How to Make: Lemongrass Green Tea

A tutorial about how to cold brew green tea with the subtle citric flavor of lemongrass.

Iced tea is a great way to wake up in the mornings.  Hot tea is good too, but I only like it when it's cold out.  I drank lots of hot tea when I lived in Minnesota during the winters.  Now that I live in Hawaii it doesn't really get cold so I prefer iced tea.  I don't like to drink too much caffeine so I try to save it for weekend mornings but I still like to try new ways to make it.  After posting a lemongrass stir fry recipe I received a comment about how lemongrass tea was also good.  That got me thinking, if you can brew lemongrass tea with hot water maybe you can do the same with a cold brew method.  So I tried it and it turned out quite good.  It had a very subtle lemony/citric flavor and was very refreshing.  There are also many claims of health benefits of lemongrass, so if they are true that's just an added bonus.

Take a stalk of lemon grass.  How many you use is up to you.  I used 3 stalks for 1 quart of tea, but if you want more flavor use more.

Prepare each stalk of lemon grass by cutting it into about 2 inch segments (so that it will fit more easily in a french press).  Dispose of the root end.

Peel off a few layers of the tough outer leaves until you get to the more tender center leaves.

Now, bruise the stalks by hitting all over with the back or a knife until they split and separate (this helps to release the flavors).  At this point you can mince the stalks for addition to stir fries or curries but for our purpose just leave them whole.

Place all of the prepared lemongrass in a french press along with the tea leaves.  I only made 1 quart so I used 4 heaping teaspoons of tea leaves.

Fill the french press with cold water and let it set and steep for about 24 hours.

After 24 hours the tea will be brewed.  Push down on the plunger and strain out the delicious lemongrass green tea.  You can sweeten as you prefer.

Pour over ice, add a stick of lemongrass and enjoy.

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How to Make Cold Brewed Tea

This simple tutorial, for how to make cold brewed tea, requires no boiling water and results in a smooth and tasty tea.

I got the idea for this after trying Life After Empty Nest's:  Cold Brewed Iced Coffee.  I like having cold tea on hand in my refrigerator.  Usually it is green tea or jasmine green tea and I love it.  Regular brewed tea isn't difficult, but with green tea I find it difficult to get the water the right temperature and timing how long it brews so that it doesn't get bitter.  Some people don't mind the bitter but I do so this cold brew method is perfect for brewing tea so that it doesn't get bitter (it also works for coffee just use however much coffee grounds you like depending on your tastes).  You only need 3 items to make this loose leaf tea (bags would work too, then you don't need the french press to strain out the leaves) a french press and water.

First you need to measure out your tea leaves.  My french press is only 1 quart but I wanted to make 2 qts tea.  My usual ratio is 1 tsp tea leaves per cup of water.  So I put 8 tsp tea leaves in my press and filled with water (about 4 cups).  I plunge this a few times (press down on the strainer and pull back up) to mix the leaves around.  Or you could just stir it.  Then let sit out at room temperature for 24 hours.  The water will slowly change from clear to brownish/tea color.

After 24 hours push down on the plunger to strain out all of the tea leaves.  If you don't have a french press you can do this in any pitcher or bottle and strain through coffee filters, cheese cloth or a thin towel.

Pour the tea into a 2 qt pitcher and add enough water to fill.  You can sweeten to your taste or leave unsweetened.  I dissolve 1/4 cup sugar in some warm water to sweeten 2 quarts of tea.  Refrigerate and enjoy.

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