The perfect iced tea is clear, aromatic, crisp and refreshing. It should never be murky or bitter. The key to preparing a delicious, clean tasting batch of iced tea is adding enough tea so the flavour can withstand being diluted by ice but not so much that it has an unpleasant bitter taste and dry mouthfeel.
The best result is to steep the tea bags in a small amount of boiling water for exactly 3 minutes – set a timer because steeping any longer than 3 minutes will produce a cloudy, bitter tea! Gently remove the tea bags (do not squeeze them out) and add a larger quantity of cool or room temperature water to the pitcher to balance out the overall flavour. Serve over ice – the resulting iced tea is perfection on the palate.
Batching Up
Batching up the iced tea recipe is easy—simply double, triple or quadruple the ingredients using the same proportions.
Make-ahead
If preparing ahead of time, refrigerate the iced tea after adding the room temperature water. Chilling the iced tea when it is still warm will make it cloudy. Pour over ice just before serving.
Flavouring
To add sweetness, after discarding tea bags and while the tea is still steaming, add 2 tbsp granulated sugar or 1 tbsp honey and stir to dissolve.
If desired, add aromatics to your tea right before serving, such as a lemon slice, zest or juice; orange slice, zest or juice; peach slice, nectarine slice or mint leaves.
Tea Alternatives
For black iced tea, Twinings® Lady Grey Tea Bags, Twinings® English Breakfast Tea Bags and Twinings® Irish Breakfast Tea Bags all work well. For an herbal variation, add 2 herbal tea bags for every 1 black tea bag in the recipe below, and steep for 5 minutes.
Our classic iced tea is clear, refreshing and simple to make using our finest teas.
Qty |
Ingredients |
| 4 tea bags | Twinings® Lady Grey Tea Bags |
| 8 cups | water, divided |
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Serves: 4
HOW TO
- In a heatproof pitcher or a medium glass measuring cup, add tea bags.
- In a kettle or small saucepan set over high heat, bring 2 cups water to a boil.
- Pour boiling water into pitcher or measuring cup and let tea steep for 3 minutes.
- Remove and discard tea bags. Add 6 cups room temperature water; stir to combine.
- Serve over ice.