COOKING COMPANION Time for tea…
If you have a cupboard full of diff erent teas and you’re getting bored of your regular brews, here are two new ideas to try.
COLD BREW TEA
Cold brew coff ee has been popular for a few years…and now it’s tea’s turn to get in on the act! But what exactly is it, how is it made, and why should we be drinking it? Jo Davies, founder of independent Dorchester tea shop T e Gilded Teapot, has the answers… “Cold tea? We’d normally think of this when
we return to a mug we brewed earlier, only to fi nd that our once steaming cuppa has turned cold and bitter while we were preoccupied… Or perhaps a pre-bottled sugary supermarket off ering? Well, I’m here to tell you that it can be so, so much more – and not only is it wonderfully simple, the cold brew technique opens an entirely diff erent spectrum of taste and experience.
WHAT IS COLD BREW TEA?
First popularised in Asia, most notably Japan and Taiwan, cold brew teas are served up and down the country as a refreshing remedy during the muggy, humid summers – and we can enjoy them here, too. Infusing tea in cold water – or ice – can yield fantastic results. One of the many interesting things about cold brew tea is that a very diff erent chemical process takes place to that of hot water. Higher temperatures encourage the leaves to release their many compounds and potentially bitter characters and tannins at speed – however, the cold brew process reveals an entire new world of soſt , sweet, grassy fl avours with a velvety touch to the palate. T is completely leapfrogs over the need to
brew hot tea, cool it, then add something to sweeten it in an attempt to mask the bitter notes of this cooled-down infusion. How to make it One of our favourite teas here at T e Gilded
Teapot to use for cold brew is Japanese organic Sencha Superior, and it’s beautifully simple to make. Add 2 tsp of Sencha leaves to your teapot and fi ll it with ice cubes – once enough of the cubes have melted to fi ll your cup you can strain the infusion and enjoy. You can also add a little cold water to encourage the infusion if you’d like your tea a little faster. T e other method is
to add the tea leaves to cold water and infuse for 5-8 minutes. You can also re-infuse these leaves several times, so you can enjoy your cold brew throughout the day. Another tea that works particularly well
is Hojicha – a blend of lower leaves and tea stalks that have been toasted over charcoal in porcelain pots by a family of growers in Mie, Japan. Rather than a typically ‘green’ and grassy character, the Hojicha gives a fantastic light, coff ee/cocoa sweetness. You can brew this in exactly the same way as the Sencha above. It tastes rather similar to the famed Boucha tea from Kanazawa on Japan’s western coast – there is nothing better than diving into a small, shady tea room in Kanazawa’s Chaya district on a hot day and being greeted with a cooling glass of iced Boucha. And why not experiment? You can even look towards herbal infusions… Peppermint cold brew tea with slices of fresh lemon and cucumber is a thorough delight fi rst thing in the morning. Or a cold brew Earl Grey (with a little gin) over ice might tickle your fancy? Here’s a summer favourite we made earlier… Matcha tea shaken over ice with mint and lime to fi nish."
Blended by the coast in the West Country 58 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER
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