How To Make Iced Green Tea (4 Different Methods)

Few things are more refreshing on a hot day than a cold glass of iced tea.

But what if you don’t want to drink black tea?

What if you want iced green tea instead?

That’s no problem at all. Green tea works just as well as black for iced tea.

And I will show you exactly how to make iced green tea below.

In fact, I’ll give you a number of different options, using both tea bags and loose leaf green tea. Keep reading for four simple recipes with step-by-step instructions. And all are easy to modify to suit your taste.

 

How To Make Iced Green Tea With Tea Bags

Let’s begin with a simple iced green tea recipe that uses tea bags. Most people have green tea bags at home, not loose leaves, so it makes sense to start here.

 

Step 1: Make The Sweet Lemon Water (Optional)

Some people like their iced tea sweet, while others do not. I prefer mine without a sweetener or without lemon, though I sometimes do add a bit of lemon. If you also prefer it unsweetened, ignore this step.

 

Materials Needed

• ½ cup of water
• Sweetener of your choice (you can use honey, sugar, stevia, or agave nectar; use about 1-2 tsp or as sweet as you like your tea)
• Lemon juice from half a lemon
• A cup
• Stirrer

 

Method

• In the cup, add the honey or sweetener
• Add in the lemon juice
• Pour the water on top
• Stir
• Set aside

 

Step 2: Brew The Green Tea

In this step, we brew the actual tea. The main thing to look out for here is to use water that is not boiling. Green tea gets bitter, if you brew it with water that is too hot.

 

Materials Needed

• A cup
• 2 bags of green tea
• ½ cup of water (hot but not boiling).

 

Method

• Heat the water to around 160° to 176° F (or 70° to 80° C)
• Place the tea bags in the cup
• Pour the hot water over the bags
• Let the tea bags steep for 4-5 minutes or longer if you want stronger tea
• Remove the tea bags
• Cool the green tea completely

 

Step 3: Make The Iced Tea

The final step in the process is to simply put all the ingredients together. There are a number of things you can add here to give your tea more flavor. Or a different flavor. Experiment and see how you like it best!

 

Materials Needed

• Brewed green tea
• Sweet lemon water (optional)
• 3-4 ice cubes
• ½ cup of cold water, if needed
• 3-4 mint leaves to garnish (optional)
• Lemon wedges to garnish (optional)
• Stirrer
• Tall glass for serving the tea

 

Method

• In the serving glass, add the ice cubes, mint leaves, and lemon wedge
• Pour the sweet lemon water over the cubes
• Pour the brewed green tea over the sweet lemon water
• Stir well
• If needed, add some chilled water on top to adjust the strength of the tea
• Serve chilled

 

How To Make Green Iced Tea With Loose Leaves

The next recipe shows you how to make iced green tea using loose leaf green tea leaves. This recipe adds mint to the tea for an extra burst of refreshment (and some additional health benefits), but you can leave out the mint if you prefer.

 

Step 1: Brew The Green Tea

We begin by brewing the green tea. Again, the key is to use water that is a bit cooler than boiling.

 

Materials Needed

• A bunch of mint leaves without the stems (about two handfuls)
• 2 teaspoons of loose leaf green tea
• 2 cups of hot water (160° to 176° F or 70° to 80° C).
• A container or a large bowl with a lid

 

Steps

• In the bowl, add washed mint leaves
• Add the loose leaf green tea
• Pour hot water over the leaves
• Cover and let steep for 5 minutes
• Strain the brewed minty green tea
• Cool it completely

 

Step 2: Make The Iced Green Tea

Now that you have your cooled green tea, you are ready to serve it for drinking. Again, you have a number of optional additions.

 

Materials Needed

• Brewed green tea from step one
• A tall serving grass
• Honey or sweetener of your choice to taste (this is optional)
• A dash of lemon juice (also optional)
• A couple of ice cubes
• Some chilled water
• A few mint leaves and lemon slices to garnish

 

Steps

• In the serving glass, add the ice cubes
• Pour the brewed minty-green tea over the cubes
• Add some water to dilute the tea
• Add the honey and lemon juice, if you want them
• Garnish with mint leaves and a lemon wedge

 

How To Make Iced Green Tea Latte

What if you prefer iced latte to iced tea? No problem! You can make a delicious iced latte using matcha green tea powder.

 

Materials Needed

• A tall glass or mason jar
• A hand-held milk frother
• High-quality matcha powder, about 1 teaspoon heaped
• 2-3 teaspoons of hot water (heated to around 176° F (80° C)
• 1 ½ cups of cold milk
• Sweetener of your choice: honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, or sugar
• Ice cubes
• Whisk
• Stirrer or spoon

 

Steps

• In the serving glass or mason jar, add the matcha powder
• Heat the water to around 76° F (80° C)
• Add about two teaspoons of the hot water to the matcha powder and whisk vigorously to form a lump-free paste
• Add the sweetener of your choice and pour in chilled milk
• Use the hand-held milk frother to make the creamy matcha latte
• Add ice cubes, if needed
• Enjoy it chilled

 

How To Make Iced Green Tea Lemonade

If you love Starbucks iced green tea lemonade, you will surely love this recipe.

 

Step 1: Brew The Green Tea Concentrate

We’ll begin by brewing the green tea itself, since you will need to let it cool for a while after brewing before you can continue on to the next step.

 

Materials Needed

• 4-5 green tea bags
• 1 cup of hot water (160° – 176° F or 70° – 80° C)
• A cup

 

Steps

• Place the tea bags in the cup
• Pour the hot water on top
• Let steep for 5 minutes
• Discard the bags
• Cool the tea

 

Step 2: Make The Iced Green Tea Lemonade

Now that the green tea has cooled, you are ready to put all the ingredients together for drinking.

 

Materials Needed

• Green tea brewed in step 1
• Honey or sweetener of your choice
• Chilled water, about 1 cup
• One lemon or lime
• Lemon squeezer
• Knife
• A cup
• 2-3 ice cubes
• A tall serving glass

 

Steps

• Cut the lime or lemon in half and use the squeezer to extract the lemon juice from half the lemon/lime; use the remaining lime/lemon to make slices to garnish the lemonade
• Add the ice cubes in the glass
• Pour green tea concentrate over it
• Add the cold water over the tea to adjust the strength
• Add a dash of lemon juice; add more if you like your lemonade stronger
• Sweeten with honey
• Add a lemon slice and enjoy chilled

 

How To Make Cold Green Tea Taste Better

Here are some tips to enhance the taste of your iced green tea:

• Use high-quality green tea – whether you use tea bags or loose leaves, make sure to use the best ones for better tasting tea
• Experiment with herbs like mint, ginger, lavender, etc
• You can also go for flavored green teas like peach green tea, jasmine green tea, etc.
• Add fruits or berries to the tea to enhance the taste further
• Use sweeteners like maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey
• Adjust the steeping time and avoid diluting the tea with too much water and ice cubes

 

Is It Ok To Make Green Tea With Cold Water?

Yes, there is actually a trend toward using cold water to steep green tea. Cold brewing green tea reduces the bitterness or astringency of green tea and is a great way to enjoy the beverage in the summer.

Cold water extracts flavors from green tea a lot more slowly than hot water. This results in smoother extraction and reduces the tea’s harsh astringency. Cold-water brewing also extracts the lighter notes of green tea, making it sweeter.

Cold brewed green tea may need a longer steeping time but the advantage is that you don’t have to constantly monitor it, like you need to with hot-brewed green tea. Hot-brewed green tea, if brewed too long, can become bitter.

Finally, cold-brewed green tea is highly versatile and can be used in making a variety of beverages like lemonades, mocktails, cocktails, fruity cold-beverages, etc.

 

How To Brew Iced Green Tea: Final Thoughts

As you can see, brewing iced green tea is not hard at all. It is basically the same as making regular iced tea, except you are brewing green tea, so you need to keep the water temperature lower.

Just like regular iced tea, you can add sweeteners and lemon, if you like. You can also add milk and make an iced green tea latte. There are also a bunch of other things you can add (various fruit juices are usually my preference). Experiment and find the perfect blend for you!