What are Teapigs Cold Brew blends?

Teapigs cold brew blends are blends for brewing in cold water. One pyramid tea bag is enough to make up to 500 ml of tea, depending on the desired strength. Unlike traditional tea bags, pyramid tea bags, or tea temples, contain loose leaf tea rather than tea dust. Teapigs cold brew range includes 6 different fruity summer flavours:

• Pink Grapefruit
• Lychee and Rose
• Cucumber and Apple
• Blackcurrant and Raspberry
• Watermelon and Hibiscus
• Peach and Mango

All of them are caffeine free.

What’s in Pink Grapefruit cold brew tea?

Pink Grapefruit is not a typical flavour in tea blends. This citrus is very different from the typical zesty lemon, sweet orange or sweet and sour lime. With a slight bitterness, less sourness than lemons, and a beautiful pink-orange colour, it’s a great flavour for summer iced teas and cold brews.

Check out the Pink Grapefruit & Blue Tea recipe with fresh grapefruit juice here.

Grapefruit Teapigs cold brew tea contains apple pieces, white hibiscus, sweet blackberry leaves, red hibiscus, grapefruit peel, citric acid, and natural grapefruit and other natural flavourings. Each tea temple is individually wrapped to preserve freshness, but this also makes it great for travelling.

The best way to brew Teapigs Cold Brew Pink Grapefruit tea

Teapigs tea bags contain loose ingredients, rather than dust. However, they will need more time to brew, even though the particles are smaller than regular loose tea.

Recommended time for steeping this tea is 5+ minutes in cold water. When using cold water for brewing tea, always make sure you are using odourless fresh water, as cold brewed teas have a less intense scent than hot brewed teas. Using fresh will really make a difference.   

While the recommended steeping time is 5 minutes, this tea is best steeped slightly longer. If you want to intensify the flavour, you can also use a slightly hotter water and add ice, or cold-brew it overnight.

It has a very light pink-orange colour and light pink grapefruit flavour with very light zestiness. Although it contains apples and hibiscus, they are not dominating the blend. It’s a quite light but refreshing tea, with light grapefruit flavour. It doesn’t need any sweeteners, as adding too much would overpower the flavour.

Who would like this tea? If you love light fruity flavours, or fruit infused water, you’ll like this tea too. It’s much lighter than a cup of traditional fruit tea. This blend is great for a daily sipping as it doesn’t contain sugars or caffeine. You can use it instead of water or even soda.

Tea Recap

Water or Milk? Water

Day or night? Day or night.

Caffeine? No

Hot or iced? Cold or iced

Sweetened or Pure? Pure.

What’s the price? 4.60 for 10 tea temples – bulk buy offer running, 60 tea temples 50% off

Where to buy? Get it from Teapigs website, Ocado or Amazon.co.uk. Teapigs cold brew blends are available from Amazon.com too.

The post Pink Grapefruit Teapigs Cold Brew Tea appeared first on All That Tea.

What are cold brew blends?

If you ever tried steeping regular tea bag or tea leaves cold water, you may have noticed that the results were pretty mild, and often not quite as tasty as when steeped in hot water. Cold brew blends are still pretty much a novelty. In the last couple of years, many big tea producers introduced their own cold brew tea lines, and many of them are available in supermarkets as well. These blends were crafted to give the maximum flavour when steeped in cold water for only a few minutes. With special cold brew teas you don’t need to have a kettle, you don’t need to use hot water, and you don’t need to steep it overnight. They are also not an instant teas, as they won’t dissolve, but they will give you an instant cold tea.

What’s in the Pomegranate Blueberry tea?

Pomegranate Blueberry tea is a fruity tea blend from Basilur Cold Brew line with 5 more interesting flavours: Cherry Lime, Strawberry Cucumber Mint, Coconut Pineapple, Orange Mango and Guava Passionfruit. All of them are caffeine free, which makes them suitable for any time of the day.

Pomegranate Blueberry tea contains hibiscus, pomegranate, orange leaf, calorie-free stevia and blueberry and pomegranate flavourings. It doesn’t contain any other sweeteners. This blend has a delicious, fruity, sweet and refreshing scent. It’s one of those teas you are really excited to brew immediately after opening the box.

How to make this tea?

To make cold brew teas, you need a glass of cold water only. You don’t need a kettle, any electricity or any special utensils. Cold brew teas are great for travelling, as you can make them literally anywhere and they are always available as tea bags only.

Use a regular glass or a smaller glass if you prefer a more intense flavour. Use approximately 200-300 ml of cold water, and steep for 5-7 minutes, or longer if you like.  

This is a very refreshing fruity tea with a very distinctive sweetness. Blueberry notes are incorporated with pomegranate notes and hibiscus gives lots of depth. Hibiscus is the main ingredients, but it’s not the main flavour note. Instead, as a background note it serves to carry other flavours which blend really well: a tart pomegranate note, a light orange note, and lots of fruity juiciness.

Pomegranate Blueberry tea is a very, very easy to drink tea. It’s lighter than juice but has a similar mouthfeel to a pomegranate juice. It doesn’t need any sweetener at all. You can serve it as it is or with some ice cubes.

If you want to replace sugary drinks with something as refreshing and flavourful, Pomegranate Blueberry cold brew tea is a great option. Furthermore, if you like pomegranate juice and sweet but slightly tart flavours, you will like this tea too. It’s more juicer than regular fruit teas and incredibly refreshing. It’s one of the best alternatives to sugary drinks and pre-made iced teas.

Check out other Basilur teas on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Pomegranate Blueberry Tea Recap

Water or milk? Water.

Day or night? Day or night.

Hot or iced? Cold or iced.

Sweetened or Pure? Pure.

Caffeine? No.

What’s the price? Starting from 3.99 GBP.

Where to buy? Get it from Basilur website.

The post Basilur Cold Brew Pomegranate Blueberry Tea – Instant Cold Brew Tea appeared first on All That Tea.

Find out:

• What’s the right water temperature
• How to choose the best teas for cold brewing
• Pros and cons of cold brewing
• Benefits compared to traditional hot brewing

And much more.

The best thing about this brewing method is that you can try it straight away. You don’t need any special equipment, any special teas or even a water thermometer. You can make the best cold brewed tea with what you already have at home.

Let’s start.

What is cold brewing?

Cold brewing is brewing tea in cold, rather than hot water. Cold brewing was invented centuries ago in Japan, and it was used for making coffee. Since then, it expended to tea and became enormously popular over the last decade. Today, there are even special tea blends intended for cold brewing that will allow you to have a cold brewed tea in a matter of minutes.

Another interesting brewing technique from Japan is ice brewing – used for pure, usually steamed green teas.

Unlike traditional hot brewing, cold brewing doesn’t require a kettle or a stove – but it does require a fridge. Tea leaves or tea bags are usually steeped overnight in the fridge, which allows them enough time to release flavour and nutrients.

Do you need any cold brewing equipment?

No, you don’t need any special equipment to make tea using this method. You can use a simple, clean jar or a jug, or even a regular cup. However, larger vessels are a slightly better option as it’s easier to make more tea at once. Cold brewed tea will stay fresh for 24 hours (including steeping time, or slightly longer if you strain it).

However, always cover the teapot, jug or mason jar when cold brewing to prevent fridge odours to get into your tea. Next, glass or transparent vessels will help you see if your tea is ready, so they make a better option than non-transparent vessels.

You can use:

• Tea infuser bottle
• Glass teapot
• Large mason jar
• Glass pitcher with a strainer
• Glass jug without a strainer

Can any tea be cold brewed?

The second question you may have if you have never cold brewed tea before is can any tea be cold brewed and which type of tea is best? The good news is, almost all teas will be great for cold brewing.

The best types for cold brewing are green, white, oolong and black teas, but you can cold brew tisanes too. Red and green rooibos, mint, chamomile and fruit teas can all be prepared using this method. However, you will need different brewing time for different tea.

You can use both loose leaf tea and tea bags. Tea bags that usually offer a strong brew may be especially good for this method, as the tea will be lighter and fresher.

How to choose the best teas for cold brewing?

Some teas will be better than the others. Green tea is usually the best type of tea for cold brewing, followed by white, twisted oolong and black tea. Flavoured teas are especially delicious and refreshing when prepared in the fridge.

What makes green tea such a superb choice? One of the reasons is that it will release less caffeine and preserve catechins, which will make it healthy, refreshing, less bitter and flavourful.

This method is amazing for teas that you don’t particularly enjoy hot, that are too bitter or too strong, or maybe even of a lower quality.  

Best teas for cold brewing:

• Pure green tea
• Fruity green teas
• Pure black tea
• Fruity black tea
• Floral black tea
• Twisted leaf oolong tea
• Fruity flavoured white tea

Best tisanes for cold brewing:

• Yerba mate
• Red and green rooibos
• Chamomile tea
• Mint tea
• Honeybush tea
• Moringa tea
• Fruit teas

But the list doesn’t stop here. You can try cold brewing any tea you want. However, keep in mind that especially tisanes may provide different benefits when prepared using cold or hot water.

Cold brew tea bags

Cold brew became so popular that many tea brands are now offering special cold brew tea bags. They may contain other ingredients and flavours and may be suitable for a super-fast brewing. You won’t need to wait hours for tea leaves to infuse, you can make an instant cold brew tea in a matter of minutes. While delicious, cold brew tea bags are slightly different from regular cold brewing as they won’t need hours to infuse. They are a wonderful option if you want to enjoy iced tea asap, and don’t want to go through trouble of making an iced tea. Plus, they are just amazing for travelling – no worrying about the kettle, no mess, and super easy to transport and enjoy anywhere you want.

Check out some of these:

• Twinings cold water infusions
• Whittard cold brew teabags
• Tea pigs cold brew taster pack
• Mission tea hot or cold brew
• Chaiwallah Margate caffeine free cold brew teas
• Seein Korean cold brew teas

Is cold brew tea safe?

Yes, cold brew tea should be perfectly is safe to drink. Always use clean vessels and tea from reputable sources, and water that’s filtered and safe to drink.

If the tea smells strange, mouldy or stale, don’t use it. Flavoured teas blended with other ingredients are more likely to go bad past their shelf life than real pure teas.

Also, drink it within 24 hours and don’t let the tea stand out in the sun. You will notice a significant different in flavour once the tea is not good for drinking anymore – it will become bitter, darker and heavier.

Pros and cons of cold brewing

Just like with any other methods, there are pros and cons to this method too.

Is cold brewing the same as iced tea?

While both these drinks are served cold, they are different. Iced tea is usually made with a stronger tea base, and steeped in hot water, then served over ice. It’s also mostly sweetened, and you can add fruits and citruses as a decoration and to infuse a bit more flavour. Cold brew tea is made without hot water, it’s often served unsweetened and fruits and other ingredients are usually added to steep together with tea.

How to cold brew tea

Water quality

Always choose good water for making any tea – cold or hot. Water will have a lot of impact on the flavour. Use either fresh bottled spring water or filtered tap water. It should have a neutral flavour and be neither too hard nor too soft.

Water temperature

For making cold brewed tea, use either lukewarm or cold water, but never hot or hot boiled water. The temperature will impact the flavour and nutrient profile. If you steep it first in boiling water, even if it’s for a minute, it won’t be a cold-brewed tea anymore.

Steeping time

Steep your tea in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. Green tea and white tea will take less time than black or darker oolong tea. For the best results, steep it overnight, regardless of the type. Black or dark teas, and herbal teas such as red rooibos and chamomile may be the best when steeped longer.

Black tea, lighter herbal teas, oolong teas and rooibos teas may need at least 8 hours to infuse. However, since flavour preferences are always personal, try your tea after steeping it overnight and infuse longer if needed.   

Straining the leaves

If you plan to drink the tea within 24 hours, there’s no need to strain it. You can simply pour the tea into the glass using a regular strainer. You can even top it up with more cold water.

How much tea to use

Use 2 tablespoons of loose tea per one litre of water or at least 3-4 tea bags. If you are using special cold brew blends, follow the instructions instead, as these blends are crafted specifically for this type of brewing. Did you notice that’s exactly how much you would use for making 4 cups of tea?

Do you need condiments?

You don’t need any condiments for cold-brewed tea as it won’t be bitter, and it will be much lighter than a regular cup of hot tea. If you still want to use a sweetener, add it to your glass, not to a teapot. You can add different fresh fruits or herbs and steep them together with tea leaves.

Benefits of cold brew tea

One of the reasons why cold brew is enjoying so much attention are the potential health benefits. Until recently, all studies suggested that to extract the most catechins, caffeine and other compounds, the hotter the water, the better.

However, recent studies showed that the truth may be more complicated. In fact, cold brewing proved to be a better choice than hot brewing if the catechins are what you are looking for, but for black tea, the values won’t be much different (1). Besides, cold brewing will extract less caffeine, which makes it even more convenient for making tea for all-day sipping, especially in spring and summer.

However, as always in the world of tea, there are exceptions. One study showed that after 12 hours of cold brewing, semi-ball shaped oolong (dong ding) released more caffeine and 4 times more catechins than when hot brewed (2). This actually showed that rolled oolong tea, if you don’t mind waiting for 12 hours and some extra caffeine, may be better cold than hot brewed. However, there’s a “catch”. Study tested rolled oolong brewed for 4 minutes at 85 degrees Celsius, which may not be enough for leaves to fully unfurl.

Cold Brewing Recap

Cold brewing is the easiest way to make tea at home. You can experiment with literally any tea to find out which flavours you like the most. For the best results, always leave it overnight.

Need an extra idea? You know that tea you have but seem you just can’t get to like? Try making it using this method – it will have a completely different flavour. Whichever Camellia sinensis tea you choose, it’s likely it will have at least a slightly higher catechin content and lower caffeine content than hot tea, with some exceptions.

Once is for sure, if you need a lighter, refreshing tea with no bitterness, cold brewing is a no-fuss and must try method.

Print

How to cold brew tea

Instructions for cold brewing loose leaf tea or tea bags

Course Drinks

Keyword Cold Brew

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Steeping 8 hours hours

Servings 1 litre

Equipment

• Teapot, jug or a jar

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of loose leaf tea

Instructions

• Clean and dry your teapot/jug.
• Measure 2 tablespoons of tea leaves or take 4 tea bags and add them to a teapot.
• Add cold filtered tap water or bottled spring water.
• Add fresh herbs or washed and sliced fruits. (optional)
• Cover the lid.
• Let it steep in the fridge for at least 2 hours (green tea,white tea), 4 hours (black tea) or 8 hours (other tea types). For the best results, steep at least 8 hours for any type of tea.
• Pour into a glass and add sweetener if needed.

Sources

(1) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319352099_Evaluation_of_Antioxidant_Status_in_Cold_Brewed_Tea_with_Respect_to_Hot_Decoction_Comparative_Study_Between_Green_and_Black_Varieties

(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648929/

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Tea steeped in milk can have dozens of different uses. You can simply enjoy it cold, or use it for recipes that include milk – and make a truly unique dessert.

What is a milk steeped tea?

Milk steeped tea is simply a tea infused milk – instead of water, you use milk to allow tea leaves to release their flavour. Now, maybe you ask yourself why would you steep tea in milk in the first place? Because it can give a whole new flavour profile to many regular dishes or desserts. Combinations are countless and so are the tea flavours.

Tea infused milk can both have a strong or weak flavour, depending on the way you infuse it, tea and milk type.

What are the best teas for steeping in milk?

The best tea types for steeping in milk are stronger, flavourful teas.

• Earl Grey black tea
• Strong malty Assam tea
• Masala Chai blend
• Pure or flavoured rooibos tea
• Fruit flavoured black teas

Some of the best tea choices for steeping in milk

Use only the tea that is strong enough to go well with milk. Teas with strong broken leaves will release more flavour than teas with unbroken leaves. You can gently crush the leaves before steeping them to release more flavour.

What is the best milk for steeping tea?

You can steep tea in any milk. Depending on the milk you want to use, there are two methods you can use. Different types of milk have different flavours, so it’s always good to match the flavour profile of your tea with the milk you are using. Cow’s milk is the most neutral, and there are many plant-based alternatives that have a neutral flavour too.

Check out the test with 5 different plant-based alternatives for black tea.

1. Simmering method

For regular cow’s milk, the best way to steep tea in milk is by simmering it on low heat for 5 minutes, removing from the heat and steeping for another 5 minutes. Do not add water. Strain the tea and store milk in the fridge.

2. Cold brewing method

Plant-based milk alternatives may curdle if you boil them. The best way to steep tea in plant-based milk is to cold-brew it in the fridge. You can use regular dairy milk for cold brewing too. Add 1 heaped spoon of tea leaves per 0.5 litres of milk at room temperature. For this method, always use teas with smaller broken leaves. Cold brew tea in milk overnight in the fridge. It may take longer for tea to cold steep in milk than it would in water, and it works best with stronger black teas.

How to use tea infused milk?

Always strain the milk before storing it in the fridge and use it within expiry date.

You can use tea infused milk for making:

• Pancakes – for example a maple, chocolate or caramel flavoured teas
• Milkshakes – for example, fruit based black tea blends
• Whipped cream – for example, fruity rooibos blends or fruit teas
• Ice-creams – for example citrus flavoured black tea blends
• Savoy dishes – for example, smoky lapsang souchong in mushroom pasta with a milk-based sauce

Or drink it on its own.

Read more:

• 5 milk alternatives for tea tested

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