I spent a few years wandering the world of tea, discovering many different styles and tastes, only to come back home to something simple with added quality — good iced tea.  I’ve come to favor simple days of sun tea.

My favorite is cold brew tea and I am going to teach you my technique: Refrigerator Tea.

TL;DR

Glass pitcher, two family sized bags of decaff Luizanne tea tied off the handle, fill pitcher with room temp, fantastic quality water, leave in fridge for 12-24 hours, last for a week.

My background

For a daily driver, I’m not looking for bold or bitter like regular hot black tea.  Although, you’ll do yourself a favor to have some Russian caravan tea – it’s smokey brilliance!  My favorite hot tea is something found in Ranch 99 that I find to be in-between oolong and green tea.  For a moment, Trader Joe’s has loose leaf black and green teas that were fantastic.  For daily favorite thirst quencher, it’s just not going to be hot tea.  I have quite a thirst!

What not to get

Anything Lipton.  America is sold the garbage of tea.  Lipton is the stuff they sweep off the ground after selling the good stuff to others.  Just don’t do it.  If you can’t see any leaves, you’re not getting tea.

Do __NOT__ get any tea labels “cold brew.”  I know that’s what we’re doing here.  However, in the US, they (our beloved corporate overlords) got rid of all instant tea, and instead put it in with the dirt tea bags we are told to like, and then we’re charged more.  Cold brew tea bags are dirt tea plus instant tea.  If you care about flavor – don’t do it.  If you want a confused palate, go for it.

What to get

My favorite is basically, making cold brew tea, using Red Rose tea brand.  As I can get “family sized” tea bags of decaf, I more frequently using my second favorite, the southern tea brand, Luizianne.

Sure, Red Rose is mass produced and isn’t super high quality, but you can taste that quality is still an ingredient.  In fact, you can taste tea in it.  In US markets, only Lipton and store brands are competitively priced, and the rest are over priced.  Thus, I’m placed in the awkward position of recommending buying tea from Wal-Mart.  I suspect, it’s just another SKU to them, and they supply much to Canada too.  Canada is closer to it’s English heritage than the US and they just have better tea (and chocolates).  Same it true for their reach into the south and providing Luizanne tea.

Get great water

When it comes down to it, it’s mildly flavored water.  Water is the most important ingredient.  Of course, the tea can help mask and cover up undesirable tastes in the water.  But better to start fresh.  In my experience, RO water isn’t the best.  When feeling fancy, I’ll seek out spring water or mineral water – no RO involved.  For a while, while in exile in southern California, I would drive to Carlsbad for the artiesian well.  Since then, alkaline water became a trend, and now it’s a crazy $1.40/gallon.  I don’t think it’s the ph of the water, but the minerals have a better mouth feel.  If your municipal water is good, don’t bother.  If you want extra fuss, I do want some gardeners will do and that is “de-ionize” the water.  It’s more like off-gassing.  Distilling takes time and energy and leaves nothing tasting water.  To water your special plants with less chlorine and fluorine added, gardeners will fill up a 5 gallon buckets or two with water, and just let it sit a day or two.  The idea being the surface area of the water is exposed an allowing the “ions” like chlorine and fluorine to escape out.  It did seem to help my indoor seedlings.  I can’t say for sure in a blind taste taste I would be able to tell.  Tap water vs. RO water vs. Carlsbad water – postively can tell.

The Equipment

I use a Luminarc Quadro pitcher.  I got the first one from a thrift store, but later I got three more from Bed, Bath & Beyond.  This is because the knock off ones, the lids were poor design, and would dribble down the sides.  Seems they are not made any more.  I have tried Ikea, Target and many off-brand.  The handle matters and is helpful, and the handle off to the side (not off the wide side) is most compatible with refrigerator doors and dishwashers. The handle is also important for hanging on to the tea bags to remove them easily when done.

Perhaps the most important part is the glass both for the assurance it won’t add to the taste and for the thermal inertia (very important).  This is to be a slow brew

The Technique

Good water, good tea, a good brewing vessel.  Take 5 bags of Red Rose tea, or 2 bags of the family size Luzianne tea.  If you take them out of their bags and lay them on the counter on top of each other, it’s easier to line up the strings.  Then, you put the bags in the pitcher and feed that string to tags around the pitcher handle and under the string going to the picture.  This will make it easy to retieve later.  You will also see that the specific gravity will move black tea vs. decaf to different parts of the pitcher, but either way they are centered in the pitcher and easy to extract later.

Pour room temperature water over the bags and fill the just below the lid level.  Put it in the back of the fridge and let it sit for 24 hours.  Remove the bags after the 24 hours and enjoy for up to a week

Why is this good?

Normally, you’d boil the water, make strong, bitter, high-extraction tea, and then shock it with ice, and let the melting ice dilute the tea.  This produces, watered down, astringent, bitter, tannin filled, over-extracted tea that will turn cloudy and ick in hours to a day.  Slowly letting the convection currents in the water wash over the tea leaves and the circulate through the pitcher as the water slowly moves from room temperature to cold refrigerator temperature will lead to the best tasting, the ice has already melted, crisp, cool refreshing taste.  No bitterness.  Far less tannins.  This tannins are proteins and the proteins want to coagulate as they are exposed to each other, turning the tea cloudy.  Less tannins, means longer lasting tea.  Since this brewing method is “weaker,” this is why we needed the higher quality of tea to begin with.  However, it would be a poor value and waste to use highest-quality tea for a low extraction.  Thus, balance.

Long lasting, clear, crisp, mild flavored, easy to make

But, but, but… t’ain’t sweet tea!!

No, it’s not.  It’s sublime, excellent refreshment.

If you pour regular granulated sugar into this, it will also just all flow to the bottom.  For this, you need to have the sugar in solution.  It’s called simple syrup.  Bring two cups of quality water to a boil.  Slowly stir into the boiling water, two cups of sugar.  I like using demerara sugar or “raw” sugar for a hint more flavor depth.  Let it cool all the way down to room temperature.  Pour into cheap squeeze bottle and leave in the fridge for months.

But, but, but… my lemon!

Well, you could just squeze some lemon juice to add some summery brightness.  Or, you could make lemon simple syrup.  Boil two cups of water with the zest (wide strips are easier) of one lemon.  Remember, just the outside skin, not the nasty tasting white pith, in the water.  Stop the boil to remove the zest.  There should be enough residual heat to slowly stir in two cups of sugar so it all dissolves.  Let it return to room temperature.  Put in a different squeeze bottle and label.  Stir into your ‘fridgerater tea to add some southern refreshment.