Easy Summer Cold Brew
Summer is almost here, which means it’s time for me to dig out my glass carafes and get excited about cold brew tea. One of the things I love about cold brew—aside from the refreshing chill—is its gentler, sweeter flavor. Because you’re using cold water instead of hot, you get far less bitterness and astringency, which allows the subtler notes in the tea to really shine. Cold water also extracts less caffeine, making for a gentler all-day tea.
During this past weekend’s Toe River Arts Studio Tour, I shared lots of sips of two of my favorite teas to drink over ice—Shizuku Gyokuro and Sakura Black—and got a lot of questions about how I make my cold brews. The great news is that cold brewing is incredibly forgiving. You can experiment with the leaf-to-water ratio, steeping time, and how many infusions you get. And since there’s no risk of scalding the leaves, you don’t have to worry about bitterness from overdoing the temperature. It’s one of the easiest ways to enjoy high-quality loose leaf teas—especially if you’re new to brewing teas that usually require lower water temps.
You can make a quick cold brew by pouring ice water over your tea leaves and letting it steep for 10–15 minutes. But my favorite method—the lazy (and efficient) one—is to cold brew overnight. It’s great for making a larger batch, and it actually uses fewer leaves!
Overnight Cold Brew for Loose Leaf Teas
What you’ll need:
10–15 grams loose leaf tea of your choice
About 4-5 cups room temperature water
A carafe or pitcher
Tea infuser (optional)
Instructions:
Measure your leaves. I use a gram scale and aim for 10–15 grams, depending on the tea and how strong I want it. For something like Watanabe Green, I add a little extra for a deeper flavor, but this is totally personal—adjust to your taste.
Add to pitcher (with or without infuser). You can use a large tea filter or infuser, but it’s also fine to let the leaves float freely and strain them later. Just be sure they have enough space to expand—this is key to getting good flavor.
Fill with water and refrigerate. Add room temperature water to your pitcher, pop it in the fridge overnight, and let the tea steep slowly while you sleep.
In the morning, decide whether you want to leave the leaves in or strain them out. I usually remove them after the first steep to avoid over-extraction, but there’s no rule—you do you. You can also re-steep the same leaves with fresh water once (or even twice), depending on the tea. The flavor will change, but many teas hold up beautifully across multiple infusions.
Cold brew keeps well in the fridge for several days. And if you don’t think you’ll finish it in time, pour it into an ice cube tray—tea cubes make an excellent addition to your next glass.
