Siam Water White Iced Tea

This is one of our 1^st Cold Brew recipes and still our personal favorite. It’s quite balanced and delicate in taste (unlike your normal Ginger Tea) and can be adjusted to suit your personal liking. Simply adjust the amount of ingredients and brewing time for a stronger taste.

Benefits

White Tea is often overlooked in favor of other teas, but it is packed with many if not more health benefits compared to other teas due to its minimal processing (less production time & labor). It contains a comparable nutrient profile to Green Tea. White Teas are known to:

Have abundant polyphenols, catechins (EGCG) and antioxidants. It has been found that White Tea contains the highest concentration of catechins, a type of antioxidant known for its excellent anti-cancer properties.
Improve Oral Health (inhibiting bacteria growth & plaque) and Skincare (dandruff & eczema). EGCG is considered the ‘fountain of youth’ for skin conditions, like psoriasis, wrinkles, rosacea & wounds.
Control Diabetes
Support Weight Loss by burning existing fat cells & preventing new formation

Lemongrass is a feel-good aromatic herb, known to relieve anxiety and stress, lowers cholesterol & bloating (having a diuretic effect), while Ginger is known for its powerful medicinal properties with anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic & anti-fungal properties. It’s also effective against nausea.

Ingredients:

4 cups of water (for 1 liter Pitcher/Carafe/Juice Jug)
2 tablespoons of White Tea (we use Silver Needle, Spring Harvest, White Tea for its delicate flavor)
3 Lemongrass stalks
4 slices of fresh ginger
2 Thai lime leaves (secret ingredient)
1 tablespoon of honey (or sweetener of your choice)
Mint or lemongrass stalk for garnish

Makes: 4 cups or 1 Liter

Instructions:

Wash the lemongrass and peel off the tough outer layer.
Using a sharp knife, trim 2 inches off the top end tip of the lemongrass (dry leafy part). Then cut half an inch of the root end, lower bulb. Crush the lemongrass root end bulb with the flat side of the knife to release the flavor and cut the entire lemongrass lengthwise into half. Option: You can cut the lemongrass into smaller pieces.
Peel off the ginger skin and cut lengthwise (about the length of a thumb) into 3 or 4 slices. For a more robust flavor, add more ginger (however, this may dominate the delicate flavor of the White Tea).
In a large saucepan, bring water, lemongrass, ginger, and 1 lime leaf to a boil.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and cool off for 10 mins. Add 2 tablespoons of White loose leaf tea and honey. We recommend putting the loose-leaf tea into a strainer so you can remove it after it has steeped.
Steep the White tea for 3 mins, making sure that the water has cooled off a bit, otherwise, it could turn the tea bitter if using boiling water.
Remove the tea strainer and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
Pour the tea through a fine-mesh sieve or strainer and add the remaining lime leaf into a pitcher or carafe. Make sure the tea is room temperature, not scalding hot.
Refrigerate until cool. Pour over ice and top with mint or fresh lemongrass stalk.

Notes:

For a robust flavor, add more ginger and lemongrass; and leave on low heat for another 10-15 mins. However, this could dominate the delicate flavor of the White Tea. You may also consider using White Peony (aka Bai Mu Dan) instead of Silver Needle, as the flavors are earthier, complex and full-bodied.

Alternatively, if you don’t have any White loose leaf tea, you can substitute with about 5 White Tea Bags or Green tea as well.

For a Cold Brew version, follow steps # 1 to 3. Add all ingredients together with room temperature water, White Tea and honey. Refrigerate overnight. Do a taste test and adjust to taste accordingly, if it requires more brewing or sweetener. Pour the tea through a fine-mesh sieve & serve with ice.

For entertaining, we like to keep the lemongrass, ginger & lime leaf in the glass carafe, refrigerated. It also makes for a nice presentation.

Source:

This recipe has been adapted from Mia King’s “Lemongrass, Mint & Ginger Iced Tea from http://www.miaking.com/recipe-box/beverages/lemongrass-mint-and-ginger-iced-tea

If you do make this, let us see! 🙂 Tag your photo and share with #yvetteteas on Instagram.

Tried & Tasted by: Yvette A

Posted on May 2017