Blog Post
Keep it Cool with Chilled & Iced Tea!
Summer is time to bask in the sun’s rays and enjoy iced tea. Experience your favorite hot teas as a cold refreshment with your outdoor adventures.
Chilled Tea Pairings
85% of all tea consumed is chilled or iced tea in the U.S., and black tea makes up a whopping 80% of this! Black tea has a myriad of polyphenols, which may aid gut and heart health. The caffeine keeps you focused and can spark motivation. Chilled black teas make great Arnold Palmers (half tea/half lemonade) for afternoon get-together or a non-alcoholic beverage. Our favorite sugar free chilled black teas are:
Birdsong Black | Mammoth Red | Sunshine Daydream | Mango Love Not War | Creamsicle Crush | Rift Valley Currant | High Country Huckleberry
Green Tea
Green tea comprises 16% of all iced tea consumed. This is due to the added benefits it provides, like antioxidants, caffeine, and other invigorating properties. Chilled green tea boosts endurance and energy levels while participating in activities such as: mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, or any sport.
Some of our favorite chilled green teas are:
Moroccan Mint | Sakura Cherry Green | Apricot Green | Jasmine Green | Green Tea Colada | Para-Sara Peach | Rainforest Fruit Green
China was the world’s dominant tea exporter in the 20th century. However, once chilled and iced tea became popular in the U.S., stiff competition for tea exports developed in Africa and South America. Other popular tea types to include in your chilled tea arsenal include oolong, rooibos, and herbal tea blends.
Oolong Tea
Oolong is partially oxidized tea and often considered the best tea in the world. Iced oolong can bring a nutty, creamy flavor to your chilled refreshment not found in other tea. Bring iced oolong on your next picnic!
Mimosa Oolong | Ginseng Oolong | GABA Oolong
Rooibos or Red Bush Tea
Rooibos, from South Africa, has a naturally sweet taste and is exceptional when iced. Caffeine-free rooibos options to bring along in your hydration thermos on your next outdoor excursion include:
Blood Orange | Go-Go Calypso | Gin & Cream | Cinnamon Roll | Cup of Good Hope
Botanical / Herbal Blends
Take time for non-caffeinated chilled herbal/botanical tea! Bring a good botanical chilled tea to an outdoor movie, an evening walk, or a backyard hangout as an alcohol alternative. A concentrated botanical infusion can also be a fun ingredient in cocktails or mocktails. The health benefits of drinking herbal infusions are vast, so pick a blend that calls to you:
A few of my Favorite Things | Uplift | Skin Glow | Sweet Rhapsody | Who Chic | Spicy Ginger Snap | Pleistocene Peach
Brewing Chilled Tea
We brew our chilled tea as a concentrate using 50% of the required hot water. We then strain into the remaining 50% of cold water or ice and refrigerate! This ensures flavor enhancement from premium loose-leaf tea compared to cold brewed teas in pouch packaging, such as Lipton and Nestle.
How to prepare chilled tea.
The possibilities are endless with chilled tea. There is a chilled tea for every occasion, whether you want to cool down during your summer activities or elevate your afternoon relaxation!
Written by Boo Curry & Adam Lunday
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I’m enjoying Rift Valley Currant as a chilled tea! I love its enticing purple color, and with ice cubes floating in it like little ice bergs, it delivers immediate relief from this crazy, record-breaking heat wave we’re having. I like the great ideas posted on this blog – with these temps, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to try more chilled flavors.
Thanks for the awesome teas!!!!!
Hi Lori!
Thank you for the feedback on Rift Valley Currant! We’re loving it at the tea shop, too! LMTC
Has anyone had Honey Bear chilled and hot?! Great both ways. Lake Missoula does a phenomenal job hand picking teas for both summer & winter!
Hi Zach,
We love to hear you like our Honey Bear Rooibos blend!! Thank you, LMTC
My partner and I bought a growler a couple summers ago and love coming in to snag an Arnold Palmer mix with any chilled tea available. Our current fav chilled is the Andean Princess!
Thank you LMTC! Kind staff, wholesome tea.
Hi Georgia! Glad to hear you the Arnold Palmers with the Colombian Tea!! Thank you, LMTC