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Glass of iced green tea next next to honey pot

Green Iced Tea with Honey

Course Drinks
Keyword Tea

Ingredients

Supplies:

  • Metal bowl or TEMPERED GLASS bowl to handle temperature change
  • A cover big enough to fit over the bowl dinner plates work well
  • Thermometer
  • Tongs or scoop
  • Decanter or pitcher

Instructions

  1. Cut the tag string off each bag carefully so as not to cut the bag itself.
  2. Prepare a cold water bath in a stopped-up sink. It should be deep enough that when you hold the bowl in it the water comes up most of the side of, but not into, the bowl. You can also place ice and water in a bowl bigger than the bowl you've put the teabags in and use that.
  3. Place the bags in the metal bowl.
  4. Heat 1 quart of water in a kettle and monitor with a thermometer. At 180 degrees, remove the kettle from the heat. An important thing to remember about green tea is that if the water is too hot it will scald the leaves and the tea will taste bitter. If you don't have a thermometer, heat the water in an open saucepot on the stove and gauge the temperature by how the water looks. When bubbles start to pop off the bottom in pairs or groups, your water is about 180 degrees.
  5. Pour the water over the bags into the metal bowl. Immediately cover with lid and start timing your tea. It's important to cover the bowl so as not to lose heat. If the water is too cool, your tea will be under-steeped and bland.
  6. At three minutes, remove the lid and use the tongs to take out the teabags. Do this quickly as over-steeping can result in bitter flavors and higher astringency.
  7. Place the bowl in the bath of cold water (careful not to splash any into the bowl!) or over the ice water and use a spoon to stir the tea, lowering the temperature quickly.
  8. When the tea is lukewarm pour it into your serving decanter or pitcher.
  9. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey to taste while tea is still warm so that it melts and incorporates. I have a terrible sweet tooth so I added two tablespoons. Any more than that and it may overpower the tea's delicate flavors, but you should prepare it the way you like it.
  10. Pour over ice. I recommend putting ice in a glass and pouring the tea over it, as adding ice to the pitcher may water down the tea.