Cold brew your personalitea

Cold brewing is a little twist on traditional steeping of tea, and as the name suggests, involves creating tea with cold water, not hot. This method means tea can be enjoyed on even the hottest of days, and provides a thirst quenching alternative to other cold beverages, such as cordial, juice and soft drinks.

Whilst cold brewing is a slower method than your relatively instant hot brew, the tea is less astringent and is softer on the palate.

Any tea can be brewed via the cold method, and can be suited to each individual’s taste based on the concentration, length of brewing time, and any sweetening applied.  

Cup of Personalitea currently has three products well suited to cold brewing, and so the following method will refer to loose-leaf cold brewing to suit these: Equanimity, Resplendent, and Sanguine.

As a foundation for you to tweak to suit your taste, these quantities will provide two servings:
· 2 teaspoons of your loose-leaf tea of choice
· 2 cups of room temperature water (use filtered or purified water if possible, to achieve the best tasting end result)
· Any flavourings you wish to add, such as sliced fresh fruit, fresh herbs, or spices.

To start the process, place your loose-leaf tea in a suitable pitcher. You can use a tea infuser, or let it steep loose to strain later.

Pour in your room temperature water, but be mindful that the ideal temperature for this step is between 8 and 12 degrees.

If desired, now place any of your flavour additions into the infuser, or directly into the pitcher, as well.

Cover your mix and place into the refrigerator. Brewing time varies based on the tea you have chosen, but any length of time between 2 and 48 hours will achieve an enjoyable flavour. For our blends, we suggest:
· Equinimity: 6 to 8 hours
· Resplendent: 8 to 12 hours
· Sanguine: 12 to 14 hours

At the minimum time recommendation, have a taste of your brew. If you consider it too strong, simply stir in some extra cold water to re-balance the flavour.

If you prefer your brew to be on the sweeter side, a syrup can be made to add to the mix towards the end of the brewing time. For the method outlined here, a mix of 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water is a safe starting suggestion.

Once the brew is to your taste preference, remove the infuser, or strain your brew. Straining can be done using a fine-mesh sieve, or using a suitable cloth lining a colander or funnel.

Teas brewed this way are best to consumed on the day of reaching its perfection, and will need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Sit back and chill out, with your cool Personalitea!