What Are the Best Teas for Making Iced Tea?
As the sun comes out and the days get warmer, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some cool and refreshing iced teas.
The perfect iced tea can make for a delicious, revitalising drink to be enjoyed through all the balmy summer days, and with a range of delicious loose leaf teas to choose from for your iced tea base, there are no shortage of tasty recipes to enjoy.
Why not try a sweet and citrusy lemon verbena tea for you iced tea base, or soothing, delicate chamomile? Earl grey and sencha green teas make for great, complex iced teas, while peppermint is a traditional favourite, offering bold, punchy notes that can be enjoyed on their own or with a touch of sweetness to balance out the flavours. There’s also plenty of delicious fruity teas and tisanes to choose from, such as our Passionfruit, Guava and Mango green tea, and our Blood Orange and Berry Cocktail fruit tisanes.
How to Make an Iced Tea
Iced teas should be prepared with good quality tea and fresh ingredients; bottled or filtered water rather than tap water may improve the flavour. The result should be a clean-tasting, flavoursome tea with no bitterness.
There are generally two ways to prepare iced tea using fresh, loose leaf tea:
- By steeping tea leaves or tea bags in hot water, allowing to cool to room temperature, then chilling in the refrigerator or just adding ice. It's worth remembering that ice will dilute the tea, so a little more tea should be used if ice is to be added.
- By preparing a cold-brewed tea, where tea leaves are infused in cold water and placed in the refrigerator to chill. Suggested times for green, herbal and fruit teas are 3 to 8 hours, and 6 to 12 hours for black or oolong. Flavours are extracted slowly through this preparation method, allowing subtle tastes and fragrances develop.
Lemon Verbena Herbal Tea – From £13.99
Fresh, sweet and full of zesty lemon flavour, this is made from the cut leaves of the Lemon Verbena herb from Morocco and offers wonderful grassy and herbaceous notes.
A soothing and relaxing caffeine-free beverage that makes a fantastic base to a tasty iced tea.
The method of making a cup of tea from dried chamomile flowers depends on personal choice as to the strength required; between one and four teaspoons of dried chamomile should be steeped in 240mls of freshly boiled water for between 2-5 minutes, or longer according to taste, before chilling for an iced tea.
Peppermint Herbal Tea – From £10.99
This refreshing and soothing tea is caffeine-free and guaranteed to give you a great kick-start first thing in the day. Made from dried peppermint leaves, this offers a great aroma and a distinct minty taste.
Earl Grey Citrus Tea – From £9.99
Offering the same fresh and delicate flavours of Earl Grey, our Earl Grey Citrus Tea adds a delicious citrusy twist to a classic.
Made from a delightful blend of Earl Grey tea, with leaves scented with oil from the rind of the bergamot orange fruit, as well as lemon and orange teas, this brings together aromatic bergamot, delightful hints of orange, and clean lemon flavours for a light and highly satisfying iced tea.
Japan Sencha Green Tea – From £13.99
This classic green tea is delicate and well-rounded, offering lovely grassy notes, a hint of bitterness and a smooth finish, and is ideal to be enjoyed all through the day.
Sencha tea is rich in antioxidants, which may help to protect the body from damage caused by free radicals, and contains compounds that have been shown to promote heart health and boost the immune system.
Passionfruit, Guava and Mango Green Tea – From £10.99
A tropically flavoured green tea, featuring lovely guava scents and a sweet taste from passion fruit and mango additions.
Made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant, green teas are produced through a process of steaming or pan-firing, which stops the oxidation process and causes the leaves to take on their delicate taste.
Blood Orange Fruit Tisane – From £11.99
Spanish oranges help to create this wonderfully fruity tisane, which is completely caffeine free and perfect to enjoy morning, noon and night.
Made from a vibrant blend of orange peels, apple bits, hibiscus blossoms, rose hip petals and papaya bits, our Blood Orange Fruit Tisane is sweet and refreshing.
Berry Cocktail Fruit Tisane – From £11.99
A rich coloured tisane made from a vibrant blend of hibiscus, elderberries and currants, offering a fantastic aroma and sweet, fresh flavours - perfect for a summer iced tea!