How do I make iced tea?
Cold-brewed and hot-brewed iced tea, why cold brewing avoids bitterness, and how to stop it going cloudy.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 4 hr
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Cold brew it: 10g of leaf per litre of cold water, refrigerated for 4–8 hours, then strain. Cold brewing extracts almost no tannin, so the result is smooth and needs no sugar to be drinkable. Hot brewing then chilling is faster but usually needs sweetening and often goes cloudy.
Iced tea gets a reputation for needing lots of sugar, and that's mostly a consequence of hot brewing. Hot water extracts tannins that taste harsh when cold, so sugar is added to mask them. Cold brewing skips that problem entirely.
What you'll need
- Loose leaf or bagged tea
- Large jug or bottle
- Fine strainer
- Lemon, mint, or fruit for flavouring (optional)
Step by step
- Use about 10g of tea per litre of cold water — roughly double a hot brew by weight.Cold extraction is slower and less efficient, so it needs more leaf.
- Combine tea and cold water in a jug and stir.Any tea works. Black and green both cold brew well; fruit and herbal infusions are excellent.
- Refrigerate for 4–8 hours, or overnight.Longer is more forgiving than with hot brewing — cold brew is very hard to over-extract.
- Strain out all the leaves or bags.Leaves left in will eventually turn it bitter, even cold.
- Taste and dilute with cold water if it's too strong.Easier to brew slightly strong and dilute than to strengthen a weak batch.
- Serve over ice with lemon, mint or fruit if you like.Add these at serving rather than during the brew — they can dominate over several hours.
- Store in the fridge and drink within about three days.It's a low-acid liquid with no preservatives. Three days is a sensible limit.
Tips
- If hot brewing, the cloudiness that appears on chilling is tannins and caffeine binding together. Brewing slightly weaker, or letting it cool to room temperature before refrigerating, reduces it.
- Fruit and herbal infusions cold brew beautifully and need no sweetening at all.
- Freeze tea into ice cubes so the drink doesn't weaken as it melts.
- A slice of lemon added at serving lifts cold tea in the same way acid lifts food.
Common mistakes
- Hot brewing then chilling without adjusting — The tannins extracted hot taste harsh cold, which is why so much iced tea needs sugar.
- Using the same leaf quantity as hot brewing — Cold extraction is less efficient. Roughly double it.
- Leaving the tea in the jug — Even cold, it eventually over-extracts.
- Pouring hot tea over ice — It dilutes to about half strength before you drink it.
Questions people ask
Why does my iced tea go cloudy?
Tannins and caffeine bind as the tea cools rapidly. Cooling to room temperature before refrigerating reduces it, and cold brewing avoids it entirely.
How long does iced tea keep?
About three days refrigerated. Strain the leaves out first — a jug with leaves still in it deteriorates faster.