How to Cold Brew Longjing Tea for a Smooth Summer Drink

By Organic Tea Suppliers | Tea Suppliers | Published: 2026-10-15

Category: How-to Guides

Cold brewing Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea swaps bitterness for a sweet, mellow cup. Follow these ratios and fridge times for reliable longjing iced tea all summer.

Quick answer

Use about 1 gram of Longjing leaf per 100 ml of cold, filtered water, then refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Strain the leaves out and drink within 24 hours. This slow extraction pulls sweetness and chestnut notes instead of the bitterness that hot water can force out of green tea.

Why Longjing Works So Well Cold

Longjing, also called Dragon Well, is a pan-fired Chinese green tea with flat, pressed leaves. Hot water above roughly 80°C extracts catechins and caffeine quickly, which is why a rushed hot brew can turn sharp or astringent. Cold water extracts those compounds far more slowly, so the cup leans sweet, smooth, and lightly nutty. That makes dragon well cold brew one of the easiest ways to enjoy green tea in warm weather without any bitterness.

Because cold extraction is gentle, you also get more forgiveness on timing. A hot steep that runs two minutes long can ruin a pot; a cold brew that sits an extra hour usually just tastes slightly stronger. If you already own a green tea you like hot, it will almost certainly cold brew well.

Choosing and Measuring Your Leaf

Start with fresh, aromatic leaf. Longjing is sold in grades that range from everyday to pre-Qingming picks, and the difference shows up most clearly in a cold brew because there is nowhere for flat or stale leaf to hide. If your tea smells like hay or paper rather than toasted chestnut, cold brewing will not fix it.

For a 1-litre batch, weigh 10 grams of leaf. If you do not have a scale, a heaped tablespoon of flat Longjing is a reasonable approximation, but weighing is more consistent. You can cold brew other green and black teas with the same method; a 100-gram pack of My Black Tea, for example, will give you roughly 50 serves if you brew it hot, and cold brewing stretches that further because you can reuse the leaf once.

Water, Vessel, and Ratio

Use filtered water. Chlorine and heavy mineral content flatten the delicate aroma that makes Longjing worth drinking cold. A glass jar or a clean bottle with a wide mouth works best because you can see the leaves unfurl and rinse the vessel easily afterward. Avoid brewing in a reactive metal container for long periods.

The ratio is the single biggest lever you control. One gram per 100 ml gives a light, refreshing cup that suits longjing iced tea served over ice. If you plan to pour it over ice, brew slightly stronger, around 1.3 grams per 100 ml, because melting ice will dilute the glass. Write down what you used so you can adjust next time rather than guessing.

Cold Brew Longjing Step by Step

Weigh 10 g of Longjing leaf: Add the leaf to a clean 1-litre glass jar. If you are brewing a smaller batch, keep the 1 g per 100 ml ratio and scale down. Checkpoint: the dry leaf should smell fresh and toasted, not dusty.
Pour in 1 litre of cold filtered water: Use water straight from the fridge or tap if your water tastes clean. Do not use hot water to speed things up; that defeats the purpose of a cold brew. Common mistake: using unfiltered tap water with a strong chlorine note, which masks the tea's aroma.
Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours: Set a timer. Four hours gives a light, delicate cup; six hours gives a fuller, sweeter one. Taste at the four-hour mark to decide whether to keep going. Checkpoint: the liquid should be pale gold-green, not dark brown.
Strain the leaves out: Pour through a fine mesh sieve or a coffee filter into a clean bottle. Press gently on the leaves with the back of a spoon to release the last of the liquid, but do not squeeze hard or you will pull out bitterness. Common mistake: leaving the leaves in the jar, which keeps extracting and turns the tea harsh by morning.
Serve over ice or chill and drink within 24 hours: Pour over ice for longjing iced tea, or drink it straight from the fridge. If you want a touch of sweetness, add a small amount of honey syrup rather than granulated sugar, which dissolves poorly in cold liquid. Checkpoint: the best flavor is in the first 24 hours; after that the cup starts to taste flat.

Products That Fit This Method

My Black Tea 100 Grams (50 Serves): My Black Tea 100 Grams (50 Serves) is an Australian black tea grown in Far North Queensland. If you want a cold brew with more body than green tea, this is a straightforward black tea to try with the same ratio and fridge time. Its 50-serve yield means a single pack covers a lot of summer pitchers.
Vegan Sticky Chai: Vegan Sticky Chai is a blend of all-organic herbs and spices with an Australian black tea base, and it is bee-free. Spiced blends like this cold brew into a naturally sweet, chai-style iced drink. Because the spice mix is already balanced, you can skip added sweetener and just strain and serve over ice.