The Art of Cold Tea
Hello Tea Friends,
Many of our friends in the Northern Hemisphere are starting to feel the heat as the summer rolls in. There’s nothing better than sunshine after all the cold of winter! It does, however, cause one major problem - It’s just too darn hot to drink tea.
Where I’m from, we’ve been having some of the hottest weather we’ve seen so far this year! So I thought to myself, why not cold brew some tea?
Why not cold brew… all of it?
Come along as I cold brew some of my favorites from my collection and figure out what makes a good brew versus a bitter one.
The Contestants
Most of the time, I reach for lighter teas. Unfortunately, this means my collection of pu'er and darker teas is a bit limited! We'll work with what we've got, though.
Up above, I’ve got a picture of my lovely 500ml mason jars. Here’s what brewing!
Top row, left to right:
-Tibetan Dark Tea
-Taiwanese Four Seasons Oolong
-Eastern Beauty Oolong
-Alishan Milk (Jinxuan) Oolong
Bottom row, left to right:
-Sister Ai’s Yunnan Rose Sun Dried Tea
-2011 Fuding White Tea (from the bar! Important for later.)
-Chrysanthemum and Goji Berry Tea
-2024 White Anji Green Tea
-2024 Ancient Tree Hong Yao Green
For the sake of testing, I put similar amounts of tea into each jar, then gave them a quick wash with some hot water to get the leaves open. Typically, the Tea Friends over on the Discord enjoy using the leaves from their gongfu tea sessions as the base, which is very smart! This time, though? We're doing everything at once!
A light steep before the polar plunge! (My fridge.)
Let’s Talk Method
Before I dive into my thoughts, reviews, recommendations, etc, I’d like to touch on a few things I learned during the process — and how you can avoid making the same mistakes. Every tea is a little different, but these general notes apply broadly to each type:
Green Tea and White Tea- These are always super refreshing, but often very light in flavor. It can be difficult to get to the taste you want before it gets bitter! I steeped everything for about three hours in small jars. Play around until you find a time that works for you.
The color barely changed during its three-hour steep!
Red or Black Tea- These seem to brew strong, so keep a close eye on your steep time. Leave them too long, and bitterness will definitely take over.
Oolong- Huge rookie error on my part: I forgot how tightly furled oolong leaves are. As you’ll see from the picture, the “same amount” of tea was actually a TON of oolong. With this type, remember: less is more — unless you like it bold!
...Oops!
Bonus Tip – If you don’t have a filter… apparently, a cheese grater works in a pinch for pouring cold brew. (Seriously, though... use a proper filter, it's much better.)
Reviews!
The main event! Not only do I have notes — I’ve got some baking recommendations, too! Trying them cold really makes the flavor profiles stand out well, so it was hard not to think of all the things that could be done with each tea.
2024 White Anji Green Tea – Mild in flavor, but brewing longer would’ve made it bitter. Green tea can be tough to cold brew; if you’re not careful, the bitterness will overpower the nice, bright notes. My advice: use more leaves and a shorter brew time to get maximum flavor without the edge.
2024 Ancient Tree Hong Yao Green – I actually prefer this tea cold, though my method needs some tweaking. There’s a note of bitterness this tea gets when hot that doesn’t show up cold, and I like that! I might try making a jelly or jam out of it, because it has just the right notes for that kind of thing. However, it needs a better filter than the cheese grater lid I was using, because it does have some smaller particles that can get into the tea.
2011 Fuding White Tea – I used the bar version, and unfortunately (as you’ll see in the picture), it didn’t open up very well. For tightly compacted teas like this, I highly recommend a nice long steep in hot water first — it really affects the cold brew. That said, when cold-brewed this tea has a completely different feeling in your mouth. A properly made cup of this cold brew would definitely make for a great companion on a hot day.
Chrysanthemum and Goji Berry Tea – This was hands down my favorite of the lighter teas. I used two packets to boost the flavor, since it’s usually quite mild when steeped hot. But cold? The smell is divine, and the flavor is so sweet! I highly recommend this one. It would be a fantastic flavor infuser in so many drinks, or even kombucha! Or as a glaze, or a syrup, or… well, I could go on for a while.
Taiwanese Four Seasons Oolong – In my opinion, this one shines more when hot. It has that fragrant aroma we all love, but the cold brew flavor felt underwhelming. It had a touch of bitterness, too, so steeping longer isn’t ideal. If you do want to try it this way, I would recommend steeping it for a bit longer in the fridge, and then mixing it with a sweet coconut milk and a little honey for an easy latte.
Eastern Beauty Oolong – This tea is hands down my favorite right now, so I was really excited to try it cold! While it loses some of that sticky honey goodness I love when hot, it makes it up with lovely woody notes and is incredibly delicious. I’ve been daydreaming about sticky buns with a glaze made out of this brew.
Alishan Milk (Jinxuan) Oolong – This one really hits hard with the tannins if overbrewed, so next time I’ll dial back the steeping time. That said, it’s delightfully smooth, with a flavor that lingers. It seems like a great candidate for tea-infused anything, thanks to its strong personality, but it does well solo too!
Sister Ai’s Yunnan Rose Sun Dried Tea – This tea smells wonderful when cold-brewed. I had to take a moment to just sit and breathe it in before sipping. The flavor is light, with soft floral notes. It would make a fantastic glaze for cheesecake, in the right hands.
Tibetan Dark Tea – I'm honestly obsessed with this cold brew! Tibetan Dark tea came highly recommended by Claudene from the Customer Service team, and I'm so grateful for the suggestion. The flavor is rich and nutty, and it smells amazing. However, I can't help but think of all of the delicious things that could be made with this tea infused into it. I’m planning to make date bread with this tea after the blog goes up!
From the Team
This wouldn’t be complete without recommendations from the lovely ladies on the Jesse’s Teahouse Customer Service team! Angel and Claudene were kind enough to share their favorite cold brews as well as how they make them. As noted up above, Claudene loves the Tibetan Dark Tea done this way, but she also recommended trying out the Yangchun Snow Jasmine Green Tea. Angel's recommendation was any white tea, as she loves that nice light flavor that they get after a long, cold steep.
The way they make theirs is much the same as the our Tea Friends do over on the Discord: When you're done a tea session, don't toss those leaves! Put them into a nice jar (the CS ladies recommend glass ones!) and then pop them in the fridge with some water. It's an easy way to get the most out of your favorite teas.
Claudene actually has a glass teapot with an infuser that fits into her cold brewing jar! It's as easy as picking up the leaves out of the pot and plonking them into the jar for the fridge.
Thanks for tuning in! As you saw, I don’t have much experience with darker teas (yet!), but I’d love to hear what you’ve tried. Pop into the Jesse’s Teahouse Discord and chat with the Tea Friends about your favorite cold brews — maybe I’ll “accidentally” have to buy more tea.
Happy steeping!
-Mickey