Cold Brewed Iced Earl Grey Latte is refreshing and extremely easy to make drink. It's lightly-sweet, creamy and flavorful. Perfect refreshment for hot Summer days or anytime you need an extra energy boost. Make this coffee shop beverage at home! Save yourself some money and unnecessary sugary calories. This drink is refined sugar-free and delicious!
Summer is heating up, like for real. And while I still enjoy a cup of warm frothy latte in the morning, on afternoons, when temperatures hit high points and I have that nasty energy slump, I kinda look for something more refreshing to drink.
Black tea has always been on top of my list when it comes to boosting energy fast. Lately I'm enjoying this cooling Cold Brewed Iced Earl Grey Latte more often than usual. Which is not bad considering black tea has many health benefits and few downfalls like classic coffee has. Especially when you have it on afternoons.
This beautifully flavored, cooling black tea drink is perfect Summer refreshment. It's creamy, mildly sweet, and yet has enough caffeine to energize you without getting all super jittery. Here’s what you’ll need and tips on how to make this refreshing drink at home. But first let's clear this cold brewing tea process first.
What is cold brew tea exactly?
Cold brewed tea is basically a plain tea steeped in cold water and strained. No hot water or cooking required. Furthermore, it doesn’t require any special equipment beyond a large container and a strainer. Or a french press that does the job really great.
While standard tea brewing method tends to make tea taste more bitter, because of the intense and rapid extraction of flavor from the tea leafs by the hot water, cold brew, on the other hand, takes around 8-12 hours. This slow infusion process pulls all the great tea flavor from the tea leafs and makes the tea taste less bitter, more naturally sweeter. Perfect for making iced tea.
How to make cold brew tea?
Take loose leaf tea and combine it with water in a mason jar or French press, and let it steep overnight, or for at least 8 hours. During this time, the tea will slowly infuses into the water, creating a strong, concentrated brew. Strain the tea the next morning using strainer, cheesecloth or coffee filter, and you’re ready to go. Store the cold brewed tea a tall glass bottle or mason jar with the lid and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Iced Earl Grey Latte ingredients
- COLD BREWED EARL GREY TEA: To make this cold brewed drink, I used Duchess Earl Grey loose leaf black tea that comes in Blue Tea Box subscription. Their Duchess Earl Grey tea has unique, profound Earl Grey taste which is acceded with lemon and smells of bergamot with citrus notes. + It contains little orange pieces as well as rose petals. Just beautiful! Blue Tea Box is subscription based service that offers premium grade luxurious gourmet tea blends that are sustainably grown and ethically sourced. If you're tea fan, like I am, you definitely should give them a try.
- ALMOND MILK: I used almond milk that is creamy and perfect for making iced coffee drinks. You can substitute almond milk with organic soy milk or cashew milk. They are all creamy and mildly sweet. Don't use flavored almond milk here. It will ruin perfect Earl Grey tea taste.
Although cold brewed Earl Grey is naturally sweeter than regular Earl Grey black tea made with hot water, if you feel like your tea after brewing isn’t sweet enough you can add some extra sugar. Sweetener may impact Earl Grey overall taste so I suggest you use:
- HONEY is a great choice as it adds mild sweetness while it doesn’t disrupt beautiful Earl Grey flavor notes. Also, it offers an all-natural and healthier choice than other refined sugars.
- MAPLE SYRUP is definitely my second choice here. Same as honey, it's healthier choice. It offers plenty of sweetness without excess unhealthy calories nor it interferes with Earl Grey flavors.
How to make Cold Brewed Iced Earl Grey Latte
- To make cold brew tea concentrate:
- The ratio for cold brew tea is 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea to 1 cup of water. It doesn’t need to be precise and you can adjust if you like stronger or weaker tea. If you’re using tea bags, you can use at 1-2 tea bags per cup of water.
- Put 1 teaspoon of loose leaf Earl Grey tea into a mason jar or french press.
- Pour with 1 cup of cold water. Close the lid and leave refrigerated overnight or at least for 8 hours.
- Once you’re done steeping the tea, strain the tea leafs using strainer and cheesecloth or coffee filter.
- If you’re using french press just press the mash down.
- You can adjust the concentration of your cold brew tea, making it stronger or less strong to suit your taste. If that ratio of loose leaf tea to water isn’t quite to your taste, adjust it up or down until you hit the perfect balance for you.
- Keep leftovers of strained cold brewed tea concentrate in a closed jar refrigerated up to 5 days.
- To make Iced Earl Grey Latte:
- Fill a tall glass or mason jar with ice.
- Using cold brewed tea concentrate, fill the glass about half full.
- Add almond milk. Stir in sweetener, if using.
- I suggest you use unsweetened almond milk here. It will add perfect creaminess without extra calories. Also, almond milk has a mild nutty taste which will not interfere with other flavors in this iced tea drink.
- Use maple syrup or honey (not raw) to sweeten to your taste. Both maple syrup and honey are mild tasting and will not interfere with perfect Earl Grey flavor.
- You can substitute almond milk with organic soy milk.
- Don’t use cow’s milk nor coconut milk. Iced tea will not taste nice.
Iced Earl Grey Latte benefits
Earl Grey has always been my favorite black tea and that's because he has quite a unique flavor. This tea has a black tea base and it's flavored with oil from the bergamot orange - a citrus fruit with the appearance and flavor somewhere between an orange and a lemon with a little grapefruit and lime thrown in. Aside from the bright taste, which is ultra-energizing and refreshing, it also comes with plenty of health benefits.
This Iced Earl Grey Latte is:
- made with only 3 ingredients - Earl Grey loos tea, water and milk,
- loaded with antioxidants that fights inflammation,
- ADDED AND REFINED SUGAR-FREE,
- gluten-free and vegan,
- low-calorie refreshing drink.
FAQ
Has Earl Grey tea got caffeine?
Yes. The caffeine content in an Earl Grey made with a black tea base is similar to any other cup of black tea. However, there are a lot of factors that determines caffeine levels in a cup of Earl Grey black tea, including how the plant was processed and how the beverage was brewed.
How much caffeine is in Earl Grey tea?
Generally speaking, the average cup of brewed black tea contains around 47 mg of caffeine per 8 oz (240 ml) cup (1, 2). However, this amount can vary depending on the specific brand, type of tea and brewing time.
Caffeine has lower levels of solubility in colder water (3). As a result, steeping black tea in boiling water will release more caffeine than brewing it in room temperature water will (4, 5).
In other words; cold brewing minimizes the caffeine content but maximize the flavor.
Cold Brewed Earl Grey Latte is perfect energizing drink with many health benefits. It has super-boosting powers from caffeine, yet not that strong to make you shake and jittery like classic coffee doses. + It's super easy to mix up so you don’t need to visit Starbuck anymore to have this lovely refreshing drink.
Making your own Iced Earl Grey Latte comes with many benefits, including less calories from unnecessary added sugars. It’s a tasty, refreshing and absolutely addictive drink. A perfect cooler for hot Summer days.
Enjoy!
Iced Earl Gray Latte (Iced London Fog)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Earl Grey loose leaf tea
- 1 cup cold water
- A dash of unsweetened almond milk to taste
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup or honey (to taste)
- A dash of edible lavender (optional)
- Ice cubes
Instructions
To make cold brew tea concentrate:
- Put 1 teaspoon of loose leaf Earl Grey tea into a mason jar or french press. Add edible lavender (if desired).
- Pour with 1 cup of cold water. Close the lid and leave refrigerated overnight or at least for 8 hours.
- Once you’re done steeping the tea, strain the tea leafs using strainer and cheesecloth or coffee filter.
- If you’re using french press just press the mash down.
To make Iced Earl Grey Latte:
- Fill a tall glass or mason jar with ice.
- Using cold brewed tea concentrate, fill the glass about half full.
- Add almond milk.
- Stir in sweetener, if using and enjoy!
Notes
- The ratio for cold brew tea is 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea to 1 cup of water. It doesn’t need to be precise and you can adjust if you like stronger or weaker tea. If you’re using tea bags, you can use at 1-2 tea bags or 1 sachet per cup of water.
- You can adjust the concentration of your cold brew tea, making it stronger or less strong to suit your taste. If that ratio of loose leaf tea to water isn’t quite to your taste, adjust it up or down until you hit the perfect balance for you.
- Keep leftovers of strained cold brewed tea concentrate in a closed jar refrigerated up to 5 days.
- Use organic soy milk or cashew milk instead of almond milk. Don't use cow's milk or coconut milk because it won't taste good.
- You can use maple syrup or honey (not raw) here. Don't substitute for stevia or coconut sugar.
Nutrition
More refreshing drinks recipes
If you’re looking for more homemade summer drinks recipes, give these a try:
- Iced Matcha Latte
- Cold Brewed Iced Mocha Latte
- Iced Coconut Matcha Latte
- Iced Coffee Protein Shake
- Blueberry Lime Chia Fresca
If you’ve tried this Iced Earl Grey Latte recipe or any other recipe on Natalie’s Health, please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you!
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** This post is done in partnership with Blue Tea Box. All words, thoughts, and opinions are my own. I always support only products that I truly love and/or use.
nancy says
i'm falling asleep right now i should make this again!
Jessica says
If it weren't so dang cold here right now, I'd be serving myself one of these lattes right now. As good as this sounds, unfortunately, it's like 20 degrees and a cold drink is out of the question. I'm pinning for when it warms up a little bit. I'm a bit tired of my go-to, iced chai tea latte, and I think this will be the perfect replacement. I love Earl Gray!!!
Katie says
Love this delicious cold brew recipe!!