There's a moment every June — usually right around the first heat wave — when even the most devoted hot-tea drinker silently agrees: it's time to fill a pitcher instead of a mug. Iced tea season is one of the great pleasures of summer, but what you brew matters just as much as how you brew it. A bag of supermarket dust steeped too long in lukewarm water will give you bitterness and regret. Premium loose leaf iced tea, brewed with attention to temperature and timing, gives you something closer to summer in a glass.

At Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company — the beloved Greenwich Village tea shop with over twenty years of experience sourcing premium loose leaf teas from around the world — iced tea season is practically a holiday. Their curated collection of loose leaf iced teas spans fruity herbals, bold black teas, nuanced oolongs, and refreshing green blends, every one of them designed to shine cold. Below, we walk through each of their six iced tea favorites, with the best brewing methods to get the most from your leaves.

Two Ways to Brew Loose Leaf Iced Tea

Before diving into individual teas, it helps to understand the two main approaches to brewing iced tea from loose leaf. The hot-brew flash-chill method is the classic: steep your tea double-strength in hot water, then pour immediately over a glass or pitcher packed with ice. The dilution from melting ice brings the tea to drinking concentration and chills it instantly. It's fast, produces a clear brew, and works especially well for black teas and oolongs that benefit from the full extraction a hot steep provides.

The cold-brew method is the slow-and-easy alternative: use room-temperature or cold water, add your loose leaf, and let it steep in the refrigerator for 6 to 12 hours. Cold-brewing produces a gentler, naturally sweeter cup with lower bitterness — a great technique for herbal and green teas that can turn astringent with heat. Both methods are excellent; the choice largely comes down to how much time you have and which tea you're working with. Let's take a look at the six best loose leaf iced teas from Sullivan Street and which method suits each one best.

Caffeine-Free Iced Teas for Any Time of Day

One of the great advantages of loose leaf herbal iced teas is that you can brew a big pitcher in the morning and drink from it all day without worrying about caffeine. Sullivan Street's herbal iced tea trio — Wild Strawberry, Sweet Nectar, and Blood Orange — are all 100% caffeine-free and packed with flavor from real fruit, flowers, and botanicals, no sugar added. They're ideal for backyard gatherings, kids and adults alike, and late-afternoon sipping when you want something satisfying without the buzz.

Why Loose Leaf Makes All the Difference

The most common question Sullivan Street gets about iced tea is whether loose leaf is really worth the extra step over a conventional tea bag. The answer, for anyone who has tasted the two side by side, is a resounding yes. Conventional tea bags are typically filled with "fannings" — the small particles and dust left over after higher-grade teas are processed. These particles steep fast and hot, which is why bagged tea can turn bitter so quickly. They also lack surface area for full flavor development, leading to flat, one-dimensional cups.

Loose leaf tea, by contrast, is composed of whole or gently broken leaves that unfurl fully as they steep, releasing a complete spectrum of flavor, aroma, and color. The difference is especially dramatic in iced tea, where you're often serving a large quantity to guests who will taste every nuance — or lack thereof — in the final cup. Every tea in the Sullivan Street iced collection brews into something visually striking and distinctively flavorful, a far cry from the anonymous brown liquid most people grew up with. At just $10 per bag — each making 15 to 20 cups — the price per glass is genuinely comparable to conventional options, without the compromise.

This summer, skip the generic bags and brew something worth savoring. Whether you reach for the bold stone-fruit depth of the Peach Oolong, the fresh citrus punch of the Blood Orange Herbal, or the cooling sophistication of the Moroccan Mint Green, Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company has an iced tea to define your season. Shop the full Sullivan Iced Tea Favorites collection at onsullivan.com — and don't forget free shipping on orders over $70.