Starbucks Iced Green Tea

This easy Starbucks copycat iced green tea recipe is so refreshing! Get tips from a Tea Sommelier on how to make it perfect each time without any bitterness.

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Starbucks Iced Green Tea

Starbucks makes this green tea version of a classic iced tea using ice, water, and a green tea concentrate. The ingredients are shaken together in a cocktail shaker.

Note from Jee

Don’t make the same mistake I did by using the Tazo Iced Zen concentrate instead of brewing the tea. The taste was not great as brewing from tea bags and it had a weird aftertaste. It was worth it to take the extra 3 minutes to brew the tea.

To make sure your green tea doesn’t get bitter, keep an eye out on the steep time and water temperature. Green tea gets bitter when the tea is steeped for too long or when the water is too hot.

Recipe Summary

• My recipe starts with a tea concentrate made by brewing green tea using tea bags. Hot tea is then quickly cooled down with ice in a cocktail shaker.
• Ingredients are shaken together in a cocktail shaker to make the drink ice cold.
• Ready in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients.

RELATED: Iced Green Tea Lemonade

Ingredient Notes

• Mint green tea: Starbucks uses their own mint green tea to make this drink but I found Tazo Zen tea to be a very close match since it contains the same flavors like spearmint, lemon verbena, and lemongrass.
• Water: Iced tea tastes best with good quality water, so use filtered water.
• Ice: Use filtered water to make the ice, if possible.

For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Put tea bags and hot water into a teapot. Use simmered water to steep tea instead of boiling hot water. Simmer water on the stovetop or use an electric kettle with a temperature setting.

Step 2: Cover and steep.

Step 3: Put ice and hot tea into a cocktail shaker. Shake. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, any large jar with a tight lid will work.

Step 4: Empty everything in the cocktail shaker into a cup.

Expert Tips

• Use an electric kettle with a temperature setting to boil water for green tea. Steeping green tea in the correct water temperature will prevent your tea from tasting bitter.
• Don’t steep the tea bags in hot water for too long since that can also make the green tea bitter. Use the timer on your phone.
• The more you shake the iced tea in the cocktail shaker, the more foam you’ll get. If you like a lot of foam, keep shaking 40 times instead of 10.
• This drink is unsweetened, but if you like it sweet, add simple syrup since it’ll mix easily into a cold beverage.

Related

• Iced Black Tea Lemonade
• Iced Green Tea
• Iced Passion Tango Tea
• Iced Chai Tea Latte (Starbucks Copycat)
• Iced London Fog Tea Latte (Starbucks Copycat)

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4.58 from 14 votes

Starbucks Iced Green Tea Copycat

By: Jee Choe

This easy iced tea is based on Starbucks' Iced Green Tea and can be ready in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients!

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Yield: 1 serving (16 ounces)

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ cup hot water
• ▢ 2 tea bags Tazo Zen tea
• ▢ 1 ½ cups ice

Instructions 

• Put tea bags and hot water into a teapot.

  Use simmered water to steep tea instead of boiling hot water. Simmer water on the stovetop or use an electric kettle with a temperature setting. Set water temperature to 175°F.
  ½ cup hot water, 2 tea bags Tazo Zen tea
• Cover and steep for 3 minutes. Discard tea bags.

  Steeping for longer may make your green tea bitter.
• Put ice and hot tea into a cocktail shaker. Shake 10 times.

  Put ice in first, then the hot tea. If you want to add sweetener, add it into the cocktail shaker with the hot tea and ice.
  1 ½ cups ice
• Pour drink into a cup.

  Empty everything in the cocktail shaker into the cup.

Notes

• Use an electric kettle with a temperature setting to boil water for green tea. Steeping green tea in the correct water temperature will prevent your tea from tasting bitter.
• Don’t steep the tea bags in hot water for too long since that can also make the green tea bitter.
• The more you shake the iced tea in the cocktail shaker, the more foam you’ll get. If you like a lot of foam, shaking 40 times instead of 10.

Nutrition

Calories: 0.02Carbohydrates: 0.01gSodium: 24mgPotassium: 1mgCalcium: 14mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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