Iced Tea: Tips and recipes for black tea

Which tea is best for a classic black iced tea and how was iced tea discovered?

The story goes that iced tea was accidentally invented in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, USA. Richard Blechynden was a British tea merchant who offered free tea samples at the fair, but in the Missouri summer heat, there was not much demand for warm beverages. On the spur of the moment, he decided to chill the tea and the visitors were thrilled – the “iced tea” became a huge success!

But there is evidence that “tea on the rocks,” an alcoholic tea punch was drunk as early as the beginning of the 19th century in the southern states of the U.S., and in 1876 the first recipe for non-alcoholic iced tea was published in a cookbook.

Classic is black iced tea – and for a very special delicious refreshment we recommend a fragrant, flowery First Flush Darjeeling from India, also called the “champagne of teas”. The first harvest of the year from the Himalayan region in India is unique in character and flavor.

It’s easy to prepare black tea as iced tea

Recipe for 1 Liter Iced Tea:

• Infuse 12 – 15g of loose black tea, e.g. Darjeeling First Flush Puttabong, with ½ litre of filtered water at 90° C and leave to infuse for 3-4 minutes.
• then add ½ liter of filtered water, preferably very cold, and wait briefly for the tea to stabilize.
• The tea is then poured through a sieve to separate the leaves from the infusion.
• The finished iced tea is now at room temperature and can be served over ice cubes in glasses as desired.
• Alternatively, the concentrated tea infusion can be poured directly over ice cubes to be cooled. For this we recommend to prepare ½ liter of ice cubes from filtered water and prepare the tea with them.

Also other black teas make delicious iced tea. Try a Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka, our BIO Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Royal Handcrafted Tips from Nepal or an Earl Grey with a refreshing citrus flavor.

Iced Chai Latte

Have you ever tried ice-cold chai latte as iced tea? It’s delicious, with the perfect balance between spicy and creamy! You can easily prepare the chai concentrate and infuse it with milk of your choice.

Recipe for 1 liter of iced chai latte:

• Infuse 12 – 15g loose tea Star of India Chai or Maharaja Chai with¼ litre filtered water at 95° C and leave to infuse for 3-4 minutes.
• Mix 1 part chai with 3 parts of your favorite milk – e.g. whole milk, oat milk or almond milk.
• pour over ice into glasses – ready !

We wish you a lot of good tea and a wonderful summer time !