Tea Cocktails

[cdh]

Are you sure your friend isn't simply misremembering the venue?  It seems very unlikely to me that Pegu would have been serving a jasmine tea infusion and peach drink right around the same time as Flatiron.  Seems more likely that your friend had the drink at Flatiron.

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Nope. It was definitely at Pegu. She's not a NYC regular, and only went for cocktails to the Pegu Club when she was in town.

[Bunnyhugs]

Now that I think of it, I'd bet that some of the more potent oolongs would infuse into gin with spectacular results... I'll have to give that a shot soon.  I'm thinking that the woodsiness of a Bai Hao might work really well.

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I tried something with Oolong myself (an Iron Goddess of Mercy to be exact). I used Lychee liqueur as the sweetener. After infusing with London Dry and switched to a Jonge style Genever the second time round. The maltiness in the Genever really matched the earthy notes in the tea. It turned out pretty well.

http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/02/29/oolong-tea-infused-gin/

[Big Bunny]

I have stumbled into this discussion out of curiosity.

Although I don't generally drink mixed drinks, I am fascinated by the whole idea of mixing flavors.

The question of too much "tannin" comes up often. In China, tea leaves are often left in the cup and more boiling water added as the tea is drunk.

At lease some authorities say the second and third infusions are better than the first. Perhaps some sort of pre-brewing would make better infusions.

This seems to lead to two possibilities:

1) Re-drying the leaves to prevent diluting the infusion.

2) Use of grain alcohol to compensate for the water.

Of course there is lots of room to experiment with temperature and time, but I would guess that 1 minute in boiling water would reduce bitterness considerably.

BB

[Beebs]

I have stumbled into this discussion out of curiosity.

Although I don't generally drink mixed drinks, I am fascinated by the whole idea of mixing flavors.

The question of too much "tannin" comes up often. In China, tea leaves are often left in the cup and more boiling water added as the tea is drunk.

At lease some authorities say the second and third infusions are better than the first. Perhaps some sort of pre-brewing would make better infusions.

This seems to lead to two possibilities:

  1) Re-drying the leaves to prevent diluting the infusion.

  2) Use of grain alcohol to compensate for the water.

Of course there is lots of room to experiment with temperature and time, but I would guess that 1 minute in boiling water would reduce bitterness considerably.

BB

←

I'd recommend against pre-brewing tealeaves before infusing them in alcohol. Once I spoiled a whole bottle of vodka when in a moment of genius I decided to pre-brew some green tea before pouring the vodka over top, to speed up the process. Big mistake. It made an incredibly tannic, bitter, and scuzzy-coloured infusion.

I think tea infused alcohol works best when infused either at room temperature or even in the fridge. I guess it's the same principle as cold-brewed iced tea - it's much less bitter than hot brewed tea, the hot water pulls out the tannins quicker than cold water. The colder the alcohol, the longer it takes to infuse, but I find it tastes much better.

I used to work at a tea shop and it was a lot of fun messing around with tea & alcohol! (and tasting them!) I recall one of our staff experimenting with smoked lapsang tea & vodka...something about coming up with a drink reminiscent of scotch. Don't remember tasting it though.

[mkayahara]

I'd recommend against pre-brewing tealeaves before infusing them in alcohol.  Once I spoiled a whole bottle of vodka when in a moment of genius I decided to pre-brew some green tea before pouring the vodka over top, to speed up the process.  Big mistake.  It made an incredibly tannic, bitter, and scuzzy-coloured infusion.

I think tea infused alcohol works best when infused either at room temperature or even in the fridge.  I guess it's the same principle as cold-brewed iced tea - it's much less bitter than hot brewed tea, the hot water pulls out the tannins quicker than cold water.  The colder the alcohol, the longer it takes to infuse, but I find it tastes much better. 

I used to work at a tea shop and it was a lot of fun messing around with tea & alcohol! (and tasting them!)    I recall one of our staff experimenting with smoked lapsang tea & vodka...something about coming up with a drink reminiscent of scotch.  Don't remember tasting it though.

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That makes sense to me: the bitter tannins come out more at higher temperatures and over longer times (see here for a little more information on the subject), so cold-infusing would seem to make sense. I'd think time would be the key factor: long enough to extract the maximum flavour from the tea, but short enough to minimize the bitterness.

I've thought about infusing something with lapsang souchong before, though I was leaning more toward white rum (or tequila?) than vodka. The question is, how well does it mix?

[bostonapothecary]

I have stumbled into this discussion out of curiosity.

Although I don't generally drink mixed drinks, I am fascinated by the whole idea of mixing flavors.

The question of too much "tannin" comes up often. In China, tea leaves are often left in the cup and more boiling water added as the tea is drunk.

At lease some authorities say the second and third infusions are better than the first. Perhaps some sort of pre-brewing would make better infusions.

This seems to lead to two possibilities:

  1) Re-drying the leaves to prevent diluting the infusion.

  2) Use of grain alcohol to compensate for the water.

Of course there is lots of room to experiment with temperature and time, but I would guess that 1 minute in boiling water would reduce bitterness considerably.

BB

←

I'd recommend against pre-brewing tealeaves before infusing them in alcohol. Once I spoiled a whole bottle of vodka when in a moment of genius I decided to pre-brew some green tea before pouring the vodka over top, to speed up the process. Big mistake. It made an incredibly tannic, bitter, and scuzzy-coloured infusion.

I think tea infused alcohol works best when infused either at room temperature or even in the fridge. I guess it's the same principle as cold-brewed iced tea - it's much less bitter than hot brewed tea, the hot water pulls out the tannins quicker than cold water. The colder the alcohol, the longer it takes to infuse, but I find it tastes much better.

I used to work at a tea shop and it was a lot of fun messing around with tea & alcohol! (and tasting them!) I recall one of our staff experimenting with smoked lapsang tea & vodka...something about coming up with a drink reminiscent of scotch. Don't remember tasting it though.

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on our bar we usually always have a tea infused spirit going... i like to pair the tea with a fruit for some good flavor contrast... champagne oolong and dried cranberries over peruvian pisco was my favorite so far... i also put tea in my rum punches and my blackberry shrub... audrey sanders told me (about the early grey gin) that you have to be careful of your flavors oxidizing to where they quickly becomes unintended (within a day or so even)... she is probably right but, i think some things can oxidize to elegance and certain fruits may even provide an antioxidant effect... therefore experiment and make sure you take notes!

Edited June 5, 2008 by bostonapothecary (log)

[Big Bunny]

I guess I wasn't clear about the second infusion.

I would discard the water from the first infusion, hopefully leaving milder leaves.

The question I see is whether one can remove bitterness without removing too much flavor.

BB

[Richard Kilgore]

I'm bumping this up because I am curious about what you all have been doing with teas in cocktails over the past 18 months.

[kathryn]

This is punch recipe that was given out during a seminar at Death & Co (NYC) that was part of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. (I've added some notes of mine as well).

Porfirian Punch

Alex Day

Serves 2-4 people.

9 white sugar cubes

3 oz club soda

1 1/2 oz market spice tea-infused Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth*

1 1/2 oz Manzanilla sherry

3 oz lemon juice

6 oz pear-infused Herradura Silver Tequila**

6 oz club soda (yes, twice)

In a 4 c. measuring cup, muddle sugar cubes with club soda, then add rest of ingredients. Stir constantly, add crushed ice, stir & strain into a punch bowl. Garnish with thin slices of pear.

* Take a one-liter or 750ml bottle of vermouth and infuse it with 3 or 4 heaping tablespoons (depends on the size of the bottle) of market spice tea (can buy the loose leaf on amazon.com) and let it sit for 1 1/2 hours. Strain and keep refrigerated.

** Cut 3 Bartlett pears and 1 Granny Smith apple into cubes (peels, cores and all), and place in a glass jar or container. Add 2 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 liter of Herradura Silver Tequila. Store for 6 days, shaking

periodically. Double-strain all the fruit and spices out and keep refrigerated.

[Jaymes]

I recall a concoction that was very popular a couple of decades back. You mix up some stuff, including tea and sugar, and freeze it. Then at serving time, you spoon a couple dollops of the frozen tea mix into a glass and pour bourbon over.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I'd love to find that recipe again.

______________________

Edited January 1, 2010 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

I recall a concoction that was very popular a couple of decades back. You mix up some stuff, including tea and sugar, and freeze it. Then at serving time, you spoon a couple dollops of the frozen tea mix into a glass and pour bourbon over.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I'd love to find that recipe again.

After posting this, a name suddenly popped into mind: Bourbon Slush.

And a quick google produced many recipes. Including this one - Bourbon Slush

Although I note I had it a little bit wrong. You freeze the tea with the bourbon, put that into a glass, and pour a carbonated beverage over.

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Edited January 1, 2010 by Jaymes (log)

[Frederic]

The theme for Mixology Monday this month is tea, so either submit a recipe or check in a few days after the 25th to see what others have created:

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2010/01/mxmo-xlv-announcement.html

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, Frederic! Beat me to the punch.

I'm hard pressed to improve on Audrey Saunders's Earl Grey MarTEAni, myself....

[Chris Amirault]

I got a bottle of Bluecoat gin for the first time, and, as reported here and there, it's a tricky mixer. I first tried something with Lillet, but the gin and the Lillet battled it out instead of dancing nicely together. So I turned to cocktails with a bigger citrus punch -- and thought of punsch, specifically my house brew, Erik Ellestad's Underhill punsch, which I had just finished using the Norbu tea Dian Hong Yunnan black.

Given that I was already thinking of eje, I turned to a Savoy recipe, and made a spiffy Biffy Cocktail. The Bluecoat, lemon, and punsch were a perfect trio, and the complexities of the gin brought out the tea:

[eje]

Thanks for the shout out!

A Corpse Reviver #2 a la Trader Vic, with the Punch standing in for the Lillet, is also a dandy beverage.

[KD1191]

Something I just tried based on a technique Alchemist mentioned over in the Drinks! thread...

Into a mug went:

2 oz Estirpe Peruana Mosto Verde Moscatel Pisco

1 bag of Rishi Peach Rooibos Tea

I let that sit while water came to a boil, then added:

1/2+ oz Hibiscus Syrup (1:1 Hibiscus Blossom 'Tea':Sugar)

5 oz of just shy of boiling water

Removed the tea bag and stirred.

Dropped in a slice of lemon.

Aroma: Floral, tropical bomb

Color: Gorgeous purple/red color

Flavor: Delightful sweetness with a funky pisco back and a slight tartness from the tea/lemon.

ETA: Just tried this again with ginger syrup in place of the hibiscus...even better.

Edited January 24, 2010 by KD1191 (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Interesting. One of the constraints on my tea compositions has been self-imposed: I don't always have a supply of Earl Grey-ed Tanqueray on hand. But perhaps it's worth experimenting with just this sort of a la minute steeping....

[TeakettleSlim]

I’m reviving this long dormant thread to tell you about the Moroccan green mint lime gimlet I made for my birthday. A pint of vodka, infused for 2 hours with a tablespoon each of whole leaf gunpowder green tea and dried mint. Lime juice, simple syrup. It was a fine thing.