There’s nothing like a delicious glass of cold brewed tea: crisp, refreshing, flavorful, and delicious. I love organic iced tea for the quality of ingredient and flavor, but which is the best tea for iced tea? With so many choices—black tea, green tea, caffeine-free or herbal teas just for example—how do you choose?
Here are some tips I think about when I’m stocking my refrigerator for iced tea.
Look for brands with organic iced teas.
Trustworthy brands, such as Plum Deluxe, blend their iced tea flavors with only organic tea leaves. Most tea bags are lower quality and not organic, so loose leaf teas are typically better, but always do your research. It’s important to note that organic teas do not necessarily taste better—be sure to also look out for things like artificial flavors or hidden sugars and sweeteners, which you don’t want in your iced tea.
TEA TIP: Many tea-growing regions don’t have organic certification programs. It’s important to note that organic doesn’t mean high quality or good flavor. We suggest looking for purveyors who have clear and helpful information about their sourcing process. For example, at Plum Deluxe, we know every one of our suppliers by name, support fair trade wages, and bring in ingredients fresh.
What is a good cold tea?
What makes a good cold tea is a very initial opinion, as everyone’s taste buds are different. However, in general, some teas do make good cold tea and some don’t. Here are some of my suggestions.
Teas that are good cold:
Fruity teas
Green tea
White tea
Black tea
Hibiscus teas
Teas that tend to be better hot:
Chai or spicy teas
Puerh teas
Savory teas
Most herbal teas
Again, these are generalizations—you get to decide what teas you like to drink hot and what teas you like to drink iced. Most of the tea consumed in the United States is iced, but in other countries, it’s hot, so you’re in good company no matter how you like your brewed tea.
Cold water + organic ingredients = yummy tea.
Always do cold brew when preparing iced tea vs hot tea, no matter if you’re brewing black teas or rooibos tea. It’s so easy, too! You just add one to 1.5 teaspoons of loose tea to eight ounces of cold water in the fridge overnight. You don’t need anything special, just a mason jar or a quality iced tea pitcher.
TEA TIP: Here’s a guide on how to make cold brew iced tea.
Fruit and citrus flavors make the best iced tea.
While everyone has their own preferences, if you’re looking for the best iced tea, you can’t go wrong with fruit and citrus ingredients. It doesn’t matter if it’s black tea, green tea, or naturally caffeine-free tea, you can’t go wrong with fruits and citrus.
Some examples of fruit iced tea flavors:
Berries: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cherries
Classic citrus: orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit
Earl grey: which is made from bergamot, an orange
Beachy fruits: mango, passionfruit, coconut, dragonfruit
Delicate white and organic green tea brew beautifully as a cold brew.
As I mentioned earlier, the best way to prepare your delicious organic ingredients for iced tea is using cold water (instead of making hot tea and icing it down with ice cubes). But cold brew creates a much smoother, stronger flavor. It also helps you avoid burning your green teas and white teas (especially those wonderful loose leaf teas).
For herbal iced tea, try some healthy hibiscus tea.
If you want an iced tea that is herbal, try hibiscus—it’s very healthy and much more flavorful and smooth than the hot tea version. It’s also super easy to make and get strong flavors. If you find the flavor of hibiscus too tart, you can combine it with other iced tea flavors to tone it down. I love hibiscus with any berry teas (especially blueberry and strawberry). Add a little bit of honey and you’ve got an instant hit on your hands!
What is the healthiest kind of iced tea?
If you’re looking for a healthy iced tea, it’s important to look for organic teas. But it’s not enough to be just organic tea. Look for teas that do not have any sugar, artificial sweeteners, or artificial flavors.
The brewing method does not matter when it comes to health benefits—that’s really only about flavor.
Is drinking cold tea good for you?
Sipping cold tea is not necessarily better for you than a cup of warm tea, but cold tea is much healthier than sugary drinks or alcoholic beverages. And if you’re facing hot weather or any sort of dehydration, and you’re having trouble getting enough water, then tasty tea can help you get those cups of water per day down.
TEA TIP: Does tea dehydrate you?
What kind of tea is in iced tea?
Black tea and green teas are often chosen as favorite teas for iced tea. Both are made from the Camellia sinensis plant. But you can also use herbal ingredients such as honeybush or rooibos teas for iced tea. In some countries, you’ll see iced tea made by just sticking mint leaves or lemon balm right in a pitcher of water—just add ice. `
What about Sun Tea?
Sun tea is very popular and the most widely used brewing method of producing ice tea for some people. It brings an ethereal nostalgia to summer teas—to watch a cup brewing on the porch is a sign of the season for many. This is also a fun way to prepare loose leaf tea, watching the leaves float and swirl as they steep their delicious infusion.
It tastes similar to other iced tea brewed methods, but it does come with some concerns about the introduction of bacteria since the hot water is not used, just warm.
Nonetheless, you can still enjoy fantastic sun tea safely.
TEA TIP: How to make sun-brewed iced tea.
Does baking soda make for better cool tea?
There’s an old wives’ tale that adding baking soda into your tea makes it taste better. And if you’re talking about a tea that has caffeine (e.g. the Camellia sinensis plant), then indeed, a pinch of baking soda does make for smooth tea!
What’s happening with the baking soda is that the tannins in the tea (the ingredient that makes the tea dark brown) bind with the baking soda and reduce their bitterness.
Just a little bit goes a long way! We’re literally talking a pinch per eight ounces of water. You’ll be adding the baking soda into your water at the same time you add the tea, so after it boils for hot tea, and when you start the cold brew for iced tea.
How do I avoid making a cloudy glass of iced tea?
If you aren’t doing the cold brew method, but instead make hot brewed tea and then ice it down, you might find that you’re getting cloudy tea (especially if you ice your tea down right away). The process of the tannins and caffeine molecules cooling down rapidly is what causes the cloudiness.
If you just let your tea cool to room temperature before adding ice, you won’t introduce that cloudiness.
It’s important to note that the cloudy tea does not impact the flavor at all—it just looks different.
Good iced cubes = great iced tea.
Ice cubes are the enemy of iced tea, as they can melt and dilute that delicious flavor you’ve taken such good care to prepare. Some ideas for making good ice cubes:
Add flavors to your ice cubes, such as fruit, flowers, and other complementary herbs.
Make ice cubes from leftover tea from your last iced tea batch, so you don’t dilute the tea at all.
Don’t use ice, but frozen fruit and berries—grapes make fantastic ice cubes, by the way!
Take it to the next level with your own infusions.
Even if you are purchasing flavored teas or blended tea flavors, there are lots of ways to create even more great flavors. Here are some of my favorites:
Add what you’ve got in your garden: You’ve probably got lots of things from your garden for your iced tea. Try lemon balm, mint, rosemary, or rose petals.
Make an Arnold Palmer: A splash (or more) of lemonade with tea makes a crisp refresher on any day. You can whip it into a John Daley with a dash of alcohol!
Fresh fruit and citrus to take it up a notch: I mentioned above that I love fruits and citrus for iced tea, but you can also add fresh fruit/citrus to a finished cold brew tea batch to have an even more wonderful flavor profile.
How to Store Organic Iced Teas
Once you’ve made all that delicious ice tea, where do you put it on the off chance you haven’t completely consumed your cold brewed elixir? Be sure to keep iced teas in the fridge, and you’ll want to use them within a couple of days to avoid mold and bacteria.
I suggest the two pitcher method unless you’re having guests over, in which case you might need more. But for general use, you always have two iced tea pitchers going: one that you’re drinking from, and when that one starts to get low, you have a second cold brew batch started. You’re never without ice tea, but nothing is sitting around in the fridge too long.
Here’s to a great cup of iced tea!