How to Make the Best Iced Tea at Home? (5 expert tips)

How to Make the Best Iced Tea at Home? (5 expert tips)

 

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

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You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

Since I’ve got that cleared out, it’s time to be more specific about the details.

So let’s do that below!

 

How to Make the Best Iced Tea at Home? 5 Helpful Tips

When it’s hot and sunny outdoors, you can do a lot indoors to keep yourself hydrated and happy.

And the first thing that comes to mind is preparing a glass of chilled iced tea.

The thing about drinking tea on a regular basis is that it does more than just satisfy your taste buds.

Tea helps in reducing the chances of diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

In fact, it also promotes bone health.

That includes gums and teeth.

If you think I’m kidding, I can prove it to you that tea contains antioxidants.

These are known as flavonoids, which are incredibly potent when freshly brewed.

Another notable advantage of homemade iced tea is that you can control the amount of calories present in the drink.

Something that you can’t do in the case of bottled or cafe iced tea.

That means you save money as well, right?

The amount of sweetener or sugar can be controlled.

Or not added at all.

But how to make the best iced tea at home?

You have the recipe but you just don’t know whether or not it’ll turn out to live up to your expectations.

So if desired results are on the line, it’s better to get to know these 5 expert tips.

 

Tip #1 – Opt for Fresh Tea

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

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It’s important that you make use of fresh tea.

And here’s why.

Tea contains oil that is responsible for adding the flavor.

And these oils tend to break down with time.

In the case of loose tea, the leaves have enough room in order to release and expand their flavors.

But when using small tea bags, this action gets compromised.

So aim for larger shaped tea bags that provide the tea with enough room for blooming.

 

Tip #2 – Use Filtered Tap or Spring Water

Now here’s something we often end up neglecting.

It’s only logical to assume that mineral water is packed with tons of minerals.

These, when combined with tea leaves, have an effect on the flavors of the tea compounds.

On the other hand, distilled mineral-free water produces a brew that’s flat-tasting.

So your best options are to use either spring water or filtered tap water.

 

Tip #3 – Maintain an Optimal Temperature

 

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

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Even if you have an iced tea maker at your disposal, it’s necessary to achieve a basic understanding.

And that is to work with boiling water when brewing herbal, black, or dark-colored tea.

As for brewing white, green, or light-colored tea, it’s better to use relatively cooler water.

The former should be 212 degrees Fahrenheit while the latter 170 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

What happens when you make the mistake of brewing tea that demands cooler temperature?

The flavors become bitter or astringent.

 

Tip #4 – Use Enough Tea

More tea equals more leaves, which equals more water.

To be more specific, around two teaspoons of big leaves require a cup of water.

And for the same amount of tea with smaller leaves, you can reduce the two teaspoons to one.

Bigger leaves are usually chamomile or green tea.

And the smaller version is mostly black tea.

If you want to know how to make iced tea fast, here’s a very useful tip.

Brew the tea double-strength.

That compensates for the water resulting from the melting cubes of ice.

Or you can cool the tea at room temperature before refrigerating it until cold.

 

Tip #5 – Steep for Just Enough Time

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

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The goal is to steep plenty enough so the flavors get released properly.

But not so much that the bitter compounds like tannins take control.

Darker oolongs and black teas should not be subjected to steeping for more than five minutes.

While lighter oolongs and green/white teas for not more than three minutes!

Herbal infusions and tisanes contain less tannin.

That means there are no chances of over-steeping in this case.

 

How to Make the Best Iced Tea at Home? 3 Common Mistakes

 

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

Photo credit: splendidtable.org

Every sweet iced tea recipe includes healthy yet delightful alternatives to artificial flavorings and preservatives.

Isn’t that the primary reason why we choose not to consume bottled teas!

Along the same line, when preparing homemade basic iced tea recipe, you have to avoid making the same mistakes.

 

Mistake #1 – Using Weak Tea

When you’re planning on chilling the tea over ice, bold tea sounds like a much better option.

Ice cubes dilute the flavor of the tea, right?

So if the tea is weak, it might not be able to offer enough flavor after dilution.

But that’s not how it is when the tea has a stronger nature.

 

Mistake #2 – Neglecting the Temperature for Brewing Tea

Water temperature matters, please keep that in mind.

Delicate teas demand less heat. As compared to robust teas!

So please refer to tip #3 above to get a better understanding of temperature.

Or watch this video!

 

 

Mistake #3 – Choosing any sweetener

Allow me to explain this with an example.

When you want to buy the iced tea maker, what do you do?

You look into all the important factors and features.

Is that correct?

You don’t just buy the first thing you see.

Likewise, if sweet iced tea is your thing, then you’ve got to pick the right sweetener.

Using granulated sugar for sweetening hot tea is a classic idea.

But when sweetening cold tea, you need to select a different kind of a sweetener.

You can’t expect granulated sugar to dissolve immediately in chilled liquid.

So the next best option is liquid sweetener such as agave or maple syrup.

Another option is to transform the sugar particles into liquid form.

 

How to Make the Best Homemade Iced Tea at Home? You Know It!

Now that you’ve read the expert tips and common mistakes, it’s time to get moving.

If there’s anything you would like to add, please do so.

You can drop in your remarks and thoughts in the comments section.

 

You want to know how to make the best iced tea at home? In that case, you have to keep in mind certain expert tips. At the same time, you also need to avoid making common mistakes.

Our readers also enjoyed these articles; Drinking Safe Water is Essential, Top Hydrating Foods and Drinks , The Benefits of Tetley Tea, Peach Sweet Tea Recipe, 10 Unique Jobs For Teenagers and Best Smoothie Recipes for Weight Loss

 

About the author:

Barbara Davis created Mom Trusted Choice so she could share her life experiences and idea. What started as a small-scale project soon transformed into something huge. All thanks to Davis’s hard work and creative style of writing. Her articles resonate with many mothers across the world. And she continues to grow her platform by leaps and bounds. Until there are no more meaningful topics left to be discussed on the web.

Sources:

  1. https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/iced-tea-common-mistakes
  2. http://www.eatingwell.com/article/17520/how-to-make-the-best-iced-tea/
  3. https://www.venussophia.com/making-best-iced-tea/
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