In this test, we will cover:

• What is pink tea?
• Which of the most popular types of green tea are the best for making pink tea?
• What colour can you expect when making pink tea with milk at home?
• Tips for choosing the best green tea for making pink chai

What is pink tea?

Pink tea is a tea made with green tea leaves, water, milk and bicarbonate of soda. The colour change occurs when you change the pH of green tea by adding bicarbonate of soda. That change happens because of polyphenols. (Source: SpringerLink) Tea will first change into an intense deep red, and by adding milk it will become pink. Pink chai will never be vibrant neon pink or intense bright pink, but it should have a beautiful dusty rose or golden rose colour. Some pink teas only have a light pink hue and are closer to regular chai.

Why did we test different green teas?

The reason is quite simple. Making a perfect Kashmiri chai recipe is all about ingredients. Choosing the right green tea is the first step in making sure you will get the right colour and flavour. There are many green teas you can use for making pink tea, but not all of them will have the right flavour. Indian green teas and Chinese gunpowder are usually teas of a choice for making homemade pink chai. And there’s a good reason for that. The best green tea will give not only the right colour, but a deep, slightly smoky flavour that goes well with typical pink chai ingredients such as saffron, rose petals, almonds and star anise.

We tried 5 of the most popular green teas:

• Sencha
• Gyokuro
• Dragon Well
• Mao Feng
• Gunpowder

How did we make pink tea?

To test these green teas, we didn’t follow the typical traditional recipe for making a Kashmiri chai. Instead, we used a simplified method for making any pink coloured tea, added 1 teaspoon of tea leaves in 150 ml of water brought to a boil, added a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and simmered it for 10 minutes. In the end we added 100 ml of icy cold water, strained it into a cup and added milk. When making a pink tea, always add only a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Adding 1/3 or even ½ of a teaspoon will significantly influence the flavour and the tea will be undrinkable. Use you can, use chashaku or a tiny spoon.

Learn how to make Iced pink tea at home

Japanese Sencha

Japanese Sencha is one of the most popular types of green tea. Sencha is a steamed tea with long needle-shaped leaves and a unique vegetal and fresh scent and flavour. It’s amazing to make iced tea and daily drinking but is not typically used with milk. Did sencha give pink colour and what was the flavour like?

Flavour: There was no bitterness, but the tea was too light to be used for making pink chai. It laced body and depth, which makes sense. Sencha is too light and too vegetal to be served with milk.

Colour: Sencha gave a lighter pink colour, with a yellow-orange hue.

Is it suitable for making pink tea? No.

Japanese Gyokuro Konacha

Gyokuro is a type of shaded Japanese tea that’s often brewed at very low temperatures. Gyokuro konacha is a by-product of gyokuro tea production. It contains tea dust and small leaf particles that will brew into a strong tea.

Flavour: Gyokuro is a unique tea. It either has a strong umami flavour or a strong bitterness, depending on the type and water temperature. Flavour is stronger than sencha and the umami note is very intense too.

Colour: It gives a deep brown-red colour.

Is it suitable for making pink tea? No.

Chinese Dragon Well

Unlike sencha and gyokuro, Dragon Well or Long Jing tea is a pan-fired tea. It’s one of the most popular Chinese teas. It’s usually a light, delicate, but flavourful tea, with light nutty notes. Dragon Well is never served with milk. It’s the lightest and most delicate of these 5 tea types.

Flavour: The flavour is very light, but good, nevertheless.

Colour: Dragon Well tea gave a dark pink colour with a greyish hue.

Is it suitable for making pink tea? This tea could be used for making pink tea, but probably with less milk.

Chinese Mao Feng

Chinese Mao Feng is one of the most famous Chinese teas. When prepared properly, this tea is light, but you can use it for making stronger infusion too. Although the flavour is fresh and green, it’s not vegetal like sencha. It has nutty and floral notes and it’s typically not served with milk.

Flavour: There are many types of Mao Feng teas out there, so the type will influence both the colour and flavour. The one we tried gave a colour similar to the colour you would get when using Indian twisted leaf green tea. Flavour was nice too – light, deep and would definitely go well with additional spices.

Colour: Mao Feng gave the prettiest colour of all tried teas – bright dusty pink.

Is it suitable for making pink tea? Yes.

Chinese Gunpowder tea

Gunpowder is perhaps one of the most popular Chinese green teas in western countries. While it’s far from a typical Chinese tea, it became popular because of its strength. Gunpowder is great for making iced teas and tea blends that are served with lots of sugar and other stronger ingredients. It has a slightly smoky, deep flavour. This tea is often used for making this chai at home, exactly because of its strength and flavour.

Flavour: This tea will give a strong and bold colour and flavour and a creamy tea with a very deep colour. It makes a good base for adding spices and milk.

Colour: Deeper red-purple colour.

Is it suitable for making pink tea? Yes. This tea is perhaps the easiest to use and you can actually adjust the intensity of colour quite easily.

Pink Tea Test Recap

What this test showed is that any pure green tea can become a pink tea, but with a different shade of pink and different flavour. Using a pre-made Kashmiri chai blend will make the task much easier, but even if you don’t have one, don’t give up. You can try making it with any strong green tea with nutty and smoky notes.

From all these tested teas, the one we would choose again is Mao Feng tea. It gave the prettiest colour, light flavour, with no bitterness and enough body to be served with milk. The second choice would be a gunpowder tea, followed by Dragon Well.

Pink Tea Tips:

• Avoid green teas with grassy notes – these are mostly steamed Japanese teas
• Choose strong teas – slightly astringent green tea with a full body will be a great choice
• Avoid green teas with umami notes – these are mostly Japanese shaded teas
• Avoid teas with a light body – they may give a great colour, but the body will lack – this means teas that you usually wouldn’t drink with milk
• Indian and Nepali green teas will probably give great results
• Choose teas with nutty and smoky notes that brew into a strong, deep yellow infusion

The post Can you use any green tea to make pink tea? 5 green teas tested appeared first on All That Tea.

What is pink tea?

Pink tea or pink chai is a drink made with green tea. It’s unique to Kashmir and hence the name – Kashmir chai. Kashmir chai can contain either salt or sugar. There are many recipes you can try out, but ultimately, it will all come down to ingredients and ratios. What all recipes have in common is 4 basic ingredients – water, green tea, milk, and bicarbonate of soda. Bicarbonate of soda is the ingredient that will change your tea colour from deep yellow brown to deep red.

Some pink teas are sweetened with sugar, and others are made with salt. They can also include spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and star anise and are sometimes served with crushed pistachios, almonds, and rose petals. Pre-made blends are available too, but you don’t need one to make a perfect pink chai. But you will need a perfect green tea.

Are all pink teas Kashmir chai?

No, not all pink teas are Kashmir chai, just like not all milk teas are Indian chai. You can experiment with flavours and colours to find the one you like the most. Gunpowder or Indian green teas are mostly used for achieving both the best flavour and pretty pink colour. To make a simple pink tea you will need all the basic ingredients – strong, slightly smoky and smooth green tea, water, bicarbonate of soda and milk.

Do you have to use milk to make pink tea?

Yes, milk is the essential ingredient for making a pink tea. By adding milk to simmered tea, the colour will change from deep red into light pink. How light and intense it will be will depend on the amount of milk you add. You can make it creamier by adding condensed milk or a coffee creamer.

Which milk is the best for making simple iced pink tea?

While you can choose any milk, a full fat cow’s milk will give the best texture. To make a latte, steam it and froth it before adding to tea. Even for making a regular pink milk tea, steam the milk to get a thicker texture, but you can discard the foam. Alternatively, dairy-free thicker milk like cashew milk or barista milks will be great options too. If you are using already sweetened milk, you may not need an additional sweetener.

Which green tea is the best for making pink tea?

You can make a pink tea from almost any green tea, but not all teas will give the same colour and flavour. Slightly smoky, smooth green teas with a deeper flavour will usually work the best. Avoid steamed or shaded green teas with intense grassy flavour or teas that are naturally very light. Pink tea won’t taste as pure green tea, but it will still keep the teas character. Green teas with light floral notes are also a great choice.

Try it with:

• Gunpowder green tea
• Indian green tea with wiry dark green-brownish leaves
• Nepali green tea with wiry leaves green-brownish leaves

Use teas you would normally enjoy drinking. Even though simmering will give a more intense flavour, your tea should still be fresh instead of stale.

TESTED -> MAKING PINK TEA WITH 5 DIFFERENT GREEN TEAS

How to add more flavour?

Pink tea has a very distinctive, creamy flavour. It’s not a green tea, and it’s not a typical chai either. To add more flavour to your iced pink tea, simmer the tea leaves together with spices, or you can add a drop of baking extract once the tea is ready. Vanilla, rum and rose are all wonderful options. If you need an additional sweetener, try it with honey or brown sugar.

Print

Simple Iced Pink Tea

Basic iced pink tea recipe

Course Drinks

Keyword Green Tea, Iced Tea, Pink Tea

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Equipment

• small saucepan
• Electric frother
• Kitchen strainer
• Spoon

Ingredients

• 250 ml of water
• 100 ml of icy cold water
• 2 teaspoons of green tea leaves
• Pinch of bicarbonate of soda (1/6 of a teaspoon)
• 2 glasses of ice (serving glasses)
• 200 ml of whole milk
• 2 teaspoons of honey (one per glass) (optional)

Instructions

• Add 250ml of water into a small saucepan together with tea leaves.
• Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low.
• Add apinch of bicarbonate of soda. A pinch would equal about 1/6 of a levelledteaspoon. Add very little because the bicarbonate of soda may ruin the taste. Stir.
• Simmer for 10 minutes and stir the tea occasionally.
• Remove from the heat and add icy cold water.
• Strain it into serving glass filled with ice.
• Add milk into a small saucepan and turn on the heat to medium-low.
• Immediately start frothing the milk with an electric whisk. Do not let it boil.
• Milk will be ready when you have a layer of thick foam. This will take only a couple of minutes.
• Pour it into glasses with tea and top up with froth.

The post How to Make Iced Pink Tea appeared first on All That Tea.