Iced Japanese Tea: Which Method Should You Choose?

You want a pitcher of iced Japanese tea, but the method depends on what you're starting with. Leaves steep in cold water before you remove them; a powder mixes with the water and stays in the glass. For koridashi, you let ice melt over the leaves, then strain them out.

For a quick drink, we'd choose powder: preparing matcha starts by mixing a smooth base before adding more liquid.

How do you make iced Japanese tea with leaves?

Put about 1 1/2 tsp (4 g) of leaves in about 3/4 cup (200 ml) of cold water. Steep for four hours in the refrigerator, then strain completely. Taste before adding ice. It's an initial guide to adjust according to the leaves and the intensity you want.

On a second attempt, we'd change only the time. Keeping the quantity the same helps you understand the extraction. If the tea is too strong, shorten the steep instead of diluting the whole glass. Serve the filtered infusion without leaves in the drink, and keep it chilled until serving in a vessel prepared with drinking water.

What changes with koridashi, or ice steeping?

Place about 1 1/2 tsp (4 g) of leaves in a clean vessel and cover them with 3.5 oz (100 g) of ice. Let the ice melt in a cool place, then strain. The size of the ice cubes and the temperature of the vessel change the time needed: no fixed duration suits every attempt.

We like this method for watching water gradually reach the leaves. To fill a large pitcher quickly, steeping in cold water is more practical. Beyond the Japanese name of the method, the result depends most on that gradual contact.

Can you steep iced matcha like leaves?

No. The tencha leaf, shaded and dried before milling into matcha, becomes powder that remains in the drink, while leaves are strained out.

First make a small, smooth base, then pour it over cold water and ice. We mix the powder before chilling to avoid clumps, although a shaker with a lid makes that step less important. Add more liquid to taste without trying to remove the powder.

Can you drink hojicha and genmaicha cold?

Yes. As leaves, hojicha, roasted Japanese green tea, can steep in cold water before being strained, and its roasted notes remain present.

Genmaicha blends green tea and roasted rice. Remove the leaves and grains after steeping; genmaicha steeped in cold water offers another toasted note. If you're using these teas as powders, mix them with water instead of steeping them like leaves.

How do you correct a drink that's too weak or too strong?

With leaves, keep their quantity the same and steep a little longer next time if the cup is too weak. Shorten the steep if it's too strong. With a powder, adjust its weight: waiting longer won't create an extraction.

We'd first serve a small sample before preparing the whole pitcher. That avoids masking a poorly adjusted infusion with sugar. If you like it as it is, there's no need to change it.