Cold Brewing Tea

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Cold brewed tea is the most overlooked technique in British tea drinking, and one of the highest quality small upgrades available for summer drinking. Made by steeping tea leaves in cold water for several hours rather than brewing in hot water, cold brewed tea produces dramatically different cups: smoother, less astringent, naturally sweeter, with reduced bitterness and a clean refreshing finish. The technique works for almost every tea family with appropriate adjustments and produces summer iced drinks that are genuinely better than the hot then iced approach most British drinkers default to.

This guide covers everything about cold brewed tea: the brewing chemistry that makes cold brewing different, the family by family approach for different tea types, the equipment, the storage, and how to use cold brewing across the British year.

The cold brewing chemistry

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Cold brewing produces different cups than hot brewing because different tea compounds extract at different rates and temperatures. The key chemical points:

• Caffeine extracts more slowly at low temperatures but still extracts substantially given enough time; cold brewed tea has 60 to 80 percent of the caffeine of hot brewed tea after 6 to 12 hours
• Tannins extract slowly at cold temperatures this is the key chemistry; tannins (responsible for astringency and bitterness) require heat for efficient extraction. Cold brewed tea has dramatically lower tannin content than hot brewed
• Amino acids and sugars extract well at cold temperatures the L theanine and natural sweetness compounds that give tea its pleasant character extract efficiently in cold water
• Volatile aroma compounds extract differently cold brewing produces different aromatic profiles than hot brewing; some teas show character in cold brewing that doesn't show in hot brewing

The practical effect: cold brewed tea is naturally smoother, less bitter, with most of the caffeine and pleasant flavour but dramatically less astringency. For drinkers who find hot brewed tea sometimes "too tannic" or "too bitter", cold brewing produces cups that emphasise the pleasant character without the bitter edge.

The basic cold brew method

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The standard cold brewing approach:

1. Use 1 litre of cold filtered water
2. Add 4 to 6 tea bags (or 4 to 6 teaspoons of loose leaf tea) per litre; cold brewing typically uses slightly more leaf than hot brewing
3. Combine in a large jug or jar ideally glass with a lid
4. Refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours; overnight is the typical approach. Some teas can be cold brewed for 4 hours; some benefit from 16+ hours for fuller character
5. Strain the leaves out before serving, removing tea bags or pouring through a fine mesh strainer
6. Serve over ice with optional lemon, fresh herbs, or sweetener
7. Store the prepared cold brew in the fridge; consume within 3 to 5 days for best quality

That's the entire technique. No specialist equipment beyond a jug or jar is needed; no temperature control; no precise brewing time; no monitoring required. Cold brewing is the easiest tea brewing technique once you know the principles.

Family by family cold brewing

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for Cold Brewing Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/cold brew tea guide/

Different tea families respond differently to cold brewing:

Black tea cold brewing, works excellently. Strong black teas (Yorkshire, Tetley, English Breakfast) produce smooth, less bitter cups with cold brewing. The reduced tannin extraction means cold brewed black tea is dramatically smoother than the hot brewed then iced version. Use 6 bags per litre of water, 8 to 12 hour brewing time. The cup can be served neat with lemon or with milk for an iced milk tea.

Green tea cold brewing, this is where cold brewing really shines. Hot brewed green tea is often slightly bitter or astringent; cold brewed green tea reveals the sweet vegetal character without bitterness. Sencha, dragonwell, and similar high quality green teas are excellent cold brewed. Use 4 tea bags per litre, 6 to 8 hour brewing time. The result is dramatically smoother than any hot brewed green tea. See the sencha overview and the dragonwell overview.

White tea cold brewing, excellent for delicate white teas. The gentle character of silver needle and white peony shows particularly well in cold brewing; the natural sweetness emerges without any bitterness. 4 tea bags per litre, 8 to 12 hour brewing time. See the silver needle overview.

Oolong cold brewing, works well, particularly for lighter oolongs like tieguanyin. The complex floral character of light oolong shows excellently in cold brewing. 5 tea bags per litre, 8 to 10 hour brewing time. See the tieguanyin overview.

Pu erh cold brewing, less common but interesting. Cold brewed pu erh produces unusual cups that show character not visible in hot brewing. Try with both raw and ripe pu erh for distinctive results. See the pu erh overview.

Herbal infusions, varies by herb. Most herbal teas work in cold brewing but produce different character than hot brewed versions:

• Hibiscus excellent cold brewed; one of the best summer iced drinks
• Peppermint excellent cold brewed; the menthol cooling sensation compounds with cold
• Chamomile decent cold brewed; less aromatic than hot but pleasant
• Rooibos excellent cold brewed; the natural sweetness and red colour are perfect for iced drinks
• Berry and fruit blends excellent cold brewed; the fruit character is highlighted
• Ginger milder than hot brewing; useful for those who find hot ginger tea too intense

For more on specific herbs see the hibiscus overview, peppermint overview, and rooibos overview.

The British year for cold brewing

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Cold brewing is sometimes seen as purely a summer technique, but it works across the year:

• Summer the obvious season; cold brewed iced tea as alternative to soft drinks
• Autumn useful for desk side drinking when central heating makes offices warm
• Winter less common but works for evening drinking when you don't want hot caffeine; cold brewed decaf or herbal can replace evening hot tea
• Spring the natural starting point for the cold brewing year as weather warms

For year round cold brew drinkers, keeping a 1-litre jug of cold brewed tea in the fridge becomes a daily habit; pour a glass when you want a cold drink, top up the jug when it gets low.

Equipment options

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Cold brewing requires almost no specialist equipment:

Minimum equipment:

• A glass or plastic jug or jar with a lid (1 to 2 litre capacity)
• Tea bags or loose leaf tea
• Cold filtered water
• A fine mesh strainer (if using loose leaf)

Optional dedicated cold brew equipment:

• Glass cold brew bottles with built in infusers (£10 to £25), bottles designed specifically for cold brewing with internal mesh tubes; convenient but not necessary
• Tea pitcher with built in strainer makes pouring without separate straining easier
• Glass French press doubles as cold brew vessel; the plunger handles straining
• Mason jars simple and effective for batch cold brewing

For drinkers wanting to try cold brewing, starting with a basic glass jug from the kitchen cupboard is fine; specialist equipment is unnecessary unless you become a regular cold brew drinker.

The "supercharged" cold brew technique

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One advanced technique worth knowing: combining cold brewing with brief hot brewing for fuller character:

1. Place tea leaves in cold water
2. Cold brew in the fridge for 6 to 8 hours as normal
3. After cold brewing, warm a small portion (about 100ml) of the cold brew in a small saucepan to just below simmering
4. Pour the warmed concentrated liquid back into the cold brew
5. This briefly extracts additional aromatic compounds without the tannin bitterness of full hot brewing
6. Strain and serve over ice

The resulting cup combines the smoothness of cold brewing with slightly more aromatic character than pure cold brewing produces. For drinkers who find pure cold brew slightly under flavoured, this technique provides a middle ground.

Storage and shelf life

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Storage and shelf life, Cold Brewing Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/cold brew tea guide/

Cold brewed tea storage considerations:

• Refrigerated storage essential; cold brewed tea must be kept cold to prevent bacterial growth
• Shelf life typically 3 to 5 days when properly refrigerated; quality slowly declines after the first 2 days
• Sealed container keeps the tea from absorbing fridge odours
• Don't reuse leaves the cold brewed leaves don't produce good second batches

For drinkers wanting fresh cold brew constantly, batching every 3 days works well; for occasional cold brew drinking, smaller batches are sensible to avoid waste.

Cold brew variations

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Once you have basic cold brew working, several variations expand the technique:

Fruit infused cold brew add slices of fruit (peach, lemon, orange, berries) to the brewing water alongside the tea; the fruit infuses during the cold brewing for fruit tea like character.

Herbal mix cold brew combine multiple compatible herbal teas (peppermint and lemon balm, hibiscus and rosehip, chamomile and lavender) for complex herbal cold brews.

Iced milk tea cold brewed black tea served with cold milk; smoother than hot brewed then iced milk tea.

Cold brewed matcha whisk matcha with cold water and ice rather than the traditional hot preparation; produces a refreshing summer matcha drink. See the matcha overview.

Cold brew cocktail bases cold brewed tea provides excellent low tannin cocktail mixers; particularly good for tea based mocktails and modern tea cocktail recipes.

Cold brewed iced latte cold brewed strong tea topped with cold milk over ice; iced chai latte and iced jasmine latte work particularly well this way.

What we stock for cold brewing

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for What we stock for cold brewing, Cold Brewing Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/cold brew tea guide/

Browse the full black tea range, green tea range, herbal tea range, and fruit tea range for cold brew options. The most bought cold brew suitable teas on teas.co.uk:

• Twinings Pure Peppermint 50 Bags, excellent cold brewed; one of the best summer iced drinks
• Twinings Pure Green Tea 50 Bags, cold brewing transforms supermarket green tea quality
• Dragonfly Organic Rooibos, excellent iced; natural sweetness shows beautifully cold
• Teapigs Jasmine Pearls, cold brewed jasmine pearls produce one of the most aromatic iced teas available
• Yorkshire Tea Original, cold brewed black tea for iced milk tea preparations

For comparisons across the wider tea landscape, see also: Twinings, Teapigs, Yorkshire Tea, Clipper, Pukka.

The verdict on cold brewing

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Cold brewed tea is one of the highest quality small upgrades available to British tea drinkers, and it's dramatically underused. The technique requires no equipment beyond a kitchen jug, no precision in temperature or timing, no specialist knowledge; just patience overnight in the fridge.

The cup quality difference vs hot brewed then iced is genuinely large. Cold brewed tea is smoother, less bitter, naturally sweeter, and more refreshing. For summer iced tea drinking, cold brewing produces results that simply can't be matched by the hot brewing then cooling approach most British drinkers default to.

For drinkers who occasionally drink iced tea but find it slightly disappointing, switching to cold brewing transforms the experience. For drinkers who don't currently drink iced tea, cold brewing provides accessible introduction to summer tea drinking that's a meaningful upgrade over commercial iced tea or soft drinks.

The technique works particularly well for drinkers who specifically dislike astringency in hot tea; cold brewing minimises tannin extraction and produces dramatically smoother cups. For drinkers prone to digestive sensitivity from tannins, cold brewing provides a more tolerable approach while preserving the caffeine and pleasant character.

Don't reserve cold brewing only for summer; the technique works year round and provides useful evening alternatives to hot tea when you don't want hot caffeine before bed. A jug of cold brewed decaf or rooibos in the fridge becomes a useful daily habit across all seasons.

For the wider context see the loose leaf brewing guide, the water temperatures guide, the ultimate caffeine guide, the iced tea guide, the best tea for energy guide, the hibiscus overview, the peppermint overview, and the rooibos overview.

Family by family cold brewing, at a glance

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Family by family cold brewing, at a glance, Cold Brewing Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/cold brew tea guide/

The plain mechanism is the whole point: cold water extracts the pleasant, water soluble flavour and sweetness compounds efficiently but pulls the harsh tannins and the bitter catechins far more slowly, so a long fridge steep gives a cup that is smooth, naturally sweet and almost impossible to over brew. That is why cold brew flatters delicate green and white teas that scald easily when hot, and why a robust black turns mellow rather than astringent. Use roughly the same leaf as for a hot cup, or a little more, in cold water in the fridge, leave it for the times above, strain, and keep it sealed; it holds well for two to three days and only improves for the first day. It needs no special kit, a jug and a strainer are enough, though a dedicated bottle is tidier, and it is the single most forgiving brewing method there is because time, not temperature precision, does the work.

Related on the wiki: Tea For Cold Weather The Winter Warming Guide.

Source

• EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine (2015)

Our shelf picks

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for Cold Brewing Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/cold brew tea guide/

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• Green tea
• Black tea
• Oolong tea
• White tea
• Herbal tea
• Caffeine in tea
• How to make tea properly
• Loose leaf vs teabag

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