BOTTOMS UP!
HOW TO
HOW TO USE TEA IN COCKTAILS By Lesley Jacobs Solmonson
“A BARTENDER’S GOAL IS TO SHOWCASE THE BASE SPIRIT OF A COCKTAIL AND ELEVATE IT TO NEW HEIGHTS,” SAYS MIXOLOGIST TYLER FRY, WHEN ASKED ABOUT HOW HE APPROACHES COCKTAILS. KNOWN FOR HIS INNOVATIVE USE OF TEA WITH SPIRITS, HE SUGGESTS THAT YOU “AIM TO HIGHLIGHT THE PROFILE OF THE TEA AND COMPLEMENT THE SPIRIT OF THE COCKTAIL. FOR THAT REASON, THE BEST TEA COCKTAILS ARE USUALLY THOSE THAT FOCUS ON STRAIGHT, UNFLAVORED, WHOLE LEAF TEA.” AND THE BEST WAY TO MARRY THE TEA AND ALCOHOL IS TO INFUSE THE TEA DIRECTLY INTO THE SPIRIT. Fry has some general suggestions when approaching this process. Shaken cocktails using citrus and syrups are more malleable than stirred, spirit-forward cocktails because the additional ingredients balance the tea’s inherent astringency. In spirit-forward cocktails like Martinis and Manhattans, you can use tea much like bitters. Infuse the tea into a secondary ingredient like vermouth, whose lower proof allows for more gentle extraction, which rounds out the tea’s flavor.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
CHOOSE YOUR TEA. Pick a tea you wish to showcase. Whole leaf tea should be used. Many teas are used in cocktails today, from household names like green tea, chai, and Earl Grey to less-common teas such as gunpowder, sencha, and hojicha.
CHOOSE YOUR SPIRIT. Find a complementary spirit. When it comes to creating tea cocktails, gin, rum, and vodka are often used as the base. A splash of whiskey goes well with most teas. Rum pairs nicely with masala chai, and bourbon goes well with rooibos tea. Other excellent pairings include scotch and chamomile, whiskey and green tea or lapsang souchong, and vodka and any tea.
INFUSE. Infuse four tablespoons of whole, loose leaf tea per 750ml bottle of spirit. Agitate bottle periodically over two hours. Strain into bottle and refrigerate. When working with teas, remember that the mixture can turn bitter rather quickly. Whether you are boiling the tea in water or sugar, steeping or infusing into alcohol, the infusion can turn bitter if the tea is left in for too long.
24
CHILLED MAGAZINE