Cold Brew Tea, teabag edition
Jan. 17th, 2022 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamarillowSo I've started to brew tea in the fridge in ~720ml formerly passata jars, and I'm starting to try enough flavours that I need to start keeping a decent record, or I'm going to be staring at boxes of tea in supermarket trying to remember how good/disappointing they were, and that will just be sad. So!
Stand out winner so far:
Red Seal Plum & Boysenberry fruit tea
Delicious, good flavour, good colour, great ease of brewing (toss the tea bag in the jar, leaving some of the string and tag outside the jar, fill with water, screw on lid catching the string, and leave for a couple of hours at least, or overnight, or a couple of days, remove tea bag and drink lovely cold liquid)
Red Seal Cold Brew Mint & Cucumber tea bags
Intended for cold brewing, and intended to do about 1.5 litres at a time. Very good flavour, but relatively expensive - only four bags in a box, and I couldn't use the best jars (passata jars fit well in the fridge door, are about the amount of liquid you want to drink at one time on a hot day before they heat up out of the fridge, and they are a good size in the hand when drinking). Also my local supermarket has stopped stocking them. Might buy them again if they show up again, but not going to be a standard cold brew tea in my house.
Twinings Herbal Tea Detox (sweet fennel, lemongrass and verbena)
I really like this one. S finds it a bit astringent, but I find the flavour good and satisfyingly refreshing. Of course I like both fennel and verbena teas, so I am certainly the target market for this.
Red Seal Peach & Pineapple fruit tea
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. Peach is the dominant flavour of the tea. It's fine, but not top tier.
Healtheries Peach With Mango Twist Tea Bags
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. Peach is the dominant flavour of the tea. It's fine, but not top tier.
Red Seal Mint & Matcha tea
Good flavour but a pretty astringent flavour. I liked it, but S didn't. I don't want to drink it as frequently as a nice fruit tea, but still good.
Red Seal Blood Orange fruit tea
Has a good colour and a good strong flavour, but I would have liked something else mixed in the with blood orange to make a slightly *better* strong flavour. If I remember correctly I wound up mostly spiking it with a bit of ginger ale which improved things.
Red Seal Raspberry & Strawberry fruit tea
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. It's fine, but not top tier.
[Brand?] Camomile tea (brought a large pack in the winter and moved it to a jar at some point)
It's fine, it's camomile, it tastes like that. Okay as a cold brew, but I think I like it hot better.
The Nope Category:
Red Seal Tropical fruit tea
Tastes like anemic tropical fruit juice. This isn't my favourite fruit juice flavour, and so I found it doubly disappointing. Used up the tea bags but won't buy them again.
Red Seal Lemon & Ginger tea
Just makes me sad I'm not drinking tea made with actual lemons and crushed ginger. Not actually bad in itself, but if I'm instantly going to want something else when I drink it, then why make it at all?
Red Seal Lemon & Lime fruit tea
Just makes me sad I'm not drinking a drink made with Roses Lime Cordial. Not actually bad in itself, but if I'm instantly going to want something else when I drink it, then why make it at all?
After we started getting into this, we also brought an infusion jug (Kinto Plug Iced Tea & Coffee Jug 1.2L) and have tried a bunch of loose leaf teas in it, but that's going to have to be in another post.
Stand out winner so far:
Red Seal Plum & Boysenberry fruit tea
Delicious, good flavour, good colour, great ease of brewing (toss the tea bag in the jar, leaving some of the string and tag outside the jar, fill with water, screw on lid catching the string, and leave for a couple of hours at least, or overnight, or a couple of days, remove tea bag and drink lovely cold liquid)
Red Seal Cold Brew Mint & Cucumber tea bags
Intended for cold brewing, and intended to do about 1.5 litres at a time. Very good flavour, but relatively expensive - only four bags in a box, and I couldn't use the best jars (passata jars fit well in the fridge door, are about the amount of liquid you want to drink at one time on a hot day before they heat up out of the fridge, and they are a good size in the hand when drinking). Also my local supermarket has stopped stocking them. Might buy them again if they show up again, but not going to be a standard cold brew tea in my house.
Twinings Herbal Tea Detox (sweet fennel, lemongrass and verbena)
I really like this one. S finds it a bit astringent, but I find the flavour good and satisfyingly refreshing. Of course I like both fennel and verbena teas, so I am certainly the target market for this.
Red Seal Peach & Pineapple fruit tea
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. Peach is the dominant flavour of the tea. It's fine, but not top tier.
Healtheries Peach With Mango Twist Tea Bags
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. Peach is the dominant flavour of the tea. It's fine, but not top tier.
Red Seal Mint & Matcha tea
Good flavour but a pretty astringent flavour. I liked it, but S didn't. I don't want to drink it as frequently as a nice fruit tea, but still good.
Red Seal Blood Orange fruit tea
Has a good colour and a good strong flavour, but I would have liked something else mixed in the with blood orange to make a slightly *better* strong flavour. If I remember correctly I wound up mostly spiking it with a bit of ginger ale which improved things.
Red Seal Raspberry & Strawberry fruit tea
Has a good colour, but could be a stronger flavour. It's fine, but not top tier.
[Brand?] Camomile tea (brought a large pack in the winter and moved it to a jar at some point)
It's fine, it's camomile, it tastes like that. Okay as a cold brew, but I think I like it hot better.
The Nope Category:
Red Seal Tropical fruit tea
Tastes like anemic tropical fruit juice. This isn't my favourite fruit juice flavour, and so I found it doubly disappointing. Used up the tea bags but won't buy them again.
Red Seal Lemon & Ginger tea
Just makes me sad I'm not drinking tea made with actual lemons and crushed ginger. Not actually bad in itself, but if I'm instantly going to want something else when I drink it, then why make it at all?
Red Seal Lemon & Lime fruit tea
Just makes me sad I'm not drinking a drink made with Roses Lime Cordial. Not actually bad in itself, but if I'm instantly going to want something else when I drink it, then why make it at all?
After we started getting into this, we also brought an infusion jug (Kinto Plug Iced Tea & Coffee Jug 1.2L) and have tried a bunch of loose leaf teas in it, but that's going to have to be in another post.
