Fast and easy to prepare, cold-brewed green tea, which is known Mizudashi-Cha or just Mizudashi, is a very popular way to enjoy tea in Japan on hot summer days. Whilst almost every type of tea could be prepared as a cold infusion, Japanese green teas, especially the longer steamed Fukamushi Senchas, are particularly suitable for preparing as cold-brew. This is because leaves are smaller and finer than larger leaf Chineses green teas, which mean they open up and reveal their flavour more quickly.

Mizudashi Tea Pyramids: the fast and easy way to make cold brew green tea

While you can prepare any Japanese green tea as a cold-brew by infusing the leaves in cold water for up to an hour, the fastest and easiest way to do so is to use our Kiyoshi Mizudashi Tea Pyramids. These combine a Fukamushi Sencha with Matcha and kukicha in a 5 g pyramid and yield 0.5 litre of cold tea in just five minutes. With 2 – 3 subsequent infusions for roughly the same amount of time possible, just one tea pyramid can provide you 2 litres of tea in about twenty minutes.  

Making Cold Brew Mizudashi or Iced Koridashi with loose leaf green tea

If you would prefer to use loose leaf tea for your cold-brew mizudashi, most premium grade Japanese green teas, especially Shiraore, Fukamushi Sencha or Gyokuro would work fairly quickly and even when prepared as cold-brew are full of sweet umami. Genmaicha and Houjicha, which take a bit longer have a lovely nutty, roasted note. 

If you are going to use a premium grade tea for your cold-brew mizudashi green tea, we recommend brewing the tea as koridashi, that is with ice instead of cold water. Perfect for a lazy summer afternoon, this method is not something for when you are in a hurry, but it does better reflect “the way of tea”. To prepare your tea this way place about 10 g – 15 g of tea in medium sized (500 – 750 ml) teapot or glass jug. Fill the teapot about two thirds full with ice cubes. Let the ice thaw naturally and enjoy seeing how the colour deepens as the ice melts. This method takes more time than mizudashi, but the lovely, smooth, intense infusion makes it worth it.

Tip: If the koridashi brewed tea is too strong, add more ice. Strain the tea into a separate jug and make a second, and then third iced or cold brew.

Serving Matcha as iced tea or iced latte

Matcha looks stunning when it is served in a glass with ice. Simply make it as usual, let it cool, then serve with ice cubes. To make it as an iced latte, make it as usual , add some ice cubes to a glass, pour in the milk, add liquid sweetener (if required), then add the whisked matcha, mix and enjoy.