I like my drinks iced, even in the Winter, and I like them cold-steeped. With tea, the cold-steeping process produces less bitterness, especially from green teas.

Like the Toddy coffee situation, I love that I only have to make my favorite beverage every few days. And again, brewing in a reusable pitcher means I reduce my ridiculous “carbon footprint” because I’m not buying bottles of prebrewed tea from the store.

(I’m all for recycling and using less packaging, but I hate the term “carbon footprint.” Ironically, I seem to be the main person using that term lately.)

The cold-steeping process is totally passive. I bought this little cold-steeping pitcher at Infusions of Tea in La Jolla for about $15. And I get my tea in bags at Trader Joe’s.

I like experimenting with various combinations of flavors. I usually do half plain black tea and half flavored, such as Mango or Ginger Peach. Or, I do half plain green tea and half Pomegranate green tea. I put 12-14 tea bags total. I’m still experimenting with this number, but I’m certain there’s no exact process to it. It all tastes good to me!

You put the bags (or loose leaf tea, which is why I originally started brewing tea this way) in the little removable part of this pitcher. Then put the pitcher in your fridge overnight, or for only about 6 hours for green tea. Squirt some lemon in after you pour it over ice and you’re ready to refresh!

Any other cold-steepers out there?

~Beth