Cold Brewed Lemon Balm Iced Tea with White Tea
Lemon balm iced tea is uplifting, and paired with white tea and sweetened with honey, this is a refreshing drink both for the palate and for the mind! Lemon balm and white tea are a match made – well, in the fridge – for this iced tea is made with the cold brew method: infused into water overnight in cold.
As a herb, lemon balm has a simple lemony and slightly grassy flavour. It has a soft tartness, which I love to balance with the more fruity flavours of white tea. In this lemon balm iced tea recipe, I suggest using Pai Mu Tan, White Peony, white tea that has beautiful honey notes. The flavours of white tea will be enhanced with honey that acts as the natural sweetener of this simple cold-brewed iced tea. Grab my FREE Tea Making Cheat Sheet to master iced teas with the cold brew or hot brew method!
Key Things for the Best Lemon Balm Iced Tea with White Tea
- Use plenty of lemon balm and a longer brewing time, 16-24 hours, for a fuller flavour
- Add lemon juice right before serving for a fresh taste
- Use big ice cubes that melt slowly to keep the drink icy but not diluted
Watch how to make Lemon Balm Iced Tea
Benefits of Lemon Balm
Using lemon balm in the kitchen has its advantages. According to Kitchen herbalist Jess Bergeron, lemon balm has antiviral capacity against cold sores, for example, and it supports your health.
Main reason, tough, why I love to use lemon balm in brewing herbal teas and iced teas is its uplifting properties! The scent of lemon balm uplifts the mood, so it is perfect for a summery drink!
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Homegrown herbs in a tea garden are a dream, but not a reality for many. Lemon balm is a simple herb that is super accessible. It grows easily in a pot on a windowsill, and is common in many grocery stores too.
Ingredients for This Lemon Balm Iced Tea Recipe
The ingredients for lemon balm iced tea are quite simple:
- Lemon balm
- White tea, use loose-leaf white tea, I chose Pai Mu Tan, more about it a bit later
- Lemon juice and lemon slices for garnish
- Honey, choose runny honey so that it mixes with cold brew effortlessly
- Fresh cold water
Fresh Sprigs of Lemon Balm
As we talked earlier, lemon balm is in this recipe for its uplifting properties, so that we have a good mood! To have the scent and flavour, use fresh lemon balm. If dried, lemon balm loses much of its essential oils, scent, and flavour so that the result might be quite tasteless.
And what comes into quantity, well, I feel that you cannot overdo it. Frankly, I love to stick a big bunch into the jar with water to infuse out plenty of flavour. So don’t be afraid to add one more spring in.
Loose-Leaf White Tea
For best results, use a good quality loose-leaf white tea, Pai Mu Tan, White Peony. It is a mixture of both leaves and buds. In flavour, Pai Mu Tan is round and floral, which is a beautiful pairing with fresh and lemony lemon balm herb. It is quite leafy, so it is more accurate when measured in grams, like in this iced white tea recipe, and not in teaspoons.
When you want to hot brew white tea for your iced tea, it is essential to keep the temperature low, 75-80°C (167-176°F). White tea is quite picky. Too long steeping time or too high temperature might cause unwanted bitter notes.
| RELATED: Why Does My Tea Taste Bitter? Here’s How to Fix It
Honey to Sweeten the Lemon Balm Iced Tea
Honey is a good alternative to syrups and sugars in iced tea. Choose a runny honey to make it easier to melt into water during cold-brew. When wanting to live a more natural lifestyle, it is always good to look for less processed options.
| TRY THIS: Honey-Sweetened Iced Tea with Loose Black Tea
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
Tools You May Need For this Iced tea
- Glass bottle (1 Litre)
- Tea strainer
- Bar spoon to mix
- Glasses for serving
How to Make Cold-Brewed Lemon Balm Iced Tea
Step one: Mix the Cold-Brew
Harvest the fresh lemon balm sprigs and put them in a big glass bottle or jar. The more the better for flavour! Measure loose-leaf white tea and add it in. Pour runny honey on the top of the leaves for an easier mix. Lastly, add cold fresh water and mix a bit.
Close the lid and let it coldbrew: infuse the flavours in the fridge overnight, about 8-16hours.
Step two: Adjust the flavour
After the cold brewing, add freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix well. Test the flavour and add a bit more acidity of lemon to the sweetness of honey if needed.
Step three: Serve with ice
Build your lemon balm iced tea with white tea: Fill the glasses with ice cubes and top with strained cold-brewed lemon iced tea. Garnish with lemon slices and lemon balm leaves.
How to Store White Tea & Lemon Balm Iced Tea
Lemon balm iced tea stays perfect for a few days or up to a week. Here are a couple of tips for you on how to increase the shelf time:
- Use a glass bottle that closes airtightly and make sure it is well cleaned.
- Strain the leaves off if you want to keep it up to one week in the fridge.
- Add the lemon juice freshly squeezed right before serving.
How to Tweak this ColdBrewed Iced Tea Recipe
With this same cold brew method, you can make other iced teas as well! Just swap the herb or tea for different ones:
- Use thyme, mint or sage instead of lemon balm.
- Try gunpowder green tea, rooibos, or black tea to replace white tea.
Try These Iced Tea Recipes
You can find the recipe card below!
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Lemon Balm Iced Tea with White Tea (Cold Brew Method)
Lemon balm iced tea is uplifting, and paired with white tea and sweetened with honey, this is a refreshing drink both for the palate and for the mind. Lemon balm and white tea are a match made - well, in the fridge - for this iced tea is made with the cold brew method: infused into water overnight in cold.
Ingredients
Cold Brewed Iced Tea (Day Before Serving)
- 8 sprigs fresh lemon balm , or more
- 2-3 g white tea , loose leaf
- 1-3 tsp honey , runny
- 500-600 ml cold water , (about 2.1 - 2.5 cups)
To Serve & Garnish
- 2-4 tbsp lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- 2 lemon slices
- lemon balm sprigs
- ice cubes
Instructions
How to Make Cold-Brewed Lemon Balm Iced Tea
1. Step one: Mix the Cold-Brew
Add fresh lemon balm sprigs in a big glass bottle or jar. The more the better for flavour!
Measure loose-leaf white tea and add it in.
Pour runny honey on the top of the leaves for an easier mix. Lastly, add cold fresh water and mix a bit.
Close the lid and let it coldbrew: infuse the flavours in the fridge overnight, about 8-16hours.
2. Step two: Adjust the flavour
After the cold brewing, add freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix well.
Test the flavour and add a bit more acidity of lemon to the sweetness of honey if needed
3. Step three: Serve with ice
Build your lemon balm iced tea with white tea:
Fill the glasses with ice cubes and top with strained cold-brewed lemon iced tea.
Garnish with lemon slices and lemon balm leaves. Enjoy!
Notes
- Download my Tea Making Cheat Sheet to master iced tea both in cold brew and hot brew method!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 155Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 13mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 12gSugar: 19gProtein: 5g
These calculations are generated automatically by Nutritionix based on the ingredients shown in the recipe. The nutrition information is an estimation and may include errors. All nutritional information presented and written within this site (blueteatile.com) is intended for informational purposes only. The writer is not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline only.
