As the summer season approaches, it’s time to sit back, relax & enjoy an ice cold drink to keep you cool. But what’s in your cup? If you are reducing alcohol, feeling sober curious, or have cut booze out completely, tea could make a great choice for your summer of sippin’.
Did you know that as many as 28% of young adults in the UK do not drink alcohol?(1) Gen Z, in particular, is coming to be known as the ‘sober curious’ generation. The sober curious movement is all about examining the role of alcohol in your life and exploring a healthier relationship with alcohol by reducing your intake, practising mindful drinking, and building community with like-minded individuals to enhance mental & physical health.(2)
Millie Gooch, founder of the world's largest sober community Sober Girl Society says, "there are so many reasons why someone might not be drinking - pregnancy, religion, addiction and medical issues or literally because they don't want to (which is a perfectly valid reason). It's becoming more normalised to turn down alcohol & this has led to an increasing appetite for interesting alcohol-free drinks.The problem is, not everyone wants to drink fizzy drinks or at least, they don't want to drink them all the time, so it's important to have some great alternatives out there to meet this new sober curious demand!"
Whatever your relationship with alcohol looks like, exploring the magical world of tea can open you up to new ways to enjoy a refreshing beverage this summer, with both cold brew tea and alcohol-free tea mocktails!
What is cold brew tea?
Alcohol-free spirits & sodas can be sickly, expensive and filled with artificial ingredients & sugar. Cold brewed tea, on the other hand, combines your loose leaf tea of choice with the liquid you’d like to brew it in. This gives you the freedom & flexibility to create unique alcohol-free drinks to enjoy at picnics, on the beach or at a BBQ - and with some additional garnishes & flourishes, you can create showstopping tea mocktails, too!
Cold brew tea is created using tea leaves and/or herbal infusions steeped using cold water rather than hot. Cold brewing is a fun way to create your own bespoke iced tea infusions by steeping our delicious tea blends. And the best bit is, it’s so easy to do.
How do you cold brew tea?
First you’ll need your Cold Brew Tea Bottle & your loose leaf tea of choice.
Step 1
Add 5-6 heaped teaspoons of your fave loose leaf tea to your Cold Brew Bottle.
Step 2
Add 750ml of cold water or your liquid of choice (we like experimenting with lemonade, milk & sodas).
Step 3
Leave to brew for 4-6 hours or overnight. (If using black tea brew for max 3 hours to avoid bitterness.)
Step 4
Pour over ice & enjoy!
Where to begin?!
Any of our teas can be cold brewed or turned into a tea mocktail - but here are some of our favourites to enjoy as an alcohol alternative to get you started.
Cold Brew Bottle
Summer in the Garden
There's nothing quite like a sip of something lovely in the summer. We have taken inspo from Britain's fave hot weather drink - Pimms - for this tea blend.
It's perfectly fruity, with a little zingy edge to really replicate the summertime cocktail in an alcohol-free way. We love this cold brewed in lemonade to replicate that summer garden party feel.
Blueberry & Peach
A truly refreshing fruit blend of peach and blueberries, this tea is packed full of flavour. This tea tastes like Ribena but with none of the added sugar. Yum!
Strawberry Lemonade
Last but certainly not least, it’s our best-selling fantastically fruity infusion! Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea is one of our most popular drinks on the menu at our stores, and it’s easy to make at home too! Follow our recipe to make this refreshing, thirst-quenching & super fruity summer drink.
Explore our full collection of alcohol alternatives here!
(1)https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/28/i-know-my-limit-how-gen-z-became-britains-sober-curious-generation
(2)https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleroberts/2024/01/10/understanding-the-sober-curious-movement/
