Cold Tea for Hot Summer Days Part I
With summer on the way, it’s time to start working on my ‘cold brew’ techniques. Here’s a new one I’ve just 
learned, and am trying out for the first time. I’ll let you know how it comes out tomorrow. I’m using some Jin Hsuen Oolong, which has a light, slightly milky flavor, and is one of my favorite cold teas. For this recipe, we start with a large bottle of cold (refrigerated) water. I’m using a standard 2-liter size bottle, shown in the photo at the right.
Our basic formula for brewing large amounts of tea is 1.5g of tea per 50cc of (hot) water. For today, I’m going to cut that amount by 2/3. First I pour the water out of the bottle into a large pitcher. Then I add the tea leaves (2000 cc / 50 = 60 (grams of tea for standard hot-water brewing method) / 3 = 20g of tea). The rule of thumb is to use enough leaves to just cover the bottom of the bottle (see photos). Then I pour the water back into 
the bottle, screw the lid on, and return the bottle to the refrigerator for 8 hours of steeping. I’m told to keep the tea cold for best results, and to drink it within a couple of days at most. I’ll be taking this bottle on an outing with my son’s kindergarten class so it won’t stay iced, but we’ll see how it turns out. Stay tuned!
