  This drink is life changing.  I have always loved iced tea and I used to make it they way everyone else does.  Throwing some tea packets in hot water and then chilling in the fridge.  This method is sub-par, at best, creating some bitter and dull tea.  

Enter the cold brew method.  I cannot stress how easy this is, producing a smooth, flavorful, and refreshing end result.  You know I love my water with a lemon, but sometimes you need something more, right?  My apologies for throwing this on you and the end of the sweltering summer, but once you adopt this method, I assure you that a pitcher of this will always be in your fridge.  

This is Coconut-Pineapple Black tea.  How I wish you could smell this through your screen.  It is delightful!  Same with the Cherry Rose Green Tea below.  Yum!

This first step is to start off with some high quality tea leaves.  I prefer to buy loose leaf tea.  There is a great store down the road from us that carries hundreds of tea varieties.  The Tea Spot is a terrific place online to purchase some lovely little leaves.

Measure out a 1/4 cup for every 1/2 gallon.   Pour into the bottom of a pitcher or large jar.  

Fill with water.  For optimal flavor, use filtered water.

And that is it.  Simple, right?  Now you just let it do its job in the fridge.  

Here it is after about 6 hours.  

The leaves are naturally steeping.  

This is the most difficult step in the process, if you want to call straining difficult!  Pour the tea through a strainer and serve. Throw the leaves back into the pitcher and refill with water.  The best part about this tea is the the leaves will continue to steep for up to three days after!  

Serve with a lemon wedge or fruit of your choice and you have the most refreshing beverage known to man!  You can sweeten it if you like (with a simple syrup, because the sugar won't dissolve in the cold tea), but if you use good tea, the flavor is so smooth and out of this world that you should tell that sweetener to take a hike!

  

Cold Brew Iced Tea
1/4 cup loose leaf tea
1/2 gallon of filtered water

Add tea to a pitcher or large jar.  Fill with water.  Place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours to steep.  Pour from pitcher, through a strainer into a glass and serve over ice with a lemon.

To make the most of your iced tea, refill pitcher with water after each pour.  The leaves will continue to steep and can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.