Preparing Cold Green Tea: All the Ways to Make It at Home

Preparation of Cold Green Tea: From Cold Infusion to Ice Infusion

As summer approaches, so does the season of cold tea, a way to enjoy all the benefits of our favorite drink, which becomes refreshing and thirst-quenching, ideal for the hottest days of the year. In this article, we will see how to prepare cold green tea at home using different methods that preserve its flavor and properties. You can choose your favorite tea, add ingredients as you like, and make a completely natural and genuine cold green tea, without added sugars or preservatives.

Cold Green Tea: The Best Methods to Prepare the Refreshing and Sugar-Free Drink

Green tea is one of the most beloved teas: from the famous Japanese green teas to Chinese ones, it is renowned for its important properties and benefits and appreciated for its sweet, herbaceous, and slightly astringent taste. Green tea is a powerful antioxidant, a health ally that, according to some scientific studies, can help with weight loss when combined with a healthy lifestyle.

We are familiar with the taste and benefits of green tea infusion: in this article, we want to talk about the different ways to prepare cold green tea optimally. The herbaceous flavor of green tea pairs well with cold infusion, but it is important to know how to prepare it correctly to obtain a refreshing and thirst-quenching drink that maintains the typical properties of the hot infusion.

Discover the best methods to prepare cold green tea at home without resorting to ready-made tea bags or sugary industrial beverages, with some tips on how to enhance its taste with special ingredients.

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Cold Green Tea with Cold Infusion

Preparing green tea with cold infusion is perhaps the most used method and requires only water, tea leaves... and a little patience! Cold infusion of green tea allows you to obtain a refreshing and thirst-quenching drink by infusing green tea leaves in cold or room temperature water instead of hot water. Let's see how to prepare it:

Ingredients

• 6 grams of Green Tea Leaves
• 500 ml of cold or room temperature water
• Tea Bag

Preparation of Cold Green Tea with Cold Infusion

• Put loose green tea leaves in a pitcher, or place them inside a tea bag, and place it at the bottom of the pitcher.
• Pour cold water over it
• Let the green tea infuse for at least six hours, refrigerating it if you prefer it colder. You can extend the infusion time to 8 hours for a more intense flavor.
• Strain the tea or remove the tea bag, and store in the refrigerator. Serve with ice.

This cold infusion method of green tea is also called the cold brew method, and it allows you to easily prepare homemade cold green tea even without ice or special tools. You can decide whether to use loose leaf green tea, filtering the infusion before drinking it, or use single-use tea bags, which allow for a very simple infusion.

With this method, you can obtain an excellent sugar-free cold green tea, but if desired, you can add a sweetener, such as a teaspoon of honey or agave syrup, or some mint leaves. To make your green tea with cold infusion at home, you can choose your favorite green tea from the wide selection of green teas available online at Terza Luna: Japanese Sencha tea from Kagoshima is very suitable for cold infusion, as well as for the Kōridashi method. Method Kōridashi: Cold Green Tea with Ice A perhaps little-known method in Italy for preparing cold green tea is the Kōridashi method, traditional in Japan. This method of green tea infusion is very particular but effective: it involves putting the leaves directly in contact with the ice, which, as it melts, creates the cold tea infusion. This method is very suitable for preparing cold green tea, as catechins and caffeine, responsible for the bitter and astringent taste of green tea, dissolve much more in hot water than in cold water, while L-theanine, which gives a sweeter taste to the tea, also dissolves in cold water. A homemade cold green tea made with the Kōridashi method is therefore much sweeter, while maintaining all the benefits and properties of the hot infusion. If you have the patience to wait for the ice to melt, this is an excellent method to prepare a perfect cold green tea, especially when using green teas rich in L-theanine such as Gyokuro or Kabusecha. It will be more complicated to prepare a cold green tea with this method using teas like Hojicha. Let's see how to prepare it: Ingredients - 6 grams of green tea - 500 ml of ice cubes Preparation of Cold Green Tea with Japanese Method - Pour the green tea leaves into a teapot or a carafe - Add the ice cubes until full - Wait for the ice to melt (generally in 3-4 hours) - Strain and serve This traditional method allows for a sweeter and less astringent infusion, however, it requires more time, as you need to prepare a sufficient amount of ice and then wait for it to melt. For a quicker method that includes ice, you can opt for cold green tea with ice. Cold Green Tea: Quick Recipe with Ice Many may be tempted to prepare their cold green tea by making a normal infusion of green tea leaves in hot water, and then letting the infusion cool in the refrigerator. In reality, this method for preparing cold green tea is completely wrong, as we have already seen in the article on cold teas. Allowing the green tea to cool makes it much more bitter and astringent, also dispersing its beneficial properties. Instead, you should prepare a hot green tea and immediately lower the temperature by placing it in a shaker with ice. Let's see how to prepare it:

Ingredients

• 5 grams of green tea leaves
• 300 ml of water
• 12-15 ice cubes

Preparation

• Infuse the green tea leaves in water at about 80°C for 3 minutes.
• Pour the ice cubes into the shaker
• Strain the green tea infusion and pour it into the shaker with the ice. Shake until the temperature is completely lowered.

This method allows you to prepare cold green tea quickly and easily if you always have ice ready. Optionally, you can add mint leaves or honey for an extra touch, but we recommend drinking cold green tea without sugar to enjoy its refreshing taste in purity.

Properties and Benefits of Cold Green Tea

If extracted using the methods indicated, which allow for the correct extraction of all the nutrients and substances that make this tea a health ally, cold green tea can also have numerous benefits for the body.

Green tea, even in its cold infusion, is a rich source of antioxidants, useful for maintaining youthful and healthy skin as well as essential for overall health by helping to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels (they play a defensive role against cardiovascular diseases).

We have also seen how cold green tea can be an ally in weight loss when included in a healthy and balanced diet. There are multiple substances contained in this type of tea, thanks to which it is possible to experience an increase in metabolic activity, a diuretic effect (important against water retention), and a reduction in hunger stimulation.

In addition to these properties, cold green tea is a refreshing and hydrating beverage, excellent for the hottest days of summer. Avoid sugary drinks from the supermarket and opt for homemade cold green tea, genuine and very easy to prepare with the best loose green teas for sale on Terza Luna, sourced from the best tea gardens in the world.

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Tips on Preparing Cold Green Tea: Lemon, Ginger, and Mint

At Terza Luna, we recommend drinking cold green tea naturally without sugar. To prepare a summer and tasty drink, you can, however, add other ingredients to the cold infusion: during the infusion, for example, you can add fresh mint leaves or slices of ginger, or add freshly squeezed lemon to the ready infusion, or sweeten to taste if you prefer a sweeter flavor, with honey or other natural syrups, which pair particularly well (and better than sugar!) with the taste of green tea. Let your imagination run wild and find the combination that suits you best!

Cold Green Tea Infusion: Which Teas to Choose?

There are different types of loose green tea leaves to choose from based on personal taste, which can be customized with the addition of lemon juice, sugar, or spices. Japanese green teas are highly recommended for cold infusions.

You can consult the section dedicated to cold teas to be prepared with one of the cold infusion methods described, and choose your favorite. Inside our online shop of teas and herbal teas, we have selected some of the teas, pure and flavored, that are best suited to be prepared cold, as well as a series of tools with which to do it quickly and easily at your home.

The cold brew method allows you to easily prepare at home cold herbal teas and all types of cold teas, with which to refresh your summer. Try now the green teas to make cold from Terza Luna and refresh your summer immediately!

 

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