Trending Tea Tasting Episode 3 | Cold Foam Iced Tea

At Hackberry Tea, we like to try different ways to enjoy tea. We’ve tried drinks as simple as traditional Arnold Palmers to homemade fruity syrups. It’s now time to try cold foam! Did you know that foam is not just for hot drinks? You’re probably familiar with the London Fog,  which is Earl Grey tea with steamed milk topped with foam. Now you can enjoy the delicious taste and texture of foam on top of an iced tea, cold brew tea, or iced tea latte. We made our version of this drink and made it extra summery by adding passion fruit flavor to the cold foam topping. Milk will foam up nicely with a hand frother or even a French Press. In our taste test video, you will get to see the differences between both frothing techniques.

Our Tea of Choice:

For this recipe, you can choose any tea to steep. Our preference for summer is a fruit-forward tea so we used our new Dragon Fruit Hibiscus Medley. It’s mixed with some of our favorite fruits like apple pieces, oranges, and pineapple, this tangy-sweet beverage packs a fruity punch and paired perfectly with the passionfruit cold brew. It’s one of our favorite blends for iced tea.

Here are additional tea suggestions that we recommend enjoying with cold foam:

• Mixed Berry Crème
• White Coconut Crème
• Strawberry Hazelnut Pu-Erh

Hand Frother or French Press?

You don’t need a steam wand to foam milk. If you’re making an iced drink, hot foam isn’t the way to go. You can use a hand, battery-operated frother, but did you know you can also use a French Press? Watch our video to see the kind of foam a French Press can make. It’s creamier and thicker than the foam a run-of-the-mill hand frother makes.  We sell the Grosche Madrid, a fantastic option for teas and brewing coffee as well!

How to Make This Drink:

1. Fill your cup with ice about ¾ full.
2. After the tea has steeped and cooled, pour the tea over the ice leaving room for the passion fruit foam.
3. Add ½ ounce of passion fruit syrup (or any flavor of your choice) to the milk before frothing.
4. Froth the milk to your desired consistency.
5. Top off the drink with the passion fruit foam.
6. Enjoy!

Milk Frothing Tips:

• Skim milk gives you the best results when it comes to foam. You can use other milk like 2% or whole milk, but you may get different results. 
• You can use alternative milk like almond or oat, but be aware that they may froth differently. Your result may be airier rather than foamy.
• Also, hibiscus tea can be very acidic, so adding milk may result in some curdling. However, curdling does not impact the flavor. To avoid curdling, use a lower acidic tea like black or green tea, which are also great options for cold foam iced tea.