It’s summer, it’s hot, and while you may or may not know that hot tea can actually cool you down, we still crave long, cool drinks with refreshing character. That’s where AVANTCHA teas step in. Real ingredients, natural flavouring, and plenty of inspiration from our team and bartender friends.
In this guide you will discover iced teas, sparkling teas, tea shrubs and tea mocktails. We hope you enjoy making them.
First things first, here are some basic guides on ratios when you’re preparing for your drinks. Don’t just take our word for it though, feel free to play with more or less to get the results that really suit you.
Basic Iced Tea Recipe
10 – 12g tea leaves with 500ml boiling water – pour over ice cubes to get 1L of iced tea
Cold Brew
7 – 10g tea leaves per 1L cold water
Shrubs
7.5g tea per 250ml boiling water
Ratio of sugar, water, vinegar 1:1:1
Simple Syrup
15g tea per 250ml boiling water
Ratio of sugar and water 1:1
ICED TEA RECIPES
NEW Wild Strawberry Black Tea
A beautiful blend for summer, ripe with juicy berries and flowers. An inky black tea leaf is combined with pieces of strawberry, raspberry and elderberry with a pleasing earthiness from a little raspberry leaf. This tea produces an amber infusion with aromas of vanilla, fruit and lilac and the taste is warm and honeyed, with a touch of comforting malt and a dry finish.
Serve iced with blackberries, strawberries on the side.
Iced with Fresh Blackberries and Strawberries
+ To Make One Litre – 16g to 1000ml boiling water.
+ Brew for four minutes, strain, allow to cool and refrigerate
+ Serve with fresh berries, and add sugar or sugar syrup to sweeten
Shop Wild Strawberry Black Tea Now >
Tropical Rooibos Tea
Long lengths of silky smooth South African Rooibos blended with a touch of natural passionfruit flavour to create a beautiful amber infusion that sings with mellow, fruity notes. Rooibos is the only herbal tea that is fully oxidised, imparting the rich depth of a black tea, only without the caffeine. This tropical blend is a wonderful accompaniment to a sunny afternoon, and also works well in an iced tea with slices of cool fruit on the side.
Serve iced, with passionfruit
Iced, and Paired with Passionfruit
+ To Make One Litre – 16g to 1000ml boiling water.
+ Brew for four minutes, strain, allow to cool and refrigerate
+ Serve with fresh fruit on the side – watermelon is also delicious
Shop Tropical Rooibos Tea Now >
Prickly Cactus Fig
We originally blended this tea as something spectacular for a client and yet we loved it so much, we knew we couldn’t keep it from you. It’s juicy, it’s fruity, it’s fun… Introducing our Prickly Cactus Fig – crafted with pieces of natural cactus fig, papaya, pears, apples and rose buds. Enjoy hot or poured over ice for the ultimate refreshment. If iced, serve with rosebuds and petals for visual flare.
+ To Make One Litre – 16g to 1000ml boiling water.
+ Brew for four minutes, strain, allow to cool and refrigerate
+ Pour over ice when ready and serve with flower petals
+ This tea also pairs wonderfully with slices of juicy fruits like pears and apples, echoing the ingredients within
Shop Prickly Cactus Fig Tea Now >
TEA SHRUB RECIPE
Bamboo Snow White
A blend of white tea buds and leaves, with the addition of bamboo pieces and natural cranberry flavour. Snowy white tea buds impart a delicate, almost floral taste, while the white tea leaf offers a little assertiveness. Mixed with the addition of sweet bamboo and tart cranberry, a soft pink infusion is created. Enjoy in the late morning with fresh red berries for the balance of a touch of caffeine from the white tea, and the light sugary touch from the herbal ingredients.
‘Snow White’ Sparkling Shrub
+ 30ml Bamboo Snow White Shrub*
+ 180ml sparkling water
+ Add 5 ice cubes in a highball glass
+ Add the shrub and top up with sparkling water
+ Give it a light stir
+ Garnish with dried cranberries and lemon zest
*How to Make Bamboo Snow White Shrub
+ 6g Bamboo Snow White
+ 200ml water at 85°C
+ Steep for 5min
+ Mix 150g of white sugar with 200g white balsamic vinegar or rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
+ Once tea is steeped, add to sugar vinegar mixture and let sit for half an hour
+ Strain and bottle
+ Store in the fridge
Rush Hour Berry
An explosion of bright, lively flavour, this herbal tea is a blend of hibiscus, roasted apple, blueberries, elderberries and other natural fruit pieces and flavour. The initial taste is loaded with sweet, juicy berry and caramelised apples, giving way to a quenching sourness from the tart cranberry. The finish is light and floral. Quite an experience indeed and ideal any time you want to refresh the palate and the mind. Serve with a light summer lunch loaded with artichokes, avocados or herbs.
‘Scarlet Lightning’ Sparkling Tea
+ 35ml Giffard Elderflower Syrup
+ 150ml AVANTCHA Carbonated Rush Hour Berry
You can carbonate tea with a soda stream, or by cold infusing the dry leaf with sparkling water for at least 4 hours
+ Juice of half a lemon
+ Put 5 ice cubes into a tumbler
+ Add syrup and lemon and stir
+ Top up with sparkling AVANTCHA Rush Hour Berry
+ Garnish with Rose Petals
By RUDOLF DE VOS / @YaBoyRudi – Bar Manager at La Maison Ani
DOWNLOAD THE FULL AVANTCHA x GIFFARD ZERO PROOF COCKTAIL BOOK >
ZERO PROOF COCKTAIL RECIPE
Chamomile Blossoms
Our Chamomile Blossoms are natural and whole, rendering the softest, sweetest infusions with excellent clarity of flavour. They make a soothing hot infusion before bed, though also a wonderful addition to cold herbal tea drinks, especially cocktails, adding their superb florality to the equation. They can be used as a cold infusion, or even made into a syrup and added to other beverages. Why not play around and find out what suits you best?
‘Lucidity’ Mocktail
+ 40ml Giffard Pineapple Syrup*
+ 170ml AVANTCHA Organic Chamomile Blossoms, cooled
+ 10ml LimeJuice (half a lime)
+ Put all ingredients in the shaker with 5-6 ice cubes and shake
+ Pour in a highball glass
+ Garnish with a lime zest
By ASKAR CHORIEV /@Liquid_Harmony – Bar Manager at Mine & Yours Group
DOWNLOAD THE FULL AVANTCHA x GIFFARD ZERO PROOF COCKTAIL BOOK >
*Giffard Syrups are available to purchase via Amazon
COLD BREW RECIPE
Darjeeling 2nd Flush
Feeling the heat? Why not cool down with a cold brew tea? Fill up the fridge in the morning, and enjoy throughout the afternoon. For cold brew, it is better to use teas rather than fruit or herbal teas. The latter should be treated with boiling water to extract all their goodness, defeating the point of cold brew which is to slowly elicit the nuances of a loose leaf tea with cold water, omitting astringency and extracting a delicate, sweet infusion.
To make a beautiful summer cold brew, simply measure 9g of Darjeeling 2nd Flush per 420ml (the size of our Solo Tea Pot), top with cool, filtered water and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 8 hours, depending on how you like it. We’ve added a whole head of elderflower to ours (or you could try organic rose petals or a tiny splash of elderflower cordial) for enhanced summery notes. Decant fully, and savour slowly.
Other teas that cold brew well are:
VANILLA MATCHA MILKSHAKE
Organic Cocktail Grade Matcha
To make this simple, creamy ice cream milkshake, choose a plain flavour like vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. We chose a high quality vanilla with plenty of real vanilla flavour to complement our Organic Cocktail Grade Matcha with its vibrant green flavour, and touch of umami.
+ 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
+ 60ml milk, or milk alternative
+ 2 tsps Organic Cocktail Grade Matcha
Add all ingredients to a tall vessel, and use an immersion stick blender to incorporate all ingredients until smooth (you can use a Nutribullet or standard blender, too)
Serve and sprinkle with rose petals for a pretty garnish