Recipe - Instant Iced Tea

It's getting warm and toasty out there. Guess what's it time for? Iced Tea!!!

Let me share with you today a very easy method of making iced tea. But before that a bit of my experience with iced teas: As excited as I may sound about iced teas, I wasn't a huge fan of it before coming to the US 10 years ago. In India we drank hot tea throughout the year. Even in the scorching heat of Indian plains where summer temperatures routinely go over 90F. We had cold drinks that was made of other things, such as lassi and even spiced sodas (why not? It's India.)

But tea? No siree, never with with ice! It is still hard for most Indians to imagine putting ice into their tea.

Now after 10 years I am a convert. I love iced tea. Especially having learnt some "unorthodox" ways of making them. Like for instance the "instant iced teas," which is what I want to share with you today. 

It is a method we use at Leaf Tea Bar. It is a very easy way to make iced tea this way. There is no need to wait for the tea to cool, and you can make this practically with any tea. I love it with Darjeeling first flushes and other lighter delicate teas. (Also check out the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here's a recipe for Instant Iced Tea made with Darjeeling Sungma first flush 2019.

Fill a 14 oz glass with ice
Steep 1 heaping tbsp or 4 gm of Darjeeling Sungma first flush in 180F water for 3 minutes
Strain the tea into serving glass
Sweetener optional

Your instant iced tea is ready!