How To Make Carbonated Tea At Home

I first discovered sparkling iced tea on my trip to Fort Worth Texas at Leaves Bakery & Books. Since then, it has sparked a new summer tea obsession. The cafe had a carbonation machine to infuse Co2 into the tea, but there are also ways you can make it at home.

In fact, I found three easy ways to make it at home, you don’t need any fancy machine either if you don’t already have one! Now you can enjoy a refreshing sparkling ice tea whenever you want!

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Jump to Carbonated Tea Recipe

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What Is Carbonated or Sparkling Tea?

Carbonated tea is exactly what it sounds like – tea that’s carbonated. It adds a fizzy or bubbly delight to otherwise flat iced tea.

Sparkling tea can be any flavour tea from classic unsweet black tea, to a fun tea combination like mint green tea (p.s. see my recipe for classic unsweet tea!).

Why Sparkling Tea?

Carbonation adds a change to your tea. It’s somehow even more refreshing after a workout, or relaxing by the pool on a hot summer day. It’s also the perfect substitute to an alcoholic cocktail in the summer.

three ways to carbonate tea. All three methods sit on the edge of an outside couch, the arm of the couch is wicker. There's a sodastream bottle, a glass of iced tea, and a bottle of perrier.

3 Ways To Carbonate Your Tea

There are three ways to carbonate tea: store bought sparkling water, with an at home sparkling water machine, or an at home soda maker machine…

The method you choose will depend on what you already have at home. I wouldn’t buy a new machine just to make sparkling iced tea, at least not right away anyway.

Store Bought Sparkling Water

Store bought sparkling water is sparkling water you can buy at the grocery store, like Perrier or San Pellegrino. This is the easiest, and cheapest way to try sparkling tea if you don’t own a carbonation machine at home. This way you can see if you even like sparkling iced tea.

To make sparkling iced tea with store bought sparkling water, simply swap out still water for sparkling water in any iced tea recipe.

Pre-made sparkling water can also open up new flavour profiles that might be harder to get with just tea. For example, make a refreshing mango green tea using Mango Bubly and steeping green tea! It will be easier, and you don’t have to rely seasonal fruit.

If you think you’ll be making a lot of carbonated iced tea, and even want to have quick access to sparkling water at home, it will be more economical and eco-friendly to get an at home carbonation device.

a tall glass filled with a light yellow liquid and some ice cubes and a filled green bottle of perrier sit on a glass outdoor table. There's a green bush blurred in the background.

Home Sparkling Water Machine

An at-home sparkling water machine is also exactly what it sounds like. It’s a machine that will make sparkling water, at home! Sodastream is a very popular at home sparkling water machine, and the one that I have. You attach canisters of Co2 to the machine and infuse water with carbonation with the press of a button.

It’s still easy to use to make sparkling iced tea at home, it’s just one extra step. Instead of buying the sparkling water ready made, you’ll have to make it in advance. But once it’s made, follow the same steps. – swap your still water for sparkling water in your iced tea.

I recommend adding more Co2 to your water than you normally would when making sparkling water for iced tea. Remember, you are watering down your sparkling water with some ice and tea. So to keep your tea as bubbly as possible, you’ll want to add more bubbles. I tend to double the amount of Co2 I add when making water for sparkling iced tea. On my Sodastream, I usually infuse my water three times, but for iced tea I’ll infuse it 5 or even 6 times.

You can also find flavours to add to sparkling water that you can add to your iced teas, but you will be more limited in your options.

Interested in buying a Sodastream for carbonated iced teas? Shop their website, or shop Sodastreams on Amazon.

a hand pressing down on a sodastream machine. A bottle is attached to it and the water is swishing all around as co2 is being added. There are bright yellow flowers next to the sodastream adding more of a yellow hue to the image

New! Soda Maker

Relatively new on the market are soda makers. These allow you to carbonate more than just water… like tea! They are more expensive than simple at home carbonation machines, but it might be worth it. You can carbonate fruit infused drinks, cocktails, and of course, tea! It removes one step and insures you will have the most possible bubbles in your sparkling tea.

A popular, affordable brand is the Drinkmate Omnifizz. Breville makes a soda maker as well, but it’s much more expensive.

To use a soda maker, make your iced tea with your preferred method (see my top 5 ways). Add your cold steeped tea to the soda maker bottle and directly infuse it with carbonation! It’s that easy!

a glass of sparkling iced tea filled with ice cubes and sliced strawberries floating at the top. The tea looks more like beer with some bubbles and it's an orange colour. There's a colourful green, purple, and pink, flower pot blurred behind it.

Carbonated Tea Recipe

Whichever sparkling water method you choose, you’ll have to start off with a base of iced tea. The recipe is my quick chill method for making iced tea, except you’ll use sparkling water instead of still water.

Quick Sparkling Iced Tea

Make a quick and easy sparkling iced tea at home for a refreshing summer drink!

Prep Time: ~5 minutes

Total Time: ~7 minutes

Yield: ~2 cups (1 serving of iced tea)

two tall glasses filled with carbonated iced tea. There are two flavours. In the back, in focus is a strawberry black tea with sliced strawberries and ice cubes. It's an orange colour. The glass in front looks like it just has sparkling water, but floating at the top are wintergreen leaves. There's a wicker siding in the background.

Kitchen Equipment

Kettle (I love my Cuisinart electric kettle)
A kitchen scale
Tea steeper
Heat resistance cup (I use a measuring cup with a spout)
A tall glass
Optional: Carbonated water machine, or soda maker.

Ingredients Sparkling Iced Tea

~ 4 gr loose tea or two tea bags
~ 1/2 cup boiled water (temperature based on your tea choice)
~ 1 1/2 cup sparkling water
~ 1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions

Boil 1 cup water, the exact temperature should be based on your tea.
In a heat proof glass, steep 4 gr tea or two tea bags in ~ 1/2 cup boiling water (or enough water to cover your tea leaves).
Let your tea steep for 3-5 minutes (or recommended time based on your tea). The longer your steep, the stronger your tea will be. For iced tea, I always recommend the longest recommended steep time.
If you’re using a water carbonation device: while you wait for your tea to steep carbonate your water. You’ll want to add the most carbonation to your still water as possible. On my Sodastream, I press down the button 5-6 times for the most carbonation. You are watering down the carbonation, so you want to add more than you’re used to.
Optional: once steeped, remove the tea and stir in desired sweetener. Make sure to do this while the tea is still warm so it dissolves properly.
Add 1/2 cup ice cubes to your glass and pour steeped tea on top. Fill the remainder of your glass with sparkling water. If you’re using a soda maker, add your steeped tea to your soda maker bottle, filling up the rest with still water. Carbonate to your desired amount. Pour over a glass of ice.

Delicious Sparkling Tea Flavour Ideas

Once you know how to make sparkling tea, you can apply it to any recipe or tea you like for a refreshing summer drink.

Raspberry sparkling iced black tea (see my recipe with fresh raspberries)
Earl grey tea (add sparkling lemon flavoured water for even more citrus flavour!)
Wintergreen (or mint) white sparkling tea (steep 2 gr wintergreen mint leaves and 2 gr white tea)
Roobios sparkling tea

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