Introduction: Cold Brew Iced Tea - Easy, Perfect, Loose Leaf!

By CLAMP Podcast
About: Hi! I'm a slightly feral mountain hermit that likes to be helpful. I do community management at Instructables & Tinkercad. 🙌 Want to hear me chat about making? Search "CLAMP Podcast" on YouTube or your favorit…
Tired of bitter, bland iced tea? Here's a perfect solution... let it steep in the fridge!

It takes 4-8 hours depending on the tea, so it's great to start it before bed or early in the morning.

I've been doing this for years and I couldn't recommend it more. It's perfect for green and white teas - you'll get all the flavor and none of the consequences from water that's a bit too hot or from steeping it too long.

Plus, I'll show you a really simple way to brew with loose leaf tea without having to buy any extra filters or muslin tea bags. :)

Step 1: What You'll Need:

  • a pitcher
  • a square or rectangle of CLEAN cotton cloth, at least 6x6 inches
  • your preferred tea, around 3 tablespoons
  • warm water from the tap
  • a fridge
  • a bit of time
  • sugar (optional)
I have seen a lot of people recommend using insane amounts of tea for cold brewing - but I have not discovered that I need double or triple the amounts. I'd say start with the 3 tablespoons and work your way up if it's not strong enough.

Plus... tea is expensive, so you don't want to go overboard. :P

Step 2: Make Your Tea Pouch!


Place your tea in the center of the cloth.

Then, fold one corner into the center, followed by the corner that's diagonal to that one.

The remaining two corners are tied loosely over the previous corners, securing them into the middle and keeping the tea inside.

Make sure it is tied loosely, though - the tea will expand as it gets wet. :)

Step 3: Plop the Pouch Into Your Pitcher...


...and fill with warm water from your tap.

(This gives it a bit of a head start!)

Step 4: Put It in the Fridge!


For white, green and herbal teas, four hours is normally enough. For black or spiced teas like chai, I tend to leave them the full eight hours if I can, though I've had them after four hours and they've been fine.

Step 5: Enjoy!


Add sugar if you'd like!

(Note that I prefer to add sugar now because it's better to know how strong your tea actually is before you go dumping sugar into it. You can ruin perfectly good tea with too much sugar!)

And remember that you can compost those tea leaves! :D