Nothing hits the spot like a glass of iced tea on a scorching summer day. Among ice tea’s many comforting features, one stands out—it’s simple to make yourself. Instead of bottled teas, which are often packed with artificial flavors and over- sweetened, why not brew up some ice tea that perfectly suits your palate?
Although it’s hard to make a bad cup of iced tea, there are several easy ways to make a good cup great. Here’s our guide to brewing the ultimate pitcher.
1. Go all out with ingredients
The better quality tea you start out with, the more flavorful the brew. Experiment with black, green, mint or floral fruity tisanes. Try loose teas, which give a more complex, full-bodied taste. Tea bags have a bolder and more intense flavor profile. Eschew artificial flavors for the real deal: fresh mint, ginger, berries and spices.
2. Use good water
Tea experts will tell you your source of water is critical: better water turns a good tea great and bad water can make a high-end tea taste sour and acrid. Spring water or filtered water is your best bet–spring water has a neutral pH and the right balance of minerals. Filters are key in places where the tap water is hard or funky. Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you don’t like the taste of your tap water as water, you probably won’t like it as tea.
3. Hone your method
There are basically three ways to make ice tea: hot brew, cold brew, and sun brew. Hot brew means you pour a cup of almost boiling water over your tea bags, let steep for the proper length depending on the type of tea, and then add a cup of cold water (the ratio is equal parts hot water to cold water if you are making a bigger amount). Voila, serve over ice. For a cold brew, pour cold water over the tea and let set in the fridge for 8-12 hours. For sun tea, leave the tea in a covered jar in a sunny spot in the house or yard for 6 hours. All of these methods make a great cup, but the cold and sun brew, because of the longer steep times, can extract more subtle flavors out of the tea leaves.
4. Develop tea empathy
Tea is a mix of science, art and intuition. To get the most out of each tea, you need to understand what variables make that unique tea shine. Is it hotter water? Less water? More tea? Less tea? Remember that above all brewing iced tea is personal. Be willing to leave the rules behind and try, taste, savor, repeat. Fine-tune your palate—the art of listening with your mouth–to respond to what the tea wants.
5. Sweeten the mix
Granulated sugar doesn’t dissolve as well in iced tea—basically it just sinks to the bottom and stays there. Experiment with maple syrup, honey or agave as alternate sweeteners or make your own simple syrup. Simmer equal parts sugar and water on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Stir one to three tablespoons of the syrup into your 16-ounce pitcher of cool tea, tasting as you add it to prevent too sugary a drink.