Is there a better combination than tea and alcohol? We certainly don’t think so! We’ve created three tea cocktail recipes using green tea, black tea and matcha that will make your tastebuds sing.
Our tips:
Even though you’ll be mixing the tea with other ingredients, it is still important to follow the brewing instructions, in particular the brewing times. Your cocktail won’t taste very good if you over-steep your green tea or under-brew your black tea!
We also recommend brewing the tea hot, as you normally would, and then letting it cool before using it in a cocktail. Again, follow the temperature guide given with each tea. Brewing any of our teas too hot or too cold will simply ruin the beautiful flavour of the tea leaves.
Green Tea Gimlet:
A gimlet is a perfect cocktail for tea. Traditionally, a gimlet is simply one part gin and one part sweetened lime juice. Here we’ve switched the gin for vodka, and we’ve added lemongrass and green tea to the sugar syrup. It’s refreshing and delicious!
We’d recommend using our Huang Shan Yun Wu green tea for this cocktail. There is no astringency and very little dryness in this tea, and the crisp fresh notes work perfectly with the lime and lemongrass.
Green Tea Gimlet
For the green tea vodka:
- 8 ounces vodka
- 2tsp lemongrass
- 2tsp green tea
- 1 zest lime
For the simple syrup:
- 3/4cup water
- 1/2cup sugar
- 2tsp green tea
- 2tsp lemongrass
- 1/8tsp lime juice
Method for Green Tea Gimlet:
- Pour vodka into a glass container, add the tea leaves and lime zest, and let it infuse at room temperature for 30 mins.
- Meanwhile, create your simple syrup by bringing water, sugar and lime to just below boiling in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Then add green tea leaves and lemongrass to the simple syrup and steep for 5 mins. Cool and strain. You can store this in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Now you can create your cocktail. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and then combine 2 ounces of your green tea vodka, 1 ounce of the simple syrup, and 1 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with lime!
Nutrition
Per Serving: 229 calories; 25g carbohydrates; 25g sugar; 3mg sodium.
Matcha Highball:
Matcha is always a great ingredient when it comes to making cocktails. The grassy, complex flavour of our Ceremonial Matcha is perfect in both sweet or savoury drinks. And the pop of colour makes every matcha cocktail a showstopper.
Matcha Highball
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Japanese whiskey
- 1/2 ounce Lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce Honey syrup
- 1/4 tsp Matcha powder
- 4 ounces Club soda
- Ice
- Lemon slice
Method:
- Combine the Japanese whiskey, lemon juice, honey syrup, and matcha powder in a cocktail shaker.
- Shake thoroughly, and pour into a cool and ice-filled glass
- Pour club soda into the shaker and swirl to loosen the leftover matcha powder.
- Pour into the glass and stir. Garnish with lemon
Nutrition
Per Serving: 210 calories; 12g carbohydrates; 12g sugar; 12mg sodium.
Planter’s Punch:
Finally, we had to create a cocktail using black tea. A planter’s punch is a classic rum cocktail which everybody makes a little bit differently.
We’d recommend using our Dian Hong Jin Luo Golden Snail in this particular cocktail. This tea is sweet and malty, like a sweet bread, with notes of cocoa and molasses. The sweet molasses melds beautifully with the rum.
Planter's Punch
For the Planter's Punch:
- 2 ounces dark rum
- 2 ounces lime juice
- 3/4 ounce simple syrup
- Black tea
- Mint sprig
- Crushed ice
For the simple syrup:
- 250ml water
- 200g sugar
Method for Planter's Punch:
- Combine the water and sugar for the simple syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Immediately take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool.
- Next fill a tall glass halfway with crushed ice and add the rum, lime juice and sugar syrup.
- Stir the ingredients to combine.
- Fill the glass with more crushed ice and top with tea. Stir once more to combine.
- Garnish with a mint sprig.
Nutrition
Per Serving: 191 calories; 15.5g carbohydrates; 11.5g sugar; 0mg cholesterol; 12mg sodium.
If you follow these tea cocktail recipes, or use our teas in your cocktails, please share it with us on social media @curioustealtd.