Brewing the Best Iced Tea

ced tea sure is popular: Of the 3.8 billion gallons of tea consumed in the United States in 2018, a whopping 80 percent of it was iced. I count myself among the many who regularly quench their thirst with the stuff, so I was happy to steep and sip my way through dozens of pitchers to develop guidelines for making the best possible versions of black and green iced tea. Overall, I found that you don’t need to be quite as persnickety about iced tea as you do about hot (particularly if you’re adding flavorings). But you do need to take steps to avoid watery or overextracted brews. Here, I offer advice on what kind of tea to use; describe a novel brewing method; and give recipes for adding sweetness, fruit, and herbs.