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Sencha Green with Black Currant Ice Cubes
The idea is to brew a sweetened, simple tea as your base. Then brew a smaller, darker batch of tea with any flavoring you desire. Freeze the smaller batch in ice cube trays, and refrigerate your base tea.
When you serve, you pour your refrigerated base tea in a glass, then put your flavored ice cubes in. As you drink, the flavors of the ice cubes slowly mingle with your base tea, changing the flavor profile over time. With normal ice cubes, you have a watered down tea at the bottom of your glass. With flavored cubes, you have an entirely different tea than what you started with.
I like to put berries in the ice cube trays to add additional flavor and character. Plus, you have something to eat at the end.
Another reason I like the ice cube method is that you’re not committed to a certain flavor. You can make different flavors of ice cubes in advance, storing them for days or even weeks. Then you can mix up the flavor with every glass of base tea you pour.
An idea of proportions: I typically brew 1 level tablespoon tea per 8 ounces water. For a 32 ounce nalgene bottle of tea, I’ll flavor with about 2 ounces or less of honey or even less for sugar. I prefer lightly sweetened teas. I don’t bother sweetening ice cube batch. I don’t like milk in my iced teas, but would consider soy milk in black iced teas.
I suggest experimenting with sweetener in slow increments. Sample your base tea with ice cubes until you reach idea sweetness
- Base tea: Sencha green tea.
Ice cubes: blueberry black tea with frozen blueberries
Description: Starts off nutty and vegetal. Progresses to robust and fruity.
- Base tea: melon white tea.
Ice cubes: strawberry green with frozen strawberries
- Base tea: Oolong orange blossom
Ice cubes: Belgian chocolate rooibos
Description: Starts slightly toasted with floral notes and orange. Progresses to smooth, robust and chocolaty.
- Base tea: Golden Yunnan Black Tea
Ice Cubes: Lapsang Souchong smoked tea
Description: More of a man’s tea. Starts smooth and slightly peppery. Progresses to robust and smoky.
Description: Starts crisp and delicate, mildly floral. Progresses to vegetal and heavier fruit.
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