If you’ve lived through a scorching hot summer’s day in Sydney, you’ll know all too well that sometimes a refreshing iced tea is just what you need. And though a Lipton peach iced tea will always hold a special place in our young hearts, if we’re truly honest, we’re always keen to see the pros at work when it comes to iced tea.
And the good news is, there’s a big line-up of beautiful venues across Sydney whipping up the good stuff in more ways than one. Think toffee apple iced tea, lamington iced tea, spiked iced tea, and iced boba tea as well.
Take some time out to sip the best ice tea in Sydney.
The Moment
CBD
If there was a late-night tea haven in the heart of Sydney, you’d want to know about it right? You’ll find this guy about a three-minute walk from the Chinese Garden of Friendship, making it the perfect weekend haunt to hit up after you’ve done some ferry riding, gallery wandering, and garden exploring around Sydney Harbour. The Moment clocks in as one of the best places to get bubble tea in Sydney, which makes it a no-brainer when it comes to picking out spots for slurp-worthy iced tea too.
The iced tea range here is pretty endless. If you’re a regular, you’ll already know how much of a widespread favourite the large mixed fruit iced tea and iced matcha milk tea is. If you’re just looking for a cooler take on simple hot teas, there’s iced oolong, iced jasmine dragon tea, and iced lychee black tea. You can also sweeten things up with any of the iced fruit concoctions too. The large lemon grapefruit Yakult is a pretty big gamechanger and, should you need a bit of TLC, there’s a large soothing tea filled with goji berry, dates, ginger, longan, brown sugar, rose, and black tea and you can choose how much ice you want to pack into it.
Butter
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
If you thought Butter was just a juicy kingdom of fried chicken, champagne, Hennesy, and sneakers, think again. While this glorious combination definitely steals the limelight, Butter also sports a hefty housemade iced tea repertoire. Perfect for washing down Butter's potato buns, mash, XO noodles, and fried halloumi fingers, our favourite is the $6 housemade ice tea made with lemon, raspberry, and elderflower sherbert. You can also spike your iced tea with your choice of poison (Henny iced tea? Hell yes).
Kafeine
Balmain
Kafeine is the Balmain institution big on brunch and, when it comes to refreshing tea creations, it does not disappoint. Along with fresh juices, great coffee and, just quietly, a pulled beef potato hash with slow-cooked beef ribs, bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise that we just can’t stop thinking about, you can’t go past the rotating line-up of homemade iced tea at Kafeine. The iced teas here also get served up in 250ml lab flasks, which just makes them look even cooler too.
The Burwood Hotel
BURWOOD
At The Burwood Hotel, there’s always something happening in the way of food and drinks. Recent renovations included the launch of The Burwood Eating House, a lo-fi dining affair paying homage to an “East meets West” vibe. On that note, the iced tea antics here are pretty next-level so strap yourself in for some chilling times ahead.
There’s a solid list of iced boba tea mocktails, which includes an earl grey raspberry spritzer packed with ginger ale, bitters, and mint, and a rosy coconut creation mixed with lychee coconut water, green tea, raspberry cordial, rose, and lychee popping pearls.
If you’re on the booze bandwagon, The Burwood Hotel has you covered here as well. You’ll have a range of boozy iced boba teas with the newest flavour looking like a pineapple boba mojito loaded with rum, pineapple, lime, mint, lychee, and popping pearls, and the age-old favourite aloe vera boba margarita, which simply put, is one of the most legendary iced teas in Sydney. If that’s not enough, you can most definitely try your hand at the pitchers of boozy iced tea with combos like Chivas and green tea, and Hennessy and green tea.
Goros
SURRY HILLS
There are some institutions in Sydney which always call for a good time, and Goros is most definitely one of those places. Not only is this Surry Hills venue one of the best places to get your karaoke on in Sydney, but it’s also stacked with epic retro arcade games, a crowd-pleasing Asian-inspired menu, and a list of super tasty boozy iced teas all named after rap and hip-hop royalty. And while we’d definitely go so far as to say you need to try them all, The Cardi BT is an absolute OG with Bacardi, lychee juice, cranberry juice, mint, and lychee popping pearls.
Henri Marc
Penrith
Located on High Street in Penrith, Henri Marc has a rustic, industrial look with scattered lighting, suspended Edison bulbs, hanging chains, indoor plants, and exposed beams. The food menu itself is a big scream with options like caramel toast, sourdough with French vine tomato, avocado, basil pesto, and whipped ricotta, and braised chicken tacos with corn salsa. And it only makes sense to wash down any of these feeds with Henri Marc’s unbeatable organic ice tea (which flies over ice). While the flavours are seasonal and switch up regularly, you might catch things like orange chocolate, Turkish delight, and toffee apple ice tea.
Tea Cosy
The Rocks
Open Wednesdays through Sundays, Tea Cosy does tea and scones the way your nanna used to make them. Everything is made fresh on the daily and the aesthetic here is #cottagecore meets heritage tea house with knitted tea warmers, bookshelves, and dainty porcelain ornaments. The menu is filled with all kinds of high tea deliciousness, like classic Devonshire tea, New Zealand-style scones (think cheesy scones made with cheddar, parmesan, and spring onions), finger sandwiches, and staple UK desserts like Eton’s Mess (a meringue masterpiece loaded with strawberries and cream, and served in a champagne glass).
On the iced tea front, there’s a flourishing line-up of goodness to work your way through. Tea Cosy houses an epic range of teas which are all prepared in-house and served ice cold in a large glass or mega jug. There’s traditional lemon iced tea, which has a black tea base with sliced zest, refreshing lemongrass and ginger iced tea with a herbal base and apple slice, a mint and lime iced tea with a peppermint and spearmint herbal base, and finally, a mixed berry explosion with a black tea base and frozen berries. On top of this, if you opt for the “Aussie High Tea” feast, you’ll be in for prawn sandwiches, fairy bread with lemon curd, lemon myrtle scones and the pièce de résistance—a lamington iced tea.
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Image credit: Tea Cosy, Butter, The Burwood Hotel, Tea Cosy