Panera Fans Can't Stop Watching This Behind-The-Scenes Green Tea TikTok
Evidently, customers love the iced green tea at Panera Bread. For one example, Delish named it the best tea offered by the brand in 2020, with writer Julia Smith commenting, "It's essentially a grown up Pacific Cooler Capri Sun, and I am *not* mad about it." Recently, a video about how the company prepares its popular drink was released, and many Panera fans have watched and are taking notes.
TikTok user (and apparent Panera staff member) @ohana_trender shared a requested behind-the-scenes video of them preparing the chain's iced green tea. First, you fill the cup with ice. Next comes a generous pour of the most important (and only) ingredient: a passionfruit papaya green tea concentrate made by The Republic of Tea brand. The video gives us a look at the label of the concentrate bottle, which suggests a 5:1 ratio of water to tea, or 5 cups of water for every 1 cup of tea. Just to give you an idea of how popular this item is, this video has been viewed over 1 million times.
Now you can make Panera's iced green tea at home
Now, what good is knowing what's behind the scenes of Panera Bread's iced green tea if you can't make an IV of the stuff in the comfort of your own kitchen? Based on @ohana_trender's TikTok video, replicating the drink at home is as simple as ordering a bottle of tea concentrate, which several viewers asked how to find. Unfortunately, it appears that The Republic of Tea only sells its passionfruit papaya tea as black tea bags, based on its website. That said, the brand does appear to sell a sweet tropical iced green iced pouch that contains passion fruit and papaya, as well as pineapple (via The Republic of Tea). If you are anti-pineapple, though, the TerraVita brand sells its own passion fruit papaya green tea, which you can find in stores like Walmart.
Once you have your tea, all that's left to do is make tea concentrate. The Kitchn lays out the steps as follows: Brew the tea with double the leaves or bags you would typically use. Leave it to steep, then strain and cool the tea. Refrigerate it for two days and dilute it with water when you are ready to serve it. Finally, if you want the true Panera Bread experience, add 31 grams of sugar to each 20-ounce serving, as the chain says the drink contains on its website.