How to Make Tea Syrup

May 24, 2020
This post may contain affiliate links. Simple Loose Leaf is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com. You can make it hot, cold, iced, with a little help of sun, or make it into delicious latte. But, there is one more interesting way tof using tea – by turning it into a tea syrup and enjoying it mixed with water, milk or in any other way you want. Best of all? Tea comes into thousands of flavors – pure or blended – making the number of options uncountable.

What is a tea syrup?

Tea syrup is basically an upgraded simple syrup. It’s a mix of water, sugar and tea. You can use it for sweetening many drinks – from cocktails and iced tea to milk shakes and water. You can also use it with your favorite pancakes for the ultimate morning tea time or as an ingredient in baking cakes too. Although it’s possible to buy a pre-made tea syrup, they are still more rare than regular fruit syrups. The good news? You can easily make one at home, and you can choose any tea you want. The benefits of having a tea syrup in your fridge is the ease of flavoring and sweetening almost any drink you want. Unlike rock sugar, it can be added to cold water and it will dissolve immediately.

How to make a tea syrup?

To make a simple sweet tea syrup you will need your favorite tea leaves, a cup of water and a cup of sugar. White sugar is the best option for tea syrups as it has the most neutral flavor. Bring water to boil. Follow the brewing instructions on the packaging, but use at least 4 times more tea leaves (at least 1 tablespoon, but the more the better) and steep it for at least twice long – 5-10 minutes. The more leaves you use and the longer you steep them, the more flavor you will extract. Don’t use boiling water for green tea – it will only extract bitterness. Long steeping time may increase bitterness too. Although any bitterness will be covered by sugar, boiling water is extracting a completely different flavor too. Strain and add tea in into a pan. Bring it to a boil. Add sugar, reduce heat to low medium and stir until it’s thick and sticky. This may take 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool down. Pour into a small jar or bottle and store in the fridge.

Which teas are the best for making a tea syrup?

To make a tea syrup always choose high quality ingredients. Flavors matter more than scent. Loose leaf tea will always be of a better quality than tea bags. Try those teas that have the best intense and unique flavors. The best ones? Which teas are not a good option? Avoid light green teas such as Dragon Well, green teas with very vegetal fresh flavor like Japanese sencha, or delicate white teas. However, you may still be able to use them if you brew them properly and manage to get out the best flavor. Make small quantities first, then adjust the amount of tea if needed.

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.