How to Cold Brew Japanese Green Tea - The Expert Advice

Cold brewing, as the name implies, means the tea is brewed with cold water instead of hot water. One of the main differences between cold and hot brewing is that cold brewing takes quite a bit longer. While a cup of hot tea is ready to drink within five minutes, cold brewed tea needs to steep for at least several hours. While this long brewing time can be annoying if you want to drink your tea right away, you can get around the wait by making a large pot of cold brewed tea before you go to bed and letting it steep overnight. You’ll be able to sip on the finished product throughout the next day.

Even though it takes longer to make cold brewed tea, it’s worth the wait. Tea brewed without any heat tastes different from traditional hot tea – it’s sweeter and smoother, without any of the bitter notes that you sometimes can taste in a cup of hot tea. This is because cold water doesn’t extract tannins, the chemical responsible for that astringent taste, from the tea leaves. (Read more about tannin and green tea on my other article) If you like to add sugar to your tea, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that cold brewed tea is already sweet enough on its own.

Cold brewed Japanese green tea also offers a couple of distinct health benefits. First, it contains less caffeine than tea brewed with hot water, which is good news if you’re trying to avoid the jitters. Cold water doesn’t extract much caffeine from the leaves, so you can go ahead and drink a cup of cold-brewed green tea before bed – it won’t keep you awake. (Read more about caffeine and green tea on my other article) 

Second, cold brewed green tea contains more antioxidants than hot tea. According to a video posted by Dr. Michael Greger at NutritionFacts.org, a team of Italian researchers discovered that hot water destroys some of the catechins – the chemicals with antioxidant properties – in the tea leaves. By contrast, cold water extracts those catechins without harming them. While any type of green tea is good for you, you’ll get more of its disease-fighting and anti-aging properties by choosing the cold brewed variety. (Read more about anti-aging and green tea on my other article)

This method of cold brewing takes a while to steep - a minimum of three hours is recommended. However, the advantage of this method is that it works well for any grade of green tea. In fact, even cheaper green teas usually taste excellent when they’re brewed with cool water.

To make tea with this method, use a ratio of one to two tablespoons of tea leaves per quart of water. For a quick and convenient alternative, you can also use regular green tea bags. Place the tea leaves in the bottom of a large container or kyusu. Then add the water, cover the container, and place it in the refrigerator to steep. Give the finished pot a gentle swirl or a stir before you drink it, since the stronger-flavored sediment may settle at the bottom during brewing.

My favorite way is to use a tea filter bag and loose leaf green tea.  Usually higher grade green tea is available in loose leaf form and not tea bag form.  Here is a link to an amazon to get one of these tea filter bags. 

You can simply put green tea in disposable tea filter bag and close the lid on filter

Put it in a litter jar

Add water (filter water is recommended)

Let it sit in refrigerator for 4-24 hours

After letting it sit for 4-24 hours, stair well before drinking

To get the most out of your tea leaves, you should let the tea sit in the refrigerator for at least three hours. However, you can let it steep for up to twenty-four hours for a stronger brew if you want. Unlike hot tea, cold brewed tea won’t get bitter the longer you steep it. Many people like to let their tea steep overnight with this method, so they can drink it in the morning.

This is another simple way to make cold brewed tea. The advantage of this method is that it produces a tea with a very light, delicate taste. This steeping method works best for high-quality teas that are naturally flavorful, so you may want to use a good loose-leaf tea instead of a regular tea bag.

To make cold brewed green tea with ice, place one to two tablespoons of loose tea leaves in your pot or kyusu. Fill the pot the rest of the way with ice, and let it sit undisturbed. When the ice has melted, your tea is ready to drink. If you aren't using a kyusu, strain the leaves through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth before you serve the tea.

Don’t throw out those tea leaves after you make a pot of cold brewed green tea. Most tea leaves can be used more than once, especially if you’re not using hot water. Your second pot of tea may have a lighter flavor than the first. If you are using a kyusu, it will filter the loose-leaf tea for you. If not, you can strain the tea through a cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve to remove the leaves.

Some people like to brew two batches of tea with the same leaves and then mix them together. The different flavors of the two brews combine to produce a well-rounded cup of tea. Experiment with your brews to see what you like best.

If you’re interested in expanding your tea horizons, make cold brewing the next thing on your to-do list. A cold brewed cup of Japanese green tea makes a delightful morning ritual or afternoon pick-me-up, and it’s healthier than regular hot tea, too. Why not try making your first cold brewed pot of tea today?