The best iced tea starts with real loose-leaf tea and one of two moves: cold brew it, or brew it hot and pour it over ice. Good tea is sweet on its own, so not one of these nine recipes needs sugar. Below are the ratios, the timings, and the exact teas I reach for when it's too hot to drink anything warm.
The short version
- Two methods cover everything: cold brew (leaves in cold water, 6 to 8 hours in the fridge) or brew hot and pour over ice.
- For the pour-over-ice method, brew double strength, because the ice melts and waters it down.
- A rough starting ratio for cold brew is 1 gram of leaf to 100 ml of water. Adjust to taste from there.
- Real loose-leaf tea brings its own sweetness, so skip the sugar and let the tea talk.
In this post
Two ways to make iced tea from loose leaf
Every recipe here is a version of one of two methods, so it helps to know the difference.
Cold brew means steeping the leaves in cold water and leaving them in the fridge for several hours. Cold water pulls flavour slowly and leaves most of the bitterness behind, so the result is smooth, round, and forgiving. It's the lazy method, and it's the one I use most.
Brew hot, then ice means making a strong hot cup and pouring it straight over a glass of ice. It's ready in minutes, and the sudden chill keeps the aroma bright. The one rule: brew it stronger than you would for a hot cup, because the melting ice dilutes it. For the full method breakdown, our complete guide to cold brew tea goes deeper, and the loose-leaf brewing guide covers the hot-brew basics.
Summers in Hong Kong were brutally humid, and my mother kept a glass jug of cold tea in the fridge the way other families kept juice. It was never sweetened. That jug is basically recipe one.
Iced tea ratios at a glance
Here's every recipe below in one table. Treat the ratios as a starting point and adjust to your own taste.
| # | Recipe | Leaf : water | Method & time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classic cold-brew green | 1 g : 100 ml | Cold brew, 6–8 h in fridge |
| 2 | Jasmine cold brew | 1 g : 100 ml | Cold brew, 6–8 h |
| 3 | Cold-brew variety flight | 1 sachet : ~300 ml | Cold brew, 6–8 h |
| 4 | Sparkling sheng | 1 g : 80 ml, then soda | Cold brew 8 h, top 50/50 with soda |
| 5 | Dianhong no-milk iced latte | 6 g : 150 ml (double strong) | Brew hot 4 min, pour over ice |
| 6 | Honey longjing iced | 4 g : 300 ml | Brew 80°C 2 min, chill, thin honey |
| 7 | Mint jasmine iced | 4 g : 300 ml | Brew 80°C 2 min, add mint, chill |
| 8 | Iced Tie Guan Yin | 6 g : 250 ml | Brew 95°C 1 min twice, over ice |
| 9 | Grandpa style over ice | 3 g : 300 ml | Steep in the glass, pour over ice |
Cold-brew iced teas (set it and forget it)
1. Classic cold-brew green
The cleanest place to start. A grassy, sweet green like Dragon Well or Mao Feng cold-brews into something soft and almost sugary.
- Put 10 g of loose green tea into a 1 litre jug or bottle.
- Fill with cold, filtered water.
- Fridge for 6 to 8 hours, then strain.
If you'd rather not measure, a cold-brew Dragon Well sachet does the same job in a bottle.
2. Jasmine cold brew
Cold brewing keeps jasmine's flower aroma intact instead of cooking it off. This one tastes like a garden.
- 10 g of jasmine green tea to 1 litre of cold water.
- Fridge 6 to 8 hours, strain, serve over ice.
There's a ready-made cold-brew jasmine for the same result with no straining.
3. Cold-brew variety flight
My favourite way to figure out which tea you actually like iced: brew several side by side.
- Drop one sachet each into separate bottles or glasses, about 300 ml water each.
- Fridge overnight.
- Taste them next to each other the next day.
The cold-brew variety pack has five teas for exactly this.
4. Sparkling sheng
The one that surprises people at a barbecue. Raw (sheng) pu-erh has a bright, almost fruity edge that loves fizz.
- Cold-brew 12 g of raw sheng pu-erh in about 1 litre of water for 8 hours.
- Strain, then fill each glass halfway with the cold brew.
- Top with plain soda water over ice.
Brew hot, pour over ice
5. Dianhong no-milk iced latte
Iced tea for coffee people. Yunnan black tea is malty and sweet enough that it drinks like an iced latte with no milk at all.
- Brew 6 g of Dianhong in just 150 ml of near-boiling water for 4 minutes. It should taste too strong on its own.
- Fill a tall glass with ice.
- Pour the hot tea straight over the ice and stir.
A cold-brew Dianhong sachet is the shortcut version.
6. Honey longjing iced
Barely sweet, and the honey is optional. Dragon Well already tastes of chestnut and warm grass, so a thread of honey is all it wants.
- Brew 4 g in 300 ml of 80°C water for 2 minutes.
- While it's warm, stir in a small spoon of honey if you like, then chill.
- Serve over ice.
7. Mint jasmine iced
Fresh mint and jasmine is a combination that tastes like it should be harder to make than it is.
- Brew 4 g of jasmine green in 300 ml of 80°C water for 2 minutes.
- Drop in a few bruised mint leaves while it's still warm.
- Chill, strain, pour over ice.
8. Iced Tie Guan Yin
Oolong holds up beautifully on ice, keeping its orchid aroma. Tie Guan Yin is my pick here.
- Brew 6 g in 250 ml of 95°C water for 1 minute, twice, combining both steeps.
- Let it cool a few minutes.
- Pour over a full glass of ice.
The lazy one: grandpa style over ice
9. Grandpa style over ice
Grandpa style means leaves loose in the glass, no strainer, topping up with water as you go. Over ice, it's the least equipment possible.
- Put about 3 g of any whole-leaf tea in a tall glass or a double-wall glass bottle.
- Add a splash of hot water to wake it up, wait a minute, then fill with cold water and ice.
- Sip. The leaves sink and keep releasing flavour as the ice melts.
FAQ
What's the difference between iced tea and cold brew tea?
Iced tea usually means tea brewed hot and then chilled or poured over ice. Cold brew skips the heat entirely and steeps the leaves in cold water for hours. Cold brew tends to taste smoother and less bitter, while hot-brewed iced tea is faster and has a brighter aroma.
How long does cold brew tea take?
Most loose-leaf teas are ready after 6 to 8 hours in the fridge. Greens and whites can be good a little sooner, blacks and pu-erh like a bit longer. Leaving it overnight is fine and hard to overdo, since cold water extracts gently.
Does cold brew tea have less caffeine?
Cold water pulls caffeine out more slowly, so a short cold brew can be gentler than a hot cup. A long overnight steep still extracts plenty, though, so it isn't decaf. The Mayo Clinic caffeine chart is a good reference for rough numbers.
Can you reuse the leaves after cold brewing?
Often, yes. Good loose-leaf tea usually has a second cold brew in it, sometimes more. Here's how to reuse tea leaves without ending up with something watery.
Do you need sugar in iced tea?
No, not if the tea is good. Real loose-leaf tea has its own sweetness, and chilling actually makes many teas taste rounder. If you want a touch of something, a thread of honey does more with less than spoonfuls of sugar.