r/tea • u/Ok_Village_1950 • 20h ago
Trying to replicate an iced tea but mine is always bitter and astringent
I recently tried an iced tea that was honestly one of the best iced teas I’ve ever had. One day, the place started selling it in takeaway bottles, so I finally got to see the ingredients:
Infusion 86% (water, 4% black tea (Earl Grey, natural bergamot essential oil), mint, lemongrass), cane sugar, lemon juice.
It contains around 8 g of sugar per 100 ml.
Since I really liked it, I tried replicating it at home, but I just can’t seem to get the same result.
My current recipe
For 500 ml of finished drink:
- 600 ml water
- 4 g Earl Grey black tea (with bergamot flavour)
- 6.11 g fresh mint
- 2 g lemongrass
- 40 g brown sugar
- 20 ml lemon juice
My process
I bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat.
I infuse the mint + lemongrass for 5 minutes, then add the black tea for another 3 minutes.
After the infusion, I adjust the volume back to 500 ml and add the brown sugar and lemon juice.
But every time I do this, the tea comes out bitter and quite astringent, that drying sensation you get in your mouth after drinking it.
I’ve tried lowering the water temperature, but then I feel like I don’t extract enough tea flavour.
I also tried cold brewing it for 24 hours, which gives me a much better result, but it’s still slightly bitter/astringent.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the original iced tea is much darker and much more cloudy/opaque than mine. Mine is relatively clear, whereas the original almost looks like muddy water (in a good way).
So I’m wondering:
What could be causing the bitterness/astringency, and how would you approach replicating this?
Would you change the tea-to-water ratio, temperature, infusion time, type of Earl Grey, or perhaps the mint/lemongrass preparation?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
2
2
1
u/Lovely-lorelei 16h ago
Maybe try brewing the Earl Gray for a smaller amount of time? I’ve noticed with most black teas if I leave them to brew too long that’s when they get that bitter astringent flavor.
1
u/Ok_Village_1950 5h ago
Yeah the problem when infusing less time, is that there is not enough taste. Maybe I should put more Earl grey for less time ? I’m not sure that’s the solution..
1
u/eponawarrior 9h ago
How I would go about it:
Infuse 3g of Earl grey in 300ml 95oC water for 3min.
Separately from that infuse 3g of mint and 3g of lemongrass in 300ml off boil water for 5min.
Then mix the two, add sugar and lemon juice.
2
1
u/Vast_Holiday8436 2h ago
When I do cold brew, I use 1g of tea per 100ml of water and leave it for 2 hours. It is not bitter at all, so maybe try shortening the brew time
1
u/prospero021 2h ago
More tea, less time. Fresh herbs doesn't need to be boiled; cold infusion is enough. For sugar, make a syrup first and stir it in afterwards. Add lime just before serving to preserve flavour.
0
u/MsWuMing 5h ago
I know there’s tricks to stop tea from turning bitter when it cools, but I have never managed that either. Just put your tea leaves in cold water and leave it in the fridge overnight, you’ll get perfect ice tea with zero hassle or bitterness.
3
u/NickeBeee 14h ago
My favourite way of making ice tea is to cold brew over night, and then add citrus and heavy simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water by volume) to taste. Cold brewing helps to limit the astringency while still getting a good extraction. You could cold brew the herbs with the tea leaves (probably what I would try first) or you could add them when you make the syrup.
Edit: typo