How to Brew the Best Iced Tea

Read on for advice on what kind of tea to use, the novel method I came up for making homemade iced tea, including the best brewing temperature, and recipes for teas both plain and flavored.

When I compared iced tea made from loose-leaf tea with iced tea made from tea bags (using the same type and brand for consistency), I found that the former produced a more flavorful, complex drink. That’s because most tea bags are filled with tiny broken tea leaves, called “dust” or “fannings,” that remain after the higher-quality whole leaves are sifted. These dregs have very little interior that’s not exposed to air, so aromas and volatile oils readily escape from the broken surfaces.

If you’re making plain iced tea, it pays to spend a little more for good quality loose tea. 

Use 1½ tablespoons of loose black tea per quart of water to produce a vibrant yet not overly strong brew. 

If using loose green tea, which is generally subtler, increase the amount to 2 tablespoons per quart of water. 

When I prepared our flavored iced teas (scroll down for the recipes) using equal weights of bagged and loose-leaf tea, the differences were too subtle to justify the extra expense of loose-leaf. That said, stick with good quality bagged tea.

Iced tea can be brewed using either cold or boiling water. In a side-by-side comparison, a cold-water, 24-hour infusion tasted flat. That’s because a number of the compounds that give tea balanced astringency and bitterness are extracted more effectively in hot water than in cold water. But iced tea brewed for 4 minutes in water that had been brought to a boil lacked sufficient intensity. Making the tea stronger by brewing longer in hot water only made the tea overly bitter and mouth-drying. Increasing the amount of tea worked, but I ultimately came up with a thrifty hybrid method using boiling water and ice water that produced the same great flavor without extra tea:

• First, steep the tea in 3 cups of water that has been brought to a boil (or 175-degree water for green tea) for 4 minutes.
• Then add 1 cup of ice water and continue to steep for 1 hour. At the cooler temperature, full-flavored aromatic compounds continue to infuse the water and the bitter and astringent ones do not.

Here are a few of our favorite teas to serve iced (and hot). To learn more about the differences between green and black tea, click here.

Granulated sugar can be difficult to dissolve in iced tea, leaving grit in your drink, but sugar in the form of syrup is easy to incorporate. Our quick method for a rich syrup (which has a higher concentration of sugar to water than a "regular" simple syrup, which leads to less dilution) uses warm water instead of requiring the usual stovetop simmer, making it even easier.

Whisk ¾ cup sugar and ⅓ cup warm water in bowl until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely, about 10 minutes, before transferring to airtight container. Makes 1 cup. (Syrup can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.)