The top iced tea in Toronto is a mixed bag of endlessly varied flavours. Depending on the type of tea and optional sweetening, fruity blends, citrus infusions or even milky add-ins, this versatile chilled refreshment is an ultimate summer pick-me-up.
Here are my picks for the top places to get iced tea in Toronto.
Smoque N Bones
This BBQ joint near Trinity Bellwoods blends its sweet tea with muddled oranges, bitters and a house-made black tea syrup infused with star anise. The Southern-style brew is shaken and served over ice in mason jars for $3.50.
Momofuku
The noodle bar offers a refreshing iced green tea ($5) made with cold brewed sencha and lemongrass. Served over ice, the brew will cool you down, but be warned, it does nothing to alleviate the heat of the extremely spicy noodles.
Northwood
The house iced teas at this Christie Pits cafe are cold brewed by steeping for over 16 hours to form a concentrate that's then chilled and diluted to taste. Choose from roobois, earl grey and sencha variations, served unsweetened, for $3.
Grasslands
The vegan restaurant on Queen West serves a chilled brew of steeped hibiscus tea ($5) blended with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for natural sweetness and lip-puckering tartness.
Cafe Belong
Nestled in the heart of the Evergreen Brick Works, this restaurant and cafe offers an effervescent jasmine iced tea ($3) sweetened with simple syrup, fresh lime juice and soda. Order it to go at the counter and bring it along as you trail through the Don Valley.
The County General
The popular spot at Queen and Shaw does a classic homemade iced tea ($3) that's steeped from Red Rose bags overnight. It's served unsweetened, though the bar is happy to add a little honey syrup to taste, or opt to make it an Arnold Palmer ($3.50) mixed with cinnamon limeade. Spike either drink with rum or bourbon for $5.
Kupfert & Kim
The vegan lunchonette in the PATH keeps batches of house-made iced teas on tap. Expect to find flavours like lemongrass, lemon and mint, or apple, rosehip and hibiscus ready for quick grab-and-go.
Swan Restaurant
The drinks list at this Queen St. diner includes a refreshing and not-too-sweet raspberry-and-lemon iced tea. Order by the glass in small ($3) or large ($5.25) sizes.
Sabai Sabai
This Church and Dundas spot for Thai tapas offers two traditional orange-coloured cha-yen cold teas. Priced at $5, one is sweetened with condensed milk while the other stirs in palm sugar and fresh citrus juice.
Swish by Han
Icy options at this Wellington restaurant include the tart and tangy Yuzu tea ($3) over ice, as well as a thirst-quenching iced honey and mint tea ($5).
What did I miss? Add your favourite iced tea to the comments below.
Thanks to Pure Leaf for sponsoring our coverage of iced tea day in Toronto (coming up on June 10th).
Photo by cliph in the blogTO Flickr pool
by Liora Ipsum via blogTO
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