How To Make Your Own Cold Brew Tea ( Part I )

Cold Brew Tea Formula To Try At Home

The weather in Singapore, is rather warm all year round. Add a cup of hot tea to your lazy sunny afternoon and you will soon be perspiring all over, ready for a shower which you may not be needing initially. Fret not !! Read on to find out how our simple cold brewing formula can redefine your tea drinking experience.

See these lovely glass bottles in the below picture ? If you still remember that was what we sold during our roadshows quite some time back. With the bubble tea chains still on vacation, we thought it might be good to share with you our secret recipe so you can prepare these lovely tea at home to bring the temperature down a little bit 🌞

Do you know, cold brew tea actually packs more nutrients than their hot brew counterparts ? Yes, you are right, more nutrients. And the best part of it, you get to enjoy the tea in a whole new different angle. The aroma, fragrance and even texture of the cold brew tea is different from the hot ones even if you use the exact tea leaves which you normally use on your hot cuppa. Warning for those with choice phobia, you may experience selection difficulty for your tea from here on, hot OR cold ?    >.<

So you may have heard the old saying goes: " Cold Tea is BAD for you". Now let us break some myth and shed some light on the facts.
 

Tea, well known for its anti oxidants and diet nutritions such as plant sterols which is not available any where else in our daily diet. When a hot cup of tea turns cold, oxidation occur and takes away the anti oxidants and other beneficial nutrients. So instead of a anti oxidant super food, you end up with a cup of liquid filled with oxidised waste, now that IS bad.

So, how to cold brew? The key here is in the vessel. simple! A sealable glass vessel is recommended. If you have ever seen someone making cold brew coffee, you may be able to recall that it is like a hour glass shape thingy filled with ice and coffee beans and dripping slowly. Now recall harder... 

The vessel used for cold brew coffee is sealed and cooled too, pretty similar isn't it !! So what happens here is this. When you fill up your glass bottle with water and tea leaves, you are left with very limited amount of air in the bottle for oxidation. And if you can, store it in a refrigerator where the low temperature can help deter oxidation and preserve the tea aroma in its most natural form. The low temperature is also useful for preserving delicate nutrients such as Vitamin C, which would normally be broken down when water temperature exceeds 65 degrees. So, let's start brewing ~ !!

Need a sealable glass bottle ? Check this out. 

See Glass Bottle

if you only have boiled water, wait for it to cool down completely before use. Use mineral or distilled water for best results.

Rinse the tea leaves with the room temperature water first, it would allow the tea leaves to expand and infuse more evenly.

Filtering off the tea leaves will prevent the tea from overbrewing, yes it happens even if it is cold. 😂

It is recommended to pour out the ready Cold Brew Tea into a separate glass vessel for storage if you plan to reuse your tea leaves multiple times. Used tea leaves will lose its flavour over time even if sealed and stored in the fridge separately.

If in the event, you need a quick cuppa Cold Brew Tea, here is a alternative.

1. Brew the tea hot like you would normally.
2. Extend the brewing time by 4-6 times our recommended brewing duration. Adjust according to personal preference but never more than 3 mins.
3. Run it through a glass of ice ( make sure your glass wares are resistant to sudden temperature changes )
4. Drink immediately, or filter off the ice to prevent dilution.