Nearly every tea can be enjoyed over ice, but there are some we just reach for time and time again. Our summer collection are definitely some of our favorites, and some of these special teas are available for a limited time only.
Summer afternoons call for pitchers full of iced tea, and making delicious iced tea is so simple. Brew a double strength infusion and add a minute or two to your steeping time. The result will be tea strong enough to pour over ice.
Cloudy iced tea? Black teas will often cloud when quickly chilled. There are several possible reasons for this. One of the main causes of cloudy tea is that the particles in your tea separated. When tea is hot, the microscopic particles of caffeine and tannins spin and the heat keeps them together. As the temperature cools down, the particles stop spinning and separate, giving a cloudy appearance. Tea made with boiling water and immediately chilled in the frig or poured over ice is more likely to cloud. I generally allow the tea to cool to room temperature and then pour over ice. Tea can be held at room temperature safely for 6 to 8 hours. Cloudiness does not impact the taste of freshly made iced tea. Also, tea made with hard water is more likely to cloud, as well. In this case, it is a reaction between tannins and minerals in the water. Always best to brew fresh batches daily.