Tea infused gin is a hot trend at the moment. I happen to have a huge collection of fun and exotic teas so I tried a few out for tea infused gins this week. One for my Wild Hibiscus Gin & Tonic, one for my Butterfly Pea Flower and Elderflower Gin & Tonic and another, at the last minute, using some mint green tea.
That was a great last minute addition, the mint flavored green tea went wonderfully with the gin I chose, Daffy's Gin, which has strong mint and lemon notes and, with the use of lemon in place of the typical G&T lime, I ended up with a bright and thirst-quenching drink.
There's something about tea and gin and tonic, it's so perfectly British. It's also a great cocktail combination.
* An hour or more before serving your cocktails add one tea bag of Mint Green Tea for every one and a half ounces of gin and allow to infuse. Strain and set aside for the cocktails.
Add the mint green tea infused gin to a highball glass filled with ice. Squeeze in the lemon wedges, then drop the wedges in the drink. Add the Lemon Créme Honey Syrup and stir. Top off with the tonuc, stir again, garnish and serve.
While making a hibiscus tea infused gin for my Wild Hibiscus Gin & Tonic I also spied my butterfly pea flower tea in the cupboard and decided to add that to my tea infused gin session. Butterfly pea flowers are one of nature's few naturally blue foods. They're also a little magic because when you add something acidic to blue pea flower teas or essences, they will turn purple in front of your eyes. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for a color changing gin and tonic.
I also decided to add a bit of elderflower liqueur to amp up the elderflower floral notes of the Hendrick's Gin and to complement the pea flower, then I used a light lavender honey simple syrup to sweeten the drink. The final cocktail was a gorgeous, deep blue violet/violet cocktail that tasted like a floral, lightly alcoholic lemonade. It was amazingly refreshing and tasted like spring.
BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER
& ELDERFLOWER
GIN & TONIC
INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 Oz. Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Infused Hendrick's Gin (Instructions Below*)
* Preparation: An hour or two before serving your cocktails add one tea bag of Wild Hibiscus Butterfly Pea Flower Tea for every one and a half ounces of gin and allow to infuse, the longer the infusion, the stronger the flavor. Strain and set aside for the cocktails.
** Prepare the Lavender Honey Simple Syrup by combining 2 tablespoons of hot water with 2 tablespoons of Honey Ridge Farms Honey Creme Lavender then set aside to cool.
For each Cocktail:
Add the pea flower tea infused gin, the lavender honey syrup and the elderflower liqueur to a highball glass filled with ice. Top off with tonic water and stir. Slowly squeeze then drop in the lime quarters, the drink will turn from bright blue to deep purple just as you serve it.
Tea infused gin is a thing lately and, for Gin & Tonic Day (April 9th), I went a little wild with one of my favorite teas and did a Wild Hibiscus Tea infused gin. It was easy to infuse the gin, only took a few hours and I got a fragrant, rich, red colored hibiscus gin for my G&T which I finished off with Wild Hibiscus Rose Syrup and a wild hibiscus garnish.
It was a gorgeous, deep magenta cocktail with a tart, citrus and floral taste from the hibiscus rose syrup and fresh limes. Pretty as heck and a great way to bling up a classic gin and tonic, if I do say so myself.
* Preparation: An hour or two before serving your cocktails add one tea bag of Wild Hibiscus Tea for every one and a half ounces of gin and allow to infuse. Strain and set aside for the cocktails.
For each Cocktail:
Add the wild hibiscus infused gin to a chilled glass filled with ice. Squeeze in lime wedges to taste, then drop the limes in the drink. Add Wild Hibiscus Rose Syrup to taste, stir then top off with the Fever Tree Tonic Water. Garnish with a wild hibiscus flower and serve.
National, International and/or World Gin and Tonic Day is April 9th.
Spring is grapefruit season here in Tucson and my neighbors are always generous with their harvest. Sometimes a little too generous* and I have to find ways to use all the beautiful citrus I'm gifted with. My answer is usually to head over to the bar, grab the juicer and serve those free grapefruit right back to my neighbors at happy hour.
When I only have one or two grapefruit I'll serve up my Pink Grapefruit Martini, but when I'm blessed with a multitude of grapefruit to take advantage of then a party and a tall drink is called for. A classic Paloma, a Greyhound or a Salty Dog are all good solutions to using up grapefruit gifted by the dozen. The Paloma is made with tequila, the Greyhound was originally made with gin and I was in more of a vodka mood so I went with an adaptation of both the Greyhound and Salty Dog. As a nod to spring I added a little floral twist to the classic recipes.
Whenever you have fresh grapefruit, you need to make this cocktail. It's comparatively light in alcohol, healthy and very refreshing when temperatures and thirsts are high.
Peel the entire skin of one grapefruit and set aside.
Cut 2 grapefruit in half. Slice off one wedge and set aside. Juice the remainder of the grapefruit.
Rim your glass with grapefruit juice then dip in the salt and sugar, press the grapefruit twist against the inside of the glass, fill glass with ice then chill the glass in freezer.
** Blend one ounce of warmed grapefruit juice with two tablespoons of Honey Ridge Farms Lemon Créme Honey and add this to the cocktail shaker.
Fill shaker with ice then add the vodka, elderflower liqueur and fresh grapefruit juice.
Shake until chilled, strain into the glass, garnish with the grapefruit wedge, add a straw and serve.
* I usually tell people I don't like grapefruit, but the truth is grapefruit doesn't like me. I actually love fresh grapefruit, but it can be very hard on my stomach unless it's very sweet and even then I always add a pinch of salt and extra sweeteners to ease the tartness. Canned grapefruit is always too acidic and never passes my doorstep so don't ever drop in at happy hour for a Salty Dog or Greyhound*** when grapefruit aren't in season.
*** What's the difference between a Salty Dog and a Greyhound?
The Greyhound, originally a gin cocktail, not vodka, is simply either of those spirits mixed with grapefruit juice. The Salty Dog just adds a salt rim.
I love revisiting my past cocktail recipes. With National Black Forest Cake Day being March 28th I thought it might be time to have a new take on my original Black Forest Cake Martini. Back in those days I was big into all the flavored vodkas, these days I'm exploring whiskies and decided it was time for a bourbon Black Forest Cake in a glass.
Think of a creamy Chocolate Manhattan or a maybe Fancy Free Cocktail but with Kirsch instead of Maraschino liqueur, creme de cacao added and the bitters changed to chocolate instead of orange. Before I added the creme de cacao it reminded me a bit of Cherry Bounce, a Colonial cocktail of cherries and sugar fermented in brandy or whiskey. Not a bad thing at all.
Adding the creme de cacao is an even better thing.
Quaker City Malting (@QCMalt) recently sent me some samples of their QC Malt Lemon Shrub and Old Dutch to try out in new cocktail recipes.
I'm not historically fond of malt beverages. My first exposure was back in my youth with Colt 45, then came Zima and it's ilk. None of those ever graced my lips again. Later I tried Mike's Hard Lemonade, expecting a refreshing lightly alcoholic refreshment, I didn't get past the first not-refreshing sip. My experiences had led me to be wary of anything alcoholic labeled "malt". Imagine my surprise when I popped the tops on both these beverages and drank every last drop.
I shouldn't have been surprised at my enjoyment of both these products. They are the brainchild of Steven Grasse (@StevenGrasse), father of some of my favorite bar staples including Hendrick's Gin, Sailor Jerry Rum and the beyond excellent Sweet Lips Cherry Bounce from Tamworth Distilling, to mention a few. If Steven puts his name on it, it's just plain quality.
The Lemon Shrub was automatically in my wheelhouse as I love shrubs, aka drinking vinegars. These are vinegars infused with fruit juice, herbs or spices and they make lovely mixers and syrups for cocktails. I had high hopes and I was not disappointed. Where the Mike's Hard Lemonade missed, the QC Malt Lemon Shrub hit my not-so-sweet spot. It was lightly tart, brightly lemony and judicious in its sweetness; perfect light alcoholic refreshment for a hot day or night. I had a very hard time saving some for a cocktail recipe, but I did manage to came up with a delicious Blackberry Lemon Shrub Cooler.
With the Old Dutch I wasn't too sure what to expect, there's no mention of root beer at all, but - hello! - I immediately wanted to make a boozy float (see below). If you're looking for a root beer style flavored beer, the Old Dutch is exactly where you want to go. I not only finished the whole can, I loved it. I've tried Not Your Father's Root Beer and couldn't finish it as it was way too sweet. However, though it's not really root beer flavored but a birch sap flavored drink, the Old Dutch brought home the root beer for me. It's less in-your-face than typical "root beer" beers and the lower sweetness is perfectly balanced so the flavors could shine. What a nice surprise!
Of course, you had to know the ice cream was coming.
The
DECADENT DUTCH
COCKTAIL FLOAT
INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS
Take one tall, chilled mug or glass.
Add 2 Scoops vanilla ice cream.
Pour in Old Dutch.
Top with whipped cream.
Drizzle with caramel syrup.
Sprinkle on crushed cashews.
Plop on one Bordeaux cherry.
Add ice cream spoon and straws.
Get decadent.
I must remember to send Steven Grasse hugs and kisses.
