A Woman

“A woman is like a tea bag you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Cold brew tea is tea steeped in cold or room temperature water for an extended period of time. The process brews the tea leaves slowly using time rather than temperature to release the flavors. Cold brewing tea is a practice which comes from Japan. In Japan, it is believed to gently extract flavors from the tea itself. Hotter brewing can scorch the tea, and destroy any natural benefits and create a bitter-tasting tea.

The ratio of tea to water is typically 40% tea to 60% water depending on the desired strength. Cold brewing requires a much higher quantity of tea to ensure that enough flavors are extracted into the water. The steeped tea is usually left to brew in room temperature or refrigeration for 16–24 hours.  Cold-brewed white tea is shown to have higher amounts of antioxidants when compared to hot brewed tea.

The cold press method is much gentler. There is actually a different chemical reaction going on as the leaves interact and infuse differently in cold water than in hot. The flavor is extracted more consistently. There is more residual sweetness, less astringency and a delightfully refreshing and smooth taste.  It’s also much easier to serve over ice without becoming too watery.

Cold-brewed tea is healthy. While it's true that steeping green tea for three to five minutes in hot water can produce more of certain antioxidants, keep in mind that most tea experts recommend steeping green tea at maximum for one or two minutes, since the longer wait in hot water will render the tea bitter. Prevention magazine sent several types of tea (bottled, homemade, black, green, cold-brewed) to a lab and found that the cold-brewed green tea came out just as high in antioxidants as the hot version. Before you put your cold-brewed tea in the refrigerator, give the container a good shake.

Cold-brewed green tea that was steeped for 12 hours had a high level of polyphenols (the antioxidants that make green tea so incredibly healthy). This was equal to or greater than tea steeped in hot water for 5 minutes. Cold-brewed tea has half or two-thirds of the caffeine content of a hot cup of tea. Tea demonstrates more of its delicate and subtle character with the cold-brewing process.

Fun fact: Technically, herbal teas are actually tisanes. Only the stuff made from camellia sinensis (tea leaves) are the true beverages known as tea.

As for tea, many good sources have varying methods, whether it's using 1.5 times the amount of tea you'd use normally or one tablespoon of tea for every quart of water. It's up to you. Tea bags are fine if you don't want to deal with loose tea leaves. You can also make your own bags by wrapping the desired amount of loose tea in empty tea bags, cheesecloth, or unbleached muslin.

 Put twice the amount of tea into your cold water-filled container. Add more if you want stronger tea. If you're using a delicate tasting type of tea, like white tea, chamomile, or lavender flowers, you may want to play with ratios and amounts depending on how you like the flavor. As with hot tea infusions, if you’re using high quality tea, you can re-infuse the leaves multiple times. The same goes for iced tea. Just remember to leave the infusing to brew for a little longer with each repeat of the leaves.

If you are infusing your tea with hot water and chilling in the fridge, you still need to follow the basics around water temperature especially if you’re brewing a green or a white tea. Even though the tea will ultimately end up cold, the hot water infusion releases the bitter components of tea and if you burn the leaves at the outset, the bitterness will be extremely pronounced when chilled.

·        White tea - 65°C

·        Green tea - 75°C

·        Yellow tea - 80°C

·        Oolong tea – 85°C

·        Black tea – 95 to 100 °C

Before adding any sweetener or sugar to your tea, taste it first. Adding sugar masks the nuanced flavor layers. If you really need a kick try experimenting with fruits and berries to impart a touch of sweet to the infusion. Let your imagination and palate run wild when playing around with garnishes for your cold brew tea.  A handful of ingredients that work well include:

·        Sliced citrus

·        Muddled berries

·        Cucumber

·        Diced peach, nectarine or plum

·        Muddled herbs (like mint)

·        Sprigs of lavender or rosemary

·        Edible flowers

·        Honey (a great sweetening option)

“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.”  (William Ewart Gladstone)[i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “Cold brew tea” From Wikipedia

·        “Everything you need to know about cold brew tea” by Cup above Tea

·        “Which Ones Are Better for You?” by Karen Ahn

Tea bags can be substituted for tea leaves. Tea bags should soak in water for many hours. Let soak while you go about with chores.This tea will be lighter than brewed tea. This is what I do for cold-brewed tea.