It’s been about two weeks since I last posted on here! I got a little preoccupied with my latest Tea course, but I’m hoping to get back to posting more frequently. This post is in fact only happening because of the course. One of the assignments was to create our own original cocktail using tea. It could be a mocktail as well, but the thought of mixing something healthy with something less so is always intriguing 😉
We were instructed to try two different methods for extracting tea flavor into alcohol. We could either steep tea directly into a large amount of liquor or make a simple syrup. I experimented at first with the syrup idea. I made a simple syrup from honey, sugar, water, and sheng puer tea. The syrup smelled amazing. The tea I used has some interesting honey and apricot notes, so I thought it would be an ideal match for the honey. Once I mixed it with the gin and lemon juice, the tea flavor seemed all but lost. It was delicious, but I wanted the tea to stand out.
Thinking about how the gin and lemon were over-powering the tea, I decided to try the steep directly into alcohol method. I tried some gin and vodka plain side-by-side to see if vodka would make a better support for the tea. I realized that the gin really was too floral and the vodka was just right for the purpose. I also used a different sheng puer for the infusion just to add some interest. I tasted the mixture each day to see how it was developing. It certainly made for a stronger concoction! I could smell and taste the vodka, sure, but the tea came through.
I tried it on the third day and decided it was just strong enough to try in a cocktail. I wasn’t sure what other elements to add to it, but since I had a lot of syrup left over I decided to employ it. In the end, I do think it tasted nice and had more of a convincing tea flavor and aroma. The tonic water and lemon may have been a little strong, so you could always use a little less or substitute with a little sparkling water for a lighter touch.
Double Sheng Puer Cocktail
- Puer-honey simple syrup: 6 grams of tea per 8 ounces of water (boiled to 195 F) plus ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of honey. Let tea leaves sit for a while in syrup if not strong enough. Remove leaves when desired strength is reached or follow steeping directions.
- Puer vodka infusion: 12 grams of puer to 750 ounces of vodka. Let sit in cool room for at least 5 days or more. Shake from time to time and taste to see how flavors are developing. (You can strain the leaves eventually if you wish, but I didn’t notice much excessive bitterness)
- Lemon or lime juice
- Crushed ice
- Splash of tonic water
- Garnishes: Long mint sprig, lemon peel, ginger slices, and one puer leaf from vodka infusion.
To Make Cocktail:
To a shaker add: Crushed ice, 2 ounces of puer vodka infusion, 1 ounce of puer-honey simple syrup, and 1 ounce of lemon or lime juice. Shake well until it’s well combined and frothy. Strain into a small, chilled glass with a little crushed ice inside. Add a splash of tonic water. This cocktail can also be presented without ice for a more elegant appearance and stronger flavor. Add garnishes to taste and enjoy!
Of course, the fun of this recipe is you could use just about any loose leaf tea. One of the most popular teas to use in a cocktail is earl grey, since it’s so aromatic with the added bergamot oil. Jasmine tea is also a great candidate. Actually, any tea that has an added flavor would probably yield a fruitful result. I would be careful to use naturally flavored rather than artificial, but there are not steadfast rules. I chose the teas that I did because I hadn’t seen any cocktails using them and I thought young puer would add some interesting complexity. Did you know that puer is one of the only teas you can actually call aged? Many people say tea is fermented, but most is actually oxidized. Puer is fermented! That’s a story for another blog. Tea knowledge never stops 🙂
What tea would you use to make a cocktail? Which method(s) would you use? What else would you add to the cocktail? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Dina's Tea Notes 