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Cold green tea is really delicious on a hot summer day when you are thirsty.
The full-bodied, refreshing taste not only quenches your thirst but also refreshes your mood.
How much do you know about cold brew green tea / iced green tea?
What is cold / ice brew tea?
Cold brew green tea or iced green tea is literally making tea with water or ice instead of hot water.
The temperature of the water used to brew green tea changes the ingredients extracted, so even if the same tea leaves are used, the taste can be surprisingly different.
What is the difference between tea brewed with hot water and tea brewed with ice?
The lower the extraction temperature of green tea, the less catechins, which are the source of bitterness, are extracted, but amino acids, which are the source of sweetness and umami, are extracted unchanged.
In particular, the temperature of ice brewing is lower than that of cold brew, resulting in a deeper, full-bodied, richer flavor with more umami.
In addition, the color of cold brew and ice brew does not change much, so the water remains a beautiful green color even after a long time. Compared to green tea made with hot water, cold brew green tea contains much less caffeine, making it a good choice for a cup of tea before going to bed.
How to make cold brew green tea
There are a few ways to cold brew green tea, but we are going to introduce the standard one.
Prepare cold water
You can use tap water but it will be more better using tap water that’s once boiled and cooled, mineral water or filtered water.
Prepare tea bags
Put 10-15g of tea leaves in a bag to make 1 liter of green tea ( 1 tablespoon of green tea leaves is measured about 5g).
If you don’t have tea bags, you can put tea leaves directly in a teapot and use a tea strainer when pouring in.
Make green tea in a cold brew tea maker (teapot).
Put the tea bag in the cold brew tea maker (teapot) and pour the cold water in.
Leave it in the fridge and wait 3-6 hours, and voila!
How to ice brew green tea
You may have cold brewed green tea before, but few of you may have ice brewed green tea.
Ice brew tea tastes really good as it extracts more sweetness and umami than cold brew.
Here’s the recipe to make 1 liter.
Prepare ice
Prepare 1 liter of ice cubes
Put tea leaves in an cold brew tea maker (teapot)
Place 15-20g of tea leaves (about 3-4 tablespoons) on the bottom of the teapot. Spread the tea leaves out as much as you can so the tea ingredients can easily get extracted.
Put the ice in and wait till it melts
Place the ice on the tea leaves in the teapot and leave it till the ice melts. Rich umami ingredients will be extracted by taking time.
Shake gently before drinking
It’ll be ready when the ice melts, then shake the teapot gently before pouring in a glass.
The ingredients on the bottom can be diffused evenly by shaking, which makes the taste well-balanced and the color look better.
It would surely be no problem using a kyusu teapot instead of an ice brew tea maker.