We love iced tea in the summer months - we have a whole selection of teas that are great iced! Brewing is super easy. Cold brew tea is great, but sometimes you need iced tea in a hurry - that's where this recipe comes in handy.
Hot Brew Iced Tea
This method is great when you need iced tea fast. This recipe is for one gallon, and is easy to scale up or down. You'll need:
- A one gallon container that's hot-water safe
- 1.25 ounces (36 grams) tea
- A strainer or tea filters
- Hot water at the appropriate temperature
- Ice or cold water
If you don't have a scale, 1.25 ounces / 36 grams is between a half to three-quarter cup of tea, depending on how tightly it's packed. You can put the tea in your brewing vessel loose, or you can put them in a tea filter for easy removal later.
Steep the tea in a half gallon of hot water. For black and herbal teas, you can use water that's cooled for 2-3 minutes off boil (around 200°F / 93°C). If you're brewing a green tea, you want water that's closer to 175°F / 80°C.
After four minutes, your tea is done brewing and you can remove the tea bags (or strain if you brewed with tea tea loose). It's important to not steep longer than this time for black and green teas. Most herbal teas can steep longer, up to 10 minutes.
You'll now have double-strength tea; to finish, add a half gallon of cold water or ice, and stir well to help accelerate the cooling process. You may need to refrigerate for an hour to fully cool if you used water instead of ice. Once cool, you're ready to enjoy!