What Everyone Buys When It Finally Gets Hot
Here at Fusion Teas, we see changes in tea sales depending on the time of year. It makes sense considering seasons change and tea seasons fluctuate. During the summer months, when the days get longer and the temperature rises, people naturally brew hot teas less. Of course not everyone, but in general, especially in the United States, people are genuinely reaching for something cold and refreshing rather than hot and warming. Now, our regulars; they know what works best for them and their family for the summer months, but for others, we are often approached with the same questions. The biggest question is which teas are best iced?
We have an entire page dedicated to the Best Iced Tea to Prepare at Home. In saying that, our favorite iced teas are our fruit-forward blends or our hibiscus blends. They tend to hold their bold flavor over ice, and hibiscus in particular is naturally caffeine-free, and its bold flavors can be enjoyed by all. These are the clear winners during summer, and they are the blends our customers reach for the most.
What actually walks out the door
If you want the most popular iced tea flavor, we do not have to guess. The biggest movers during summer are our fruit-forward teas, which include many of our hibiscus-based blends. These are all found on our iced tea page for exactly that reason. The best iced teas are never the delicate ones. They are the loud fruits and the tart reds, because those are the flavors that survive a glass full of melting ice. Here are the three best sellers all summer long and for good reason.
Strawberry Fields Hibiscus Infusion
In the mix, you’ll find black currants, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, and, of course, the amazing strawberry, along with strawberry leaves. All of these strong and wonderful berries blend perfectly with the hibiscus base and are rounded off nicely by the apple, creating the smoothest and most flavorful dessert tea.
Caffeine: 0 mg
This tropical green tea is a light-bodied sencha that is balanced out perfectly by the tart sweetness of the pineapple. It really is no wonder it has become one of our best sellers. You’ll love the slight grassiness of the sencha, with the sweetness of pineapple and mango.
Caffeine: 20 mg
Imagine a walk through a peach tree orchard, picking a juicy ripe peach from the tree on a hot summer day. Our Peach Orchard Black Tea is even more refreshing than that. With the bold backbone of black tea and the juicy stonefruit flavor of peaches, you get a classic combination, perfect over ice. With every sip, you are rewarded with a peach flavor that surpasses its aroma and beauty. It’s brilliant, bold, and full of juicy nectar flavor; a teapot of classic perfection.
Caffeine: 45 mg
| Blend | Category | Caffeine | How we brew it for ice | The specific |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very Berry Hibiscus | Hibiscus / herbal | Caffeine-free (0 mg) | Overnight cold steep | No tannins, so a long steep never turns it bitter |
| Pineapple Paradise | Green (sencha base) | About 20 mg per cup | Cold brew, or hot at 175 F | 2 to 3 minutes hot; tropical enough that skeptics forget it is green tea |
| Peach Orchard | Black | About 45 mg per 8 oz | Hot-brew concentrate, then ice | 6 to 8 tablespoons per gallon; the Southern sweet-tea reach |
Two Ways to Make It
If you have some time to plan ahead, a cold-brewed pitcher left in the fridge overnight is the best way to brew it. Place more tea than usual in a mason jar and fill it with clean cold water. Let it sit overnight and strain it in the morning. And pour it over ice. This one is hard to mess up, especially with fruit teas and hibiscus. For more, see Very Berry Hibiscus as a one-pitcher overnight steep.
If you don’t have time and need to brew iced tea in a pinch. Brew it hot but with more leaf than normal, and once brewed, pour it over ice. Since you brewed it strong with extra leaf, it won’t dilute the flavor with the ice. This is the best way to make iced tea quickly.
Is loose leaf iced tea worth it over the bottle?
We think so, but we own a loose-leaf tea company. You could say we have a bias, but we’ll let you make the call. Tea in a bottle, pre-made and packaged, is super convenient; we get it. But not all of these bottled “teas” should be able to call themselves tea. Just check the ingredients. Some have no sugar and often no flavor, while others have a ton of sugar, making it overtly too sweet. You never know what you’re gonna get.
There are two things a bottle cannot give you: taste and control. You pick the leaf, you pick the strength, and you pick the sugar, which for a lot of people ends up being none. A bottle decides all three for you before it ever reaches the shelf. What we sell is the opposite of a mystery ingredient list. No syrups, no shortcuts, no mystery powders, just real leaves, real fruit, and real flavor. Once you have brewed a pitcher that tastes exactly the way you want it, the bottled stuff starts to taste like a compromise you did not agree to. And with a little preparation and the right teaware, having homemade tea on the go has never been easier.
Iced Tea is for Everyone and Every Taste
Whether you love black, green, oolong, white teas, or herbals like hibiscus, rooibos, or yerba mate, the teas that fly off the shelves for summer are the blends bursting with fruit flavor. For the most consistent pitcher, keep it cold brewed. It is easy and the most forgiving. And remember, the best iced tea, whether hot brewed and then poured over ice or cold brewed, tastes best with one to one and a half tablespoons per cup of cold water. Don’t let ice dilute, or a cold brew underdeliver.
So if you’re wondering which tea is the best iced tea this summer, you could make your decision based on what we tell you, or you can make it based on what sells. And fruit teas are what are selling this summer. If you’re unsure, get the loud fruit or the tart red, brew it cold overnight, and tomorrow you can tell us all about it. If you’re extra, see our guide to iced tea cocktails and mocktails for summer, where the real fun with a pitcher starts.
