People are very prone to sweat in the hot summer. Sweating more will lead to the loss of water and trace elements in the body. Drinking tea can help to replenish water, what’s more, tea contains a variety of trace elements necessary for human body. Therefore, drinking tea in summer is a very good way to replenish water.
However, for many people, in the hot summer, sweating people actually have no patience to make hot tea, but just want to drink a cold drink to cool down. At this time, cold-brewing tea is very suitable for people who love drinking tea in summer.
Benefits of Cold-brewing Tea
- Cold-brewing tea is simple to operate.You just need to put the tea in cold water, soak it in advance, refrigerate it, and then take it out when you want to drink. And compared to the market iced black tea, green tea and other drinks, cold-brewing tea contains no sugar and no additives and tastes fresh and natural, which is, of course, healthier.
- Cold-brewing teatastes sweeter. When making tea in cold water, tea polyphenols and caffeine with bitter taste in tea are not liable to leach, while amino acids with fresh sweet taste can dissolve faster and more, which is the reason why cold-brewing tea tastes
- Cold-brewing teais healthier. Makingtea with hot water will lead to release of a large amount of caffeine. Especially, drinking hot strong tea after meals will affect people’s absorption of iron. In addition, excessive caffeine will make the heart beat faster and stimulate gastric juice secretion. Cold-brewing tea can perfectly solve these problems, and the polysaccharide in cold-brewing tea is better preserved, which is suitable for diabetics to drink. Moreover, unlike hot tea, cold-brewing tea can avoid the phenomena such as tea soup discoloration and bitter taste caused after a long time of placement.
Of course, not every tea is suitable for making cold-brewing tea. Generally speaking, cold-brewing tea is suitable for tea with lower phosphorus content, and the longer the fermentation time is, the higher the phosphorus content in tea is, therefore, green tea (e.g. Green Snail Spring Tea Pi Lo Bhun/Biluochun Green Tea and Premium Zhejiang Qingming High Mountain Anji Bai Cha White Tea Buds Green Tea), oolong tea (Organic Tie Guan Yin The Iron Goddess Buddha Bodhisattva of Mercy Oolong Tea from China Fujian Anxi and Taiwan Dong Ding Oolong Tea) and white tea (Hand-picked Organic Loose Leaf Chinese Premium Spring Pai Mu Dan Cha White Peony Tea), for example, are more suitable for making cold-brewing tea.
How long should it take to make the best cold-brewing tea?
This is a question that many tea lovers concerns.
On this issue, some professional researchers have done experiments of making cold-brewing tea with green tea and oolong tea. 3g, 4g, 5g and 6g of green tea were respectively weighed, poured into 300 ml of water and shaken well. Sensory evaluation was conducted after 0.5h, 1.0h, 1.5h, 2.0h and 3.0h respectively. The results showed that when the tea-water ratio is 4:300 for steeping time 1.5 hours, and when the tea-water ratio is 5:300 for steeping time 1 hour, the green tea aroma and taste are relatively better.
And in the experiment of making cold-brewing tea with Oolong tea, the results showed that when the tea-water ratio is 5:300 for steeping time 2 hours, and when the tea-water ratio is 6:300 for steeping time 1.5 hours, the Oolong tea aroma and taste are better.
As the steeping time gets longer, the more intense tea aroma is, and the more bitter and astringent the tea becomes. This is because that Longer steeping times result in higher quantities of caffeine being extracted, and the tea soup will gradually become dim and turbid. This is because that catechin undergoes oxidative polymerization under the enzymatic action and forms red and yellow pigment substances, eventually leading to the difference in color and lustre of tea.
What calls for special attention is that it is appropriate to drink off the cold-brewing tea within 3-5 hours. If not finished up, it had better be put into the refrigerator for cold storage, with the temperature set at 4℃, but the storage time should not exceed 12 hours.
Also, cold-brewing tea had better be brewed not more than two times. Otherwise, the cold-brewing tea will have great difference in appearance, aroma and taste from the first flush.
Did you master the skill of making the best cold-brewing tea?
Now hurry up and make a cup of cold-brewing tea!
