Cold Brew vs. Iced Tea

Cold Brew Tea vs Iced Tea 

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Cold Brew Tea vs Iced Tea? They sound pretty similar, right? Well, yes, but also no. There are key differences to preparing cold brew and iced tea, even though both are delicious, enjoyable and popular, and every tea lover needs to know what they are. We put together a quick guide so you can brush up on your tea knowledge and impress your guests (and anyone who will listen). 

The Amount of Tea 

+ Iced Tea is prepared using double the amount of tea leaves (or teabags) stated on a hot tea recipe to ensure strength and clarity of flavour, especially since ice is added and dilutes the overall beverage.  

+ The amount of tea needed to prepare Cold Brew Tea, however, will vary from recipe to recipe, though a good rule of thumb is to assume x 1.5 the quantity stated on the normal recipe. 

The Types of Tea 

+ For Iced Tea, feel free to use any kind of tea, and also to consider using additional ingredients like real fruit, or naturally flavoured syrups. 

+ For Cold Brew Tea it is best to use white, yellow, green, oolong, black and pu erh teas, eliciting their natural, delicate flavour and complexities without the need to add anything else (though no one is stopping you). 

The Temperature of the Water 

+ Iced Tea is made with boiling water, and then either poured over ice to cool it down, or decanted after the usual recipe time and left to cool and placed in the fridge until it is ready to use. 

+ Cold Brew Tea is made with cold water – simply adding the tea leaves to the water and placing it in the fridge for the duration stated on the recipe. You can, however, play with the timings to see what kind of results you get and what strength you prefer. 

The Flavour 

+ The boiling water used to make Iced Tea will extract lots of flavour, astringency and tannins.

+ Using cold water for Cold Brew Tea means that the flavour is extracted more slowly, there is much less astringency and tannins, and also less caffeine which melts at higher temperatures. This results in smooth, sweet and nuanced flavour profiles, eliciting tasting notes that might otherwise have been lost among the tannins in a hot infusion, and a bright, clean infusion. This is particularly prominent in cold brew black teas with floral and fruity notes emerging. It’s the same for Cold Brew coffee, which you will notice is smoother and sweeter. 

Time 

+ Iced Tea can be ready within a matter of minutes. 

+ Cold Brew can take between 6 to 12 hours to infuse, depending on how strong you like it. 

Read more about Cold Brew Tea with our Top 10 Cold Brew Teas (including recipes) and discover natural flavouring flourishes for Iced Teas with our Top 10 Iced Teas guide. 

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