Shelf life of refridgerated iced tea

June 26, 2023 8:41 AM

How long can I keep tea in the fridge that I brewed hot but want to serve cold over the course of a few days?

In the summer I like to toss a bunch of bags of fruity herbal tea into a pitcher, brew with boiled water, remove/throw away the bags, and pop in the fridge to serve over ice for a few days. But the internet is telling me that brewed tea shouldn't be kept longer than 24 hrs in the fridge. I am but one person, and I'd like to do this in batches that I can keep for one or two weeks at a time. Is that doable? How long can I keep a pitcher of brewed tea?

Assume zero sweetener or additions of any kind, and just regular tea bags from the grocery store (nothing fancy).

posted by greta simone to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Best answer: 24 hours seems like an awfully short period of time. If you make sure everything is thoroughly sanitized and it's always kept at refrigerator temperature, I don't see why it wouldn't last a week. That's the safety answer. Whether or not it will still taste good after a few days is another question, and in my experience the answer is that it starts to lose vibrancy after a few days. You might consider cold brewing the tea, which produces an extraction that is clear rather than cloudy when chilled and has far fewer tannins.
posted by slkinsey at 8:54 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Growing up, and up til fairly recently, my family consumed brewed tea from the fridge on the regular, and each pitcher was in the fridge for a couple of days up to a week. Anything past that and the taste starts to degrade, IMO.

The reason you're seeing 24 hours is likely a specific producer's recommendation, given that they want you to keep buying their product and want you to like the taste.

The CDC says to dispose of properly brewed tea after 8 hours, but that recommendation is really for commercial applications because if tea is brewed improperly, it can be a growth medium for pathogens (and sometimes tea leaves themselves can have bacteria growth that isn't visible). You know how clean your equipment is, you know exactly how you're brewing it, etc. You can't always be sure of those things in a restaurant.

It all depends on your comfort level with risk, and how sure you are that your tea source is diligent in its production and your methods of brewing and storage.
posted by cooker girl at 8:57 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I only keep my iced tea in the fridge for 24 hours before making a new pitcher. I find the taste degrades enough by the second day that it's not worth keeping longer than that.
posted by Mallenroh at 9:29 AM on June 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Yeah, I had never heard of this as a safety issue - I regularly keep iced tea (sometimes with sugar/lemon in it, sometimes plain) in my fridge for at least a week without issue.
posted by coffeecat at 9:29 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Mr. Blah has been doing this for the entire breadth of our relationship (30+ years) and the tea sits in the fridge up to a week. There's never been the slightest hint that it's a problem.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:30 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

My default tea making is pour it a big thingy with a spout and then fill it with ice, get yourself a cold glass and then stick it directly into fridge until it's empty. Usually doesn't last a whole week but I'm a sucker for any cold dark earthy water drink. edit: I'm thinking only of black tea, sweety or unsweet. Fruity/herbaly ones might age differently, sorry, missed that at first.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:25 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's the thing about tea, especially if you drink it on the regular: you'll know when it's gone bad. I can usually tell by the smell but a small sip will tell me 100% of it's "off". If that's the case, I toss it and brew a new batch.

For planning purposes, though, I would think that anything over a week is too much.
posted by dawkins_7 at 10:51 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Two thoughts - if you're not already making your tea more of a concentrate and adding ice immediately to cool it down and make up the liquid difference, consider doing that. It'll get down to safe storage temp faster.

If you're needing the tea for two weeks (which definitely feels like pushing the safe window to me), can your freezer handle a few big ice cube molds that you could freeze the tea in and let it thaw in the refrigerator when you need it? This could compromise the flavor over the long term, but if it's in there for a week or so, I'd think most tea could likely stand up to it.
posted by EvaDestruction at 11:06 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: This data point of one has kept home brewed black tea and roobios in the fridge for 2+ weeks and have enjoyed it and not gotten sick.

As an aside, you may try cold brewing it if you are going to drink it cold. I do it by putting the tea bags in the water at room temperature for about 12 hours, then in the fridge. You may find you can take the bags out of the water at 12 hours, or that you enjoy it steeped longer. I use mason jars as my "vessels."
posted by bruinfan at 11:19 AM on June 26, 2023

Going with Mallenroh. Have never brewed anything that was drinkable after 48 hours. 24 is typically the limit.
Shouldn't make you sick. It's just gross.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 11:26 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I cold brew my tea, it tastes fresher that way, and I usually drink it within 24 hours. It's so easy, I don't mind making it every other day.
posted by mumimor at 11:52 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I make a pot of tea w/ 5 (decaf) tea bags, make a pitcher of lemonade from the frozen can, combine. Lasts a weeks or so.
posted by theora55 at 11:59 AM on June 26, 2023

I'd say 24-36 hours is how long I keep tea whether it's cold/hot brewed. I make tea most days.
posted by starlybri at 12:01 PM on June 26, 2023

Best answer: The OP is talking about fruit herbal teas, not iced black tea, which I agree does sometimes taste weird after a few days.

OP, I also brew fruity herbal tea (not black or green tea) for iced tea. I keep it in the fridge until I finish drinking it, which is sometimes more than a week. I use two brewing methods: Hot tap water, then brew in the sun for several hours, followed by refrigeration, or pour boiling water from the kettle on it and pop it in the fridge. I even leave the tea bags in it the whole time. Not dead yet. Never been sick. Do what you want with your tea if it tastes ok to you.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2023

The 24 hour recommendation is almost certainly a test issue rather than safety. I would keep drinking it until it doesn't taste right, then discard.
posted by dg at 5:16 PM on June 26, 2023

To be clear, I was talking about black tea, white tea, an endless variety of fruit and herbal teas, and whatever rose hips are - and blends of all of those.

Not green tea, though, that's gross from the get-go.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:14 PM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]