Iced herbal teas

[ErrolTheDragon]

I've just made some iced herbal tea (Pukka lemon, ginger and manuka) with some lemon juice and a few mint leaves in it, it's ok but not quite as good as I was hoping.

One question I've got is whether cold brewing would work better, rather than making with hot water and then adding ice. But the main one is to find out what other people finds hits the spot. I've got quite a variety of herbal teas thanks to dd leaving a lot here that she accumulated while she was a student, I've got fresh mint, lemons, ice, and also sparkling water.
Thanks!

I think whacking a load of those lovely herbs and some pieces of the fruit in a jug topped with the sparkling water would be gorgeous, ice too so you do let it stew for 5 mins before drinking.

Regards the tea ... is it something science-y about the hot water releases the flavour more effectively than cold would? I may be making this up completely so probably don't take my advice

Hope you find a nice cooling drink OP

I generally find ice herbal tea from a bag a bit weak and disappointing - but these liquid infusions make awesome cold brew tea. (Also very nice hot, much more flavoursome than the bags).
tearex.co.uk/
(Not an ad btw, just realy like them!)

A true cold brew needs about 10-12 hours in the fridge to steep enough flavour from the herbs to get an intense infusion as you would from a brew with hot water. You could use boiling water to brew and leave to cool but you wouldn't get the same flavour profiles as boiling water releases different oils at different rates. It's a case of trial and error with different herbs and temps of water. My personal favourite is orange rooibos in cold water.

I do a single mint teabag and a little bit of agave syrup in a big jug with boiling water. When it’s room temperature I add a lemon quartered (squeezing the wedges), a load of fresh mint and ice. Really refreshing!

Iced things taste less sweet than they do when they’re warmer, so you do need to adjust the flavours a bit. The tea you like hot won’t be the one you like chilled.

Apparently you need to brew with a lid. I listened to a podcast with Jekka McVicar who said you lose ?essential oils (sorry, should have been listening more closely) if you brew just in an uncovered mug rather than in a teapot or cafetière

Makes sense you'd lose some of the volatile components. Less than with a hot brew I'd have thought.

You need more teabags than for hot. And you can mix and match different bags to find something you like.