It’s summer in Ontario, Canada and the days are long, hot and often disgustingly humid. That means cool tea is all the rage. However, iced isn’t the only way to cool your tea down. Cold brewing is a great way to infuse tea into everything from water to milk to lemonade to wine. The sky is the limit and with these cold brew bottles from Amazon, cold brewing is SO EASY!
Prior to owning this kind of bottle, I used to add tea to water bottles and when I was ready to drink them, I’d have to get a filter or gravity steeper to strain out the blend. That meant getting multiple things dirty and often creating a lot more waste than necessary. Then one glorious day Bird and Blend Tea Co had a great sale and a free shipping deal which made this type of bottle from them affordable for a Canadian. It arrived and I was in love because the filter in the lid made enjoying my cold brew so simple. No additional pieces to get dirty, just pour and go. Plus, the wine bottle-like lid shape made pouring a breeze.
Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a butterfingers and the bottle from Bird and Blend met a sad end when I dropped it and it shattered. I was spoiled though and couldn’t be without my cold brew bottles. Ordering from Bird and Blend wasn’t an option between exchange rates, shipping, and the price. That is why I was so happy when I found the same bottle on amazon.ca! And not just the same bottle, but I also found it in a smaller size and a larger size (which was plastic!). I bought all three sizes and have been cold brewing up a storm ever since.
Like I said, the bottles make cold brewing so easy. Just drop in the tea, top it with a liquid and wait for it to infuse. When you’re ready to drink, just pour it out and you’re ready to drink. The filter also separates from the lid making for easy cleaning of each piece.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I do have two minor complaints. Complaint #1 is that depending on the size, these only come as glass bottles and if you’re anything like me, you could end up breaking them. And complaint #2 is that the filter is not as fine as the filters I’m used to so some tea particles might sneak through and end up in your glass. With that said, these cons don’t even come close to the pros of these bottles. Plus, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, getting your hands on these is just a few clicks away!
Want to Know More About This Bottle?
Leaf Type: Teaware
Where to Buy: Amazon
**please note, by purchasing this item through the above picture- you will be participating in the SororiTea Sisters Amazon Affiliate program and help support SororiTea Sisters’ mission to support tea companies**
Peach Oolong from Adagio Teas. . . .
Back in the depths of winter, this cute perfectly-sized giant iced tea bag found its way into my samples box. I opened it up, gave it a sniff, sighed longingly for warmer temps.
This fun, quart-sized sachet is perfect for brewing up a big ol’ mason jar filled with tea. I deployed my favorite cold-brew method and let this one do its thing in the fridge overnight (or more realistically, a few nights, since I usually forget what I have brewin’) and it was the perfect, golden liquor after about a day. The brew is mildly peachy and fairly hearty for an oolong– it’s almost reminiscent of an iced black tea in that regard, but a little bit less robust. This would be the perfect base for a slightly unconventional Arnold Palmer-style bev, and is absolutely made for sunny sipping.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Full-leaf tea in pouches that make iced tea easy and delicious. Simply place overnight in a pitcher of water. Awake to find a tea rich in flavor and aroma, at a price that’s a fraction of the supermarket-bought teas. For quicker preparation, steep in hot water for five minutes and add ice. Contains oolong tea from Taiwan with the summer flavor of perfectly ripened fruit. Be a peach and try this tea. Makes 40 ounces.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sweet Peaches from Blooming With Joy. . . .
We drink a lot of water, but when we are craving flavor we turn to iced tea. Soda bubbles don’t offer the thirst quenching, deep draws from a glass.
The first cold brew iced tea I ever tried tasted as a friend put it like “restaurant tea”. I grew up on sweet tea but have since given up sugar in my hot tea and greatly reduced it in iced tea, with some blends getting no sugar at all.
Making iced tea couldn’t be easier than with these pre-measured pouches. I filled a half gallon (two quart) mason jar with water, threw in a pouch, and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning I had a beautifully clear, deep amber tea that smelled like ripe, juicy peaches. The flavor is light and refreshing. I love the Taiwanese oolong base. I find it “wetter” and smooth going down when you want to guzzle a glass. This is my batch.
Hubby wants his tea sweet and we all know that sugar never dissolves quite right in tea that is already cold. For his batch, I put a little sugar in a jar and added an equal amount of nearly boiling water and stirred like mad. You can as easily add simple syrup, which we generally keep on hand. Then I topped up the jar with cold water and popped in a large sachet. The next day he had his beloved sweet tea on ice. The kids helped him drink it up.
So many flavors to choose from, I don’t know where to start!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Blooming With Joy
Description
Cold Brew Iced Tea is the perfect way to enjoy a cool, refreshing beverage on a warm day. Available in many of your favorite varieties. Cold Brew Iced Tea is easy to make simply pop one pouch in your pitcher, and it will brews cold in your fridge! All it takes is 4-6 hours. Pop in in before bed and awake to find a tea rich in flavor and aroma. You can leave the pouches in for up to 24 hours. Additionally, you can make sun tea by placing the Cold Brew Iced Tea pouch in your sun tea container, it will brew on your porch.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On Wisconsin from A Quarter To Tea. . . . Part Two
I have actually written a previous review about On Wisconsin by A Quarter to Tea, the tasty honey cheesecake tea. For that reason, this review is more about a tea experiment I did with On Wisconsin as opposed to the tea itself.
For a while I have been obsessing over iced lattes. I have tried and tried but can never get my iced tea lattes to be as rich and creamy as the ones you get at places like Starbucks (though I think that because Starbucks uses whole milk loaded with syrup). Instead mine are almost watery. As a result, I have been searching the internet, reading recipes and watching YouTube videos, trying to get new and inspiring ideas for iced lattes. I came across one video by The Domestic Geek called 5 Fave Iced Coffee Hacks which has 5 tasty looking ideas that could easily be adapted for iced tea lattes.
One hack that really caught my attention was the third hack for Inside Out Lattes. For this hack, The Domestic Goddess made ice cubes out of coffee and chocolate syrup. She filled a mug with the coffee ice cubes and topped it with milk. Since I don’t drink coffee, I followed her lead but made my ice cubes out of a concentrate of On Wisconsin tea. I made the cubes by steeping the tea per the recommended parameters but using about 3-4 times the amount of leaf suggested. I then poured the concentrate into the ice cube tray and left them to set in the freezer overnight.
Once the cubes were set, I took the hack a step further and decided to blend my tea ice cubes with the milk. I used about 5 cubes to about a 1/2 a cup of milk but it was too thick so I added about another 1/2 a cup of milk. Then something weird happened as the icy milk foam separated to the top of the glass and the milky tea separated to the bottom. After some aggressive stirring to combine the foam and the tea, I was still surprised at how loose the tea tasted. I expected a smoothie-like or iced Aroma type consistency and instead it tasted like cold, milky tea. Personally I blame my ratio of cubes to milk but also the use of the On Wisconsin tea which has a strong honey flavor that competes with the milk as opposed to mixing with it.
Ultimately the experiment turned out good but not great. I think next time I need less cubes but also I think a different tea would improve the results drastically. My guess is a chocolate tea would suit this type of thing better. Though this is definitely an improvement from other iced lattes I have tried in the past as milky tea in an iced latte is better than watery tea in an iced latte so at least I am working in the right direction.
Red, White, and Blue Black Tea from 52Teas
52Teas has some of the more creative tea flavors I’ve ever tasted, so when I saw my sample bag with a little American flag and a fun name like Red, White, and Blue Black Tea, I knew it had to come from 52Teas.
This blend features raspberries (red), coconut (white), and blueberries (blue), all mixed in with a black tea base. Even before brewing, the tea leaves were a colorful joy to look at. Brewed hot, the coconut and black tea were the most forward at first, very bold and buttery.
I used the 52Teas recommendation and let the tea cool for about 10 minutes before taking another sip. When I returned to my cup there was much more flavor from the berries. I tasted tart red raspberry and sweet dark blueberry, all swirled together with the lingering creaminess from the coconut.
Maybe I’m just thinking of patriotic summer days, but this blend would make an excellent cold brew. It has rich fruit flavors for natural sweetness, solid black tea backing for body and robustness, and a touch of tropical coconut to lighten the mood.
If you’re not an American tea drinker, don’t let the flag theme put you off this blend, it is a great berry coconut black tea that will be sure to add some spring to your step as a hot morning brew or an iced afternoon treat.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
This tea is no longer available but check back to see if the tea gets a reblend and what blends are available.
