Steeped Dreams - How to Make Cold Brew Tea

By Raquel for Steeped Dreams

Can you brew tea in cold water? Yes, and it’s much easier than the traditional hot water method!

I have a vivid memory from my childhood of my mom ordering a cold green tea at a restaurant. We all had quite the laugh when the server brought out a glass of ice with a tea bag inside. How was the tea supposed to brew without hot water?

While a cup of ice definitely won’t get you a refreshingly cool cup of tea while waiting for your food, it turns out my family wasn’t completely right either about thinking you need hot water. Turns out, you don’t need hot water for tea to brew—just some patience and water. [...]

How to cold brew tea in 10 minutes (express method)

If you have a special bottle for steeping tea on-the-go, you can make cold brew tea just about anytime and anywhere with tea leaves and water. Here, I use the Cold Brew Tea Sports Bottle from The Tea Spot.

1. Add a few teaspoons of tea leaves to your bottle’s tea filter. My all-time favorite to use for cold brew tea is sencha, a type of Japanese green tea. Maeda-en is a quality loose leaf tea brand that’s easy to find at many Asian supermarkets. However, if you’re looking to get fancy and have limited in-person options, Senbird Tea is a great option to buy sencha green tea online.

2. Add cool water.

3. Screw the cap on, shake the bottle, and wait 10 minutes! The flavor is still a bit light after 10 minutes, but if you’re on the go, the flavor gets progressively richer if you wait another hour or so