Tag Archives: iced tea

Multiple Herbs in a Garden for Tea

5 Additions to Iced Tea

Multiple Herbs in a Garden for Tea

Last week, we talked about how to brew up simple syrup, which is a wonderful (and easy!) way to add sweetness and flavor to your iced teas. But syrups alone aren’t the only way to jazz up an iced tea. Throughout June, we’ve been experimenting with fun flavor combinations for our favorite teas, and we’ve put together a list of our top five things to try. The best part? They’re no-fuss and easily accessible – some of them might be in your garden right now.

Try a different citrus! Iced black tea and lemon is a classic combination, but other citrus fruits are a great way to add a zesty brightness and tartness to your tea. Try pairing Nilgiri or other black teas with fresh orange slices, or add a few dashes of lime juice to Coconut Oolong for a beautifully tropical combination.

Mint is a must-have for food and beverage recipes alike, and with good reason! This hardy herb is easily grown in the backyard and can’t be beat for its refreshing, cooling flavor. Try adding a few sprigs to your favorite fruit teas – we especially love pairing mint with our Georgia’s Peach and Pear Raspberry Green. For an additional boost of flavor, try muddling a few leaves at the bottom of your glass before adding tea.

Lavender makes a sweet and soothing addition to many teas, with its heavenly aromas and calming properties. We especially love it with our Strawberry Oolong. As always, when harvesting flowers and herbs yourself, take care to ensure that the plants are grown free of any pesticides or other chemicals.

Fresh lemongrass has a flavor profile very similar to many citrus fruits, but with less tartness and a subtle ginger spiciness. Add a few stalks to Japanese Sencha or Vietnamese Green to add a herbal complexity to these fresh green tea flavors.

Basil is a culinary heavyweight with a lot of versatility – a little sweet, a little savory, with a wonderful minty freshness and peppery finish. Try adding a few bruised leaves to our New World Vanilla for a sweet, rich, and earthy experience, or, if you’re feeling adventurous, to Earl Grey to bring out the bergamot’s bright pepper notes.

We hope that these ideas inspire you to try out some flavor combinations of your own! Start small with your additions, as a little bit of flavor can go a long way, and don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment. You never know what unexpected flavor combinations might surprise you.

By: Jen Coate

Simple Syrup

Simple Syrups for Iced Tea

Simple syrup, in this case made from honeysuckle.

Have you ever experimented with simple syrup? Although most widely used in the world of cocktails, simple syrup is an easy way to add flavor to your iced tea without relying on expensive artificial sweeteners. Because the sugar is completely liquefied during cooking, it is perfect for mixing with cold beverages, and there are limitless ways to customize it. Here are a few of our favorite recipes to make your own simple and flavored syrups at home.

Simple Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

In a saucepan on the stovetop, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, stirring gently until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-resistant container. Cover and store in fridge for up to two weeks.

Mint Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

5-6 sprigs fresh mint leaves

Combine water, sugar, and mint sprigs in a saucepan on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring gently until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow mint to infuse for thirty minutes or longer, tasting for preference, then strain. Try with our Lemon Drop or Betsy Ross White Tea.

Peppery Ginger Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 knob of ginger (approx. 6”)

1 ½ tsp whole black peppercorns

Peel ginger and slice finely; combine in saucepan on the stovetop with water, sugar, and peppercorns. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, stirring gently until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow pepper and ginger to infuse in refrigerator overnight before straining. Try with our Georgia’s Peach Tea or Strawberry Oolong Tea.

Rose Flower

Rose Syrup

½ cup water

½ cup rose water

1 cup sugar

Combine water, rose water, and sugar in a saucepan on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, stirring gently until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-resistant container. Try with our Moroccan Mint or Japanese Sencha Green Tea.

5 Teas to Try Iced

Nothing says summer like a tall, cold glass of iced tea. We all have our favorites when it comes to which teas we ice (Classic Iced, Georgia’s Peach, and Adirondack Berries are three of our bestsellers here in our tasting room). But there are many teas out there that are overlooked for their iced tea potential. Here are five of our favorites of these hidden gems.

Glass of iced tea with lemon.
  • Darjeeling: A wonderful way to expand your horizons when it comes to an iced black tea. Darjeeling’s woody, complex flavors brew up to a smooth and refreshing ice tea with a subtly sweet finish. Try icing our 1st Flush for rich floral undertones, or 2nd Flush for its fruity muscatel flavors.
  • Dark Roast Alishan: All of our Alishan oolongs take beautifully to being iced, but we are especially partial to the Dark Roast for how its sweet, nutty flavors shine when served cold. Try it as a lighter substitute for your afternoon coffee.
  • Huang Shan Mao Feng: This savory Chinese green mellows beautifully over ice, bringing its creamy, savory flavors to the forefront. Try pairing it with a cold pasta dish or your favorite Asian noodle dish.
  • Himalayan White: The delicate and refreshing sweetness of this Nepalese white can’t be beat on a hot summer day. This tea is a good candidate for cold-brewing, which helps retain its subtle floral flavors.
  • Matcha-Infused Sencha: If you love the bold flavors of iced Japanese greens, consider experimenting with our Matcha-Infused Sencha. A dusty of matcha powder gives this tea an additional boost of umami richness and a full, satisfying mouthfeel.

When it comes to brewing iced teas, there are many more options out there than you may realize! Try experimenting with your favorite hot tea and see how it does over ice. You may be in for a delightful surprise.

By: Jen Coate

Entertaining Guests: Brewing Tea for a Large Crowd

Large batch of ice tea.The holidays bring people together over food and drinks like no other time of year. So when faced with entertaining a large crowd, how do you keep the tea flowing? Preparing fresh brewed iced tea for a large crowd is really quite simple. Note the required equipment. You can do this with what you generally have at home. However, if you are a routine entertainer, we’ve provided some pointers on what to pick up at restaurant supply stores or online that will make your life easier.

The instructions below are for preparation of fresh brewed loose leaf iced tea that is stored at room temperature in a pitcher or large container, ready to pour for guests over ice. You can also make cold brewed iced tea for guests

Equipment for fresh brewed iced tea:

  • You need a pitcher that you are fine with sitting out on the counter all day. A pitcher with a lid is best, but you can do this with an open pitcher. Generally you will find half gallon pitchers at most stores. You will find gallon pitchers at restaurant stores, which come in very handy when your guest count goes over 15 people.
  • You need a large pot to boil water in, it should hold at least 4 quarts.
  • A thermometer to measure water temperature if you plan on brewing anything other than black or tisane tea.
  • Wire Mesh Strainer (the finer the mesh the better).

Instructions for brewing:

  • Add 8 1/4 cups of water, a little over 1/2 gallon of water, to your pot and turn the burner on to high.
  • Allow the water to come to a boil and then add 1 cup of loose leaf tea. Turn the burner off.
  • If brewing a white, green or oolong tea, turn off the burner and remove the pot from the burner. Allow to cool for about 3 minutes and then put in your thermometer, you are looking for 190 degrees before adding the tea. If using voluminous white tea make this 1 1/3 to 2 cups.
  • For black or tisane tea, allow to steep for 5 minutes. For an oolong tea, allow to steep for 4 minutes. For a green or white tea, allow to steep for 3 minutes.
  • Pour the tea through the strainer into your pitcher and leave on the counter.
  • Serve the tea directly over ice. Since the tea is at room temperature and concentrated, a good amount of ice is expected to melt.
  • Since the tea will have sat out all day, you should discard any unused tea at the end of the day, especially if it was in an open pitcher. Feel free to water your plants with it. As long as there is no sugar in it, they will love you for it.
How to prepare a single cup of fresh iced tea.

How to Make a Single Cup of Iced Tea

Fresh Iced Tea by the Cup

Preparing a single cup of iced tea.

In warmer weather one of the things we offer in our Purcellville Tasting Room is iced tea in a variety of forms. With over 100 different teas to choose from we don’t want to limit guests to what we have prepared ahead of time or what’s on the nitro tea tap. So we also offer any tea, iced by the cup. And guests regularly ask how they can do the same thing at home.

Making a single cup of iced tea is very easy. So if you are wanting a cup of iced tea but not in the mood for a full pitcher, here is how it’s done.

Single Cup of Iced Tea: Equipment

  • Kettle (yes you can boil water on the stove but its well worth picking up an electric kettle)
  • Glass measuring cup (we love Pyrex 8 oz measuring cups)
  • Strainer
  • Glass to drink from (Preferably 16 oz, but you can scale this smaller or larger)

Single Cup of Iced Tea: Instructions

To make a 16 oz cup of iced tea we are effectively going to make a concentrated cup of hot tea and pour it over ice to rapidly cool and dilute it to the right strength.

1. Start by measuring out double the amount of tea you would use for an 8 oz cup into the glass measuring cup. For large leaf tea, this is 2 tablespoons and for small leaf this 2 teaspoons.
2. Get your water to the right temperature in your kettle and pour 1 cup (8 oz) of water into the measuring cup. Allow the tea to steep for the appropriate time. If you are unsure, just check the for the correct time here.
3. Fill your drinking glass with ice. The trick here is to know how much ice to fill based on the density of your ice. You may need to play a little bit, but generally you will fill the 16 oz glass half full with ice.
4. When time is up, pour the hot tea through the strainer onto the ice. You know you have the right amount of ice when most of it melts and just a few cubes remain.

Hint on sugar: If you want sugar in your iced tea, add it to the hot tea while steep and stir. It will dissolve the sugar/honey quickly and the strainer will catch anything that doesn’t melt.

This method works with all tea types and herbal/tisanes. Enjoy!