We’re always looking at exciting and different approaches to tea here at The Tea Makers of London, and with summer fast approaching, we’ve turned our attention to a seasonal favourite, cold brew tea, but with a twist.
We've combined fruit with a range of our loose-leaf teas, to bring you a healthy alternative to store-bought, artificial iced teas. These recipes all feature natural ingredients which you can buy with your groceries, and are easy to make and delightful to drink. *
These recipes are all made in our 800ml easy pot.
*For those with a sweet tooth, feel free to add a sweetener of your choice to boost the natural flavours of these cold brew recipes.
What is Cold Brew?
Cold brew, as the name suggests, is simply tea which is brewed cold! This may sound strange, given tea is usually associated with boiling your kettle, but cold brewing tea is simple and straightforward.
Instead of intense heat bringing out the flavour of the tea leaves, with cold brew it is the length of time the tea leaves are allowed to infuse, which is a minimum of 4 hours.
Lemon and Ceylon Cold Brew
A cold brew take on a classic iced tea. Ceylon tea comes from Sri Lanka, and is ideal for cold brew as it is full-bodied but light and brisk, rich in antioxidants, and combines well with citrus flavours.
Lemon is high in vitamin C, and honey is high in nutrients whilst being a healthier alternative to sugar due to its antioxidants.
Recipe
- Pour 2-3 teaspoons of our English Breakfast tea *
- Slice up half a small lemon.
- Pour in 1-2 teaspoons of honey.*
- Fill the teapot with cold water and place in the fridge for minimum 4 hours or overnight
- Pour into your cup and enjoy!
*We’ve used our English Breakfast tea, but any of our Ceylon black teas will work with this recipe.
*Feel free to use as much honey as you would like.
Summer Berry and Apricot White Peony Cold Brew
Our White Peony tea was recently featured on ITV's 'Enjoy your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh' and used to make a summer cocktail. Inspired by this, we have added smooth, velvety apricot into a white tea cold brew. Apricot is naturally high in potassium and is commonly associated with summer.
To compliment the subtle sweetness of the white peony and apricot we’ve also added strawberries and blueberries.
Recipe
- Pour in 2-3 teaspoons of our White Peony into your teapot.
- Slice up an apricot, remove the stone, and place the fruit into the teapot.
- Add a couple of sliced strawberries and blueberries to the teapot.
- Fill the teapot with cold water and place in fridge for minimum of four hours or overnight.
- Pour in your cup and enjoy!
Peach and Plum Oolong Cold Brew
Peaches have soft, juicy flesh and a sweet, aromatic flavour with a slight tang. High in vitamins A and C.
Plums have sweet but tart, juicy flesh and are rich in Vitamins, particularly Vitamin C. Plums are used throughout Asian cuisine, from infusing beverages to use in both sweet and savoury dishes. Inspired by this, we have combined it with our Oriental Beauty, a premium Taiwanese Oolong.
This oolong is known for its natural, honey-like sweetness, which is the result of the tea plant being nibbled by tiny little grasshoppers, which trigger a defensive chemical reaction within the plant that produces the delectably sweet undertones of this tea, making it the perfect tea to cold brew.
The mild astringency is balanced out by the mellow sweetness of the oolong and fruit.
Recipe
- Pour 2-3 teaspoons of our Oriental Beauty Oolong into your teapot.
- Slice 1 peach and 1 plum, remove their stones, and place the fruit into the teapot.
- Fill up with cold water, place on the lid and put into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Pour into your cup and enjoy! *
*For those with a sweet tooth, feel free to add a sweetener of your choice to boost the natural flavours of this cold brew.
Mango and Pineapple Sencha Cold Brew
One of our most popular teas, Sencha is a Japanese green tea characterised by its grassy sweetness.
A tropical twist on one of our most popular Japanese green teas.
Native to South Asia, mangoes are now grown in many tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, including Japan. It is a juicy, vibrant fruit. Mangoes have a rich, tropical taste and are a fragrant fruit, with a smooth creamy flesh.
Both these fruits bring sweetness and acidity, giving this cold infusion a sweet aroma and a refreshing sharpness which perfectly compliments the sencha's creamy, umami afternotes.
Recipe
- Pour 2-3 teaspoons of our Japanese sencha into your teapot.
- Slice 1/3 of a mango and ¼ of a pineapple and place the fruit into the teapot.
- Fill up with cold water, place on the lid and put into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Pour into your cup and enjoy!
We hope you enjoy these recipes this summer! Why not post your cold brew pics and tag us on Instagram!