Cold Brew Tea: Every Tea, Step by Step

Cold-brewing tea isn't a 21st-century invention; it's been a Japanese summer tradition for centuries. But it's gone from niche to standard in the last decade — and for good reason. Cold extraction pulls out a different set of compounds from the leaf, producing a tea that's sweeter, smoother, and almost free of the astringent tannins that hot-brewed tea inevitably carries.

**The method.** Place loose leaf in a glass jar or pitcher. Cover with cold or room-temperature filtered water. Refrigerate. Wait. Strain. Drink. That's it.

**The ratios and times — by family:**

• **Green tea (sencha, dragonwell, gunpowder):** 6 grams per litre. 4–6 hours in the fridge. The result is sweet, almost broth-like, with the umami amino acids dominating over the catechins.

• **White tea (Silver Needle, White Peony):** 6–8 grams per litre. 6–8 hours. Pale, floral, melon-sweet.

• **Oolong:** 8 grams per litre. 4–6 hours. Captures the floral high notes beautifully.

• **Black tea:** 6 grams per litre. 8–12 hours. Surprisingly smooth — the bitterness most people associate with black tea is largely gone.

• **Pu-erh:** 6 grams per litre. 6–8 hours. Earthy and clean, like a cold-brewed coffee.

• **Herbal (rooibos, hibiscus, peppermint):** 8–10 grams per litre. 8–12 hours. Hibiscus is particularly stunning cold-brewed — ruby-red and intensely refreshing.

**Why it works.** Hot water extracts both the desirable compounds (amino acids, aromatic oils, sugars) and the unwanted ones (tannins, the more bitter catechins) at the same time. Cold water extracts the desirable compounds preferentially; the tannins barely come out at all. The result is a sweeter, less astringent, more pure-tasting cup.

**A few tips.** Use slightly more leaf than you would hot-brewed — about 1.5x. Use filtered water, not tap (the chlorine notes are more obvious in cold brew). And drink within 24 hours of straining; cold-brewed tea continues to develop in the fridge and quickly turns bitter past day two.