Rich > wrote:
>"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
>>
>> Try one of the Uva-grown Ceylon teas. Very strong and robust, they hold
>> up well to icing. If you must have something in bags, try PG Tips.
>
>No, I must have something that's not in bags. The Ceylon sounds right,
>though. Searching through the vendors for iced tea recommendations, it seems
>Ceylon teas are a common thread. As hot teas, the few I've tried seem rather
>one dimensional, but maybe the complexities of the Darjeelings, Keemuns, and
>Yunnans would not come through when iced.

A lot of the overtones are totally lost when the tea is iced, and even
the tannic flavour changes completely.

Try drinking some of the cheap yellow-box Jasmine tea... I know you aren't
a fan of scented teas, but try it as an experiment. It's got some jasmine
nose to it, and it's got a sort of tannic flavour underneath, but not much
else. It's not a very complex tea.... but try icing it and see what happens.
The tea that wasn't very complex has now become even less complex. The
tannic flavour that balanced the floweriness is gone, the jasmine has lost
most of the scent and turned into a single very simple flavour that is vaguely
reminiscent of pancake makeup. It's totally different when iced.

Ice a good yunnan tea, and the tannic flavour that kept it rich is greatly
reduced, while the cidery flavour is enhanced. The overall effect is pretty
nasty.

Darjeelings don't taste _bad_ per se, when iced. They just don't taste much
at all... they taste like water with a little grass in it, maybe. It's not
offensive in any way, but it's a terrible waste of expensive tea.

If you want to ice a tea, it needs to start out very tannic and with a very
thick and robust sort of taste, but without too much bitterness up front.
Anything with light and flowery tastes is going to lose them completely when
it's iced, unless they start out very heavy-handed indeed.

>Since iced tea is served in clear glasses, the appearance is a factor, but
>now I'm thinking maybe clarity is more dependent on method of preparation
>than on variety.

The clarity is due to dissolved protein. Fining it with isinglass or a little
gelatin might help, although it seems like a lot of work for something you
are going to drink anyway.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."