As we’re facing a serious heatwave, I’ve been drinking lots of glasses of cold-brew tea and iced Matcha tea. I know some people think cold tea needs some sort of sweetener or lemon, but our cold-brew teas are packed with natural umami and sweetness, and are full of flavour without the need of any additional ingredients. As they are so delicious and healthy, I wanted to share with you some of those wonderful cold-brew teas – especially as it’s the perfect time to enjoy them!
First, what is the benefit of cold-brew tea?
1. As long as it's kept in the refrigerator, you can continue drinking it for 4-5 days. Because no heat is used, the ingredients don't deteriorate at all. Therefore, it can be stored for surprisingly long.
2. It is very easy to make, as you don’t need to be worried about the temperature of water and you can make it whenever you have a few minutes of time!
3. The flavour is so smooth! Because no heat is used, the tannins that can cause bitterness in tea are not extracted at all, allowing you to enjoy a mellow and sweet taste.
4. Because no heat is used, all the functional components of the tea, including antioxidants and vitamins, remain intact and beneficial.
Second, what type of teas are suitable for cold-brew?
I have tried quite a few different types of teas to cold brew. My favourites are as follows:
3. Shincha Sencha Sukiya from Yame
I prefer Genmaicha (green tea with roasted rice) with hot water, as I like to get the aroma of the roasted rice, and this tea didn’t work well with cold water.
Japanese Oolong from Yame
Many of our customers love this tea most especially as a cold brew. It is elegantly complex and also very fruity. I like hot Oolong in winter-time, but I really prefer it as a cold-brew. I think the character of this tea goes wonderfully well as a cold-brew.
Shincha Sencha from Kyoto
Shincha contains strong flavours and lots of umami, as the tea tree is rested during the winter months. So we can get umami and sweetness with the cold-brew version too. Sipping this tea is a way of enjoying the ancient elegance of Kyoto. Our tea is the very best grade of Shincha sencha from Marukyu Koyamaen.
Shincha Sencha Sukiya from Yame
Our all-time best-seller sencha is Sukiya from the Yame region. I really think this tea is very good value as it is the best Gyokuro maker’s sencha. I like this tea when it is hot as well as a cold-brew. Cold brew Sukiya sencha is a much fruitier tea than when it is hot, and I think the cold-brew tea has a hint of grapefruit flavour.
Hojicha Kiku Kaori from Kyoto
As I drink a lot of tea all day along, I try to drink low-caffeine hojicha after 6:00pm. Cold-brew hojicha has a slightly nutty, light flavour. So I thought it would be a good drink to have at supper time too. I do not drink much alcohol, and I found that this tea is great for non-alcohol tea drinkers during supper. As I have mentioned before, many Japanese hospitals serve weak hojicha to their patients to encourage the body to digest its food, and not to disturb sleep.
Gyokuro from Yame
I am more of a Matcha person than a Gyokuro one, as Matcha is such a part of my life, and I feel I could not drink too much caffeine on top of my intake of at least 3 cups of Matcha a day! However, I do drink Gyokuro from time to time, and especially I drink iced Gyokuro in the summer. It takes just 15 minutes to brew a cup of iced Gyokuro with a couple of ice cubes and ice cold water.
Here are some of my favourite ways to enjoy Japanese tea during the summer months:
5. Matcha and Hojicha Affogato
A lot of us have noticed that every summer now it is getting hotter and hotter, and the weather has become much more unpredictable globally. We will do our very best to act in every way against global warming and to protect the planet for future generations and for nature. I will be drinking our cold-brew teas during these very hot days to cool my body down, and I also think that having them around will help me to feel cooler and calmer. They will be part of a good plan to approach the weather in a positive way!
I hope everyone will keep cool and well and enjoy the benefits of a glass of cold-brew tea!
Have a peaceful and productive week.
Lots of love
Keiko