Tea mocktails are the luminaries of non-alcoholic drinks. They’re inexpensive, delicious and easy to make. Best of all, they’re healthy – all natural, no sugar, low/no caffeine, and brimming with the goodness of tea.
Imbibe tea mocktails with a book, while you work, with friends or with the kids. Stun people en masse at any event with a big colourful batch of it. The options are endless.
Follow the four simple recipes in this article for sublimely refreshing elixirs.
What is cold brew tea?
Cold-brewing involves steeping loose leaf tea in cold water.
Compared with using hot water, the lower temperature slows the extraction process, enabling longer steep times without bitterness. What you get is the full-tasting character of the tea in all its glory.
Maximum flavour isn’t the only reason you’d want to brew tea cold. Cold brewing reduces the level of any tea caffeine present. It also better preserves antioxidants when the tea is steeped beyond 12 hours. And of course, the vibrant colours of cold-brew tea add striking aesthetics.
Sure, you can drink cold-brew tea as it is, but why would you? You barely need to break stride to cross into the creative realm of mocktail-making.
How to make tea mocktails
There are two stages: preparing the cold-brew tea, then mixing the drinks. If you have any questions, see our tea mocktail FAQ down the page.
Equipment:
- Cold brew tea jug
You’ll also need:
- Atlas & Eden organic tea
- Water (filtered or purified)
- Nexba sugar-free mixers
- Ice
- Various garnishes (see recipes)
Step 1 : Add tea
- Add loose leaf tea to a tea filter and place in a jug, using 1 gram of tea per 100mL of water. (Note: you can buy cold-brew tea jugs with inbuilt filters).
Step 2 : Add water
- Fill one-third full with room temperature water, filtered or purified. Shake lightly.
Step 3 : Leave it
- Leave it on your bench to steep at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Step 4 : Move it to the fridge
- Fill up the rest of the jug with water and shake lightly again. Put it in the fridge for further steeping. As a guide:
- Blue Beauty 24-48hrs
- Elba Island 48hrs
- Lapsang Souchong 12-24hrs
- Wildflower Immunity 18-24hrs
Step 5 : Discard tea leaves
- Remove tea leaves after the desired steep time.
Step 6 : Mix your mocktails!
- Now you’re ready to use your cold-brewed tea to make mocktails. Read on for our favourite recipes…
Blue Beauty
An amethyst philanthropist
In Thailand, butterfly pea flower has long been used for radiant skin, hair and eyes. It renders a deep electric blue liquor, which makes the mocktail version a misnomer, since the pH of kombucha and lemon changes it to amethyst. Cobalt blue cedes the stage to a plunging violaceous mist, enamouring your guests.
With antioxidant-rich silver needle white tea sourced from an organic tea garden in Yunnan, along with ginger and lemongrass, this metabolic mocktail is a beauty salon in a glass.
The mixer is Nexba sugar-free rose lemonade kombucha, adding a dose of idyllic sweetness to Blue Beauty’s subtle sophistication.
Ingredients
Blue Beauty
Nexba Rose Lemonade Kombucha
Fresh organic lemon
Fresh organic mintSteps
- Fill your glass ¼ with ice.
- Fill ¾ with Blue Beauty cold-brewed tea.
- Fill ¼ with Nexba Rose Lemonade Kombucha.
- Add a slice of lemon & mint.
Enjoy!
Elba Island
Trip of many lifetimes
Elba Island is a tectonic collision of flavour: two high-grade Oriental blacks, roasted cacao husk from Peru, and Madagascan vanilla bean, the sweet perennial currency of the African island. It all comes together in a mocktail like a frosted sunset, as the more elementary sweet orange peel and mint gallop through a tableau of taste.
You’ll probably be too intrigued by these waves of flavour to care about the traditional digestive benefits of the ingredients.
The mixer is Nexba lime, cucumber & mint tonic water, or you can infuse classic tonic water yourself with fresh garnishes of the same name. To make it sing, it’s well worth getting the organic vanilla extract – those few drops are metamorphic.
Ingredients
Elba Island
Nexba Lime, Cucumber & Mint Tonic Water
Fresh organic orangeFresh organic mint
VanillaBazaar Organic vanilla extractSteps
- Fill your glass ¼ with ice.
- Fill ¾ with Elba Island cold-brewed tea.
- Fill ¼ with Nexba cucumber, lime & mint tonic water.
- Add 3-4 drops of organic Madagascan vanilla extract, then stir.
- Add 1 slice of orange & mint.
- Optional: If you only have/want Nexba Classic tonic water, add cucumber peel + a slice of lime.
Enjoy!
Lapsang Souchong
The Elements Conquered
Chilled and refreshing, the signature smoked tea of the Wuyi mountains smoulders in your glass. The pine-smoked black invokes notes of vice, notably whiskey, cigar and a lychee relative with the oriental appellation Dragon Eye. The sweetness of green apple plays like fine counterpoint to a visceral cold brew.
The mixer is Nexba Classic Tonic Water, and don’t forget mint for a foresty touch. Though a Lapsang Souchong mocktail will cry out to its creator, “Make me into a whiskey cocktail!”, it stands strong as an simple sophistication that can spark conversation by its rugged aroma alone.
Ingredients
Lapsang SouchongNexba Classic Tonic Water
Organic green appleFresh organic mintSteps
- Fill your glass ¼ with ice.
- Fill ¾ with Lapsang Souchong cold-brewed tea.
- Fill ¼ with Nexba classic tonic water.
- Add slices of green apple & mint.
- Optional: Add a few drops of organic Madagascan vanilla extract.
Enjoy!
Wildflower Immunity
A halcyon glow of quiet genius
It turns out that our ‘seasonal assistant’ tisane also makes a sensational mocktail. We’re tempted to say ‘mean mocktail’, but you won’t find anything friendlier. A deep vermilion liquor shades it rustic and a touch sweet, while a sanctuary of immunity botanicals brings sanguine vitality to the vivid brew.
The taste evokes peace and regeneration, with rosehip and red rose petals dotting a meadow of relaxing herbs and flowers. A cocktail shaker gets the most out of the blueberries, which lend even more colour, flavour and elixir to the final drink.
Ingredients
Wildflower ImmunityNexba Rose Lemonade Kombucha
Fresh or frozen organic blueberries
Fresh organic rosemarySteps
- Add Wildflower Immunity cold-brewed tea + a handful of blueberries to a cocktail shaker. Shake very well.
- Fill your glass ¼ with ice.
- Pour the contents of the shaker (including blueberries) into your glass, ¾ full.
- Fill ¼ with Nexba Rose Lemonade Kombucha.
- Add a few extra blueberries + a sprig of rosemary.
Enjoy!
Final thoughts
These mocktails present one the easiest and classiest ways to entertain guests, or just for absolute refreshment. Feel free to show us your creations on Instagram #atlasandeden #teamocktails #mocktails #tea (@atlas_and_eden).
FAQ: Tea mocktails
It is up to you. As a guide, we use 1 gram of tea per 100mL of water. If you use too little, your cold brew will be weak. Add more to make it stronger.
There are two steeping stages: 1-2hrs at room temperature on your bench, then 12-48hrs in the fridge.
On your bench: Whether the room temperature steep time is closer to 1 hour or 2 will depend on the day. If the room temperature is on the cool side, steep for longer, and vice versa. E.g. It will be 1 hour on a hot summer day, and 2 hours on a cold winter day.
In the fridge: Whether the fridge steep time is closer to 12 or 48hrs will depend on the tea and how strong you want the flavour. The fridge steep time gives you great control over the result. Experiment until you arrive at a brew strength to your liking.
Lapsang Souchong and Wildflower Immunity will over-steep easier than Blue Beauty or Elba Island.
You can buy a cold brew tea jug, which make it easy. However, you can steep tea in any container really. Just pour the liquid into another container using a funnel and strainer to filter out the used leaves. Alternatively, you can use one or more enclosed tea filters and drop them in any jug, and remove them when you’re done.
Iced tea is prepared the usual way with hot water and then allowed to cool. Cold brewing, on the other hand, involves no hot water at all. Lower temperatures allow longer steeping time, producing fuller, smoother flavours. Iced tea will generally be more astringent and bitter.
Our tea has no sugar added whatsoever, and we recommend Nexba sugar-free mixers. Of course, there are technically some traces of natural sugar from any garnishes used (e.g. a slice of apple/orange, blueberries, etc).
Once finished, you can generally keep it for up to 5 days in the fridge. Use your judgement.
Absolutely – kids love them! Just manage any overall caffeine (even though low per glass) and kombucha consumption with the same common sense you would for any other drinks.
Organic tea:
Sugar-free mixers:
We recommend Australian brand Nexba’s Classic Tonic Water (bottle), Lime, Cucumber & Mint Tonic Water (bottle), and Rose Kombucha Lemonade (glass bottle). Available from Nexba or major supermarkets.
Vanilla extract:
This organic Madagascan vanilla extract by VanillaBazaar is our favourite.
Organic garnishes:
If you’re in NSW, we recommend We highly recommend Doorstep Organics.