Want to experiment with tea and alcohol? Try a few of these tea-infused cocktails to get you started.
Leatherman
(Formerly from the menu at King + Duke, Atlanta)
- 1 1/4 oz. Pu’er reposado tequila
- 3/4 oz. Campari
- 1 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
Combine all in a mixing glass or cocktail beaker. Add ice, stir and strain into an old-fashioned glass. Serve over a big ice cube and garnish with expressed orange peel.
JCTea
(Formerly from the menu at JCT. Kitchen, Atlanta, now closed)
- 1 1/2 oz. iced tea infused gin (see note below)
- 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
- 1/2 oz. lemon juice
- 1/2 oz. simple syrup
- 4 dashes Fee Brothers orange bitters
Combine all in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into chilled martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a quarter slice orange.
To make iced tea gin: Combine one-liter bottle of gin with 1/2 cup of loose iced tea leaves. Allow to steep for one to two days. Strain out tea.
Chai Tea
(Formerly from the menu of The Optimist, Atlanta)
- 1 oz. sugar cane rum, such as Oronoco
- 1 oz. Primm’s No. 1
- 1/2 oz. Tuaca
- 1 oz. brewed chai
- 1 oz. orange juice
- 1/2 oz. orgeat
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a Collins glass and fill with fresh ice. Garnish with a pineapple spear or a flag of orange slice and brandied cherry.
Earl Grey MarTEAni
(Created by Audrey Saunders, Pegu Club, New York)
- 3/4 oz. lemon juice
- 1 oz. simple syrup
- 1 1/2 oz. Earl Grey tea-infused gin (see note below)
- 1 egg white
Crack egg white into a cocktail shaker. Measure all the other ingredients into the shaker. Add ice and shake hard to a 10-second count. Double strain into a chilled Martini glass, 1/2 rimmed with sugar. Garnish with a lemon twist.
To make Earl Grey tea-infused gin: Measure 4T loose Earl Grey tea into a 750ml bottle of Tanqueray gin (preferred for its flavor and high proof). Cap and shake, then let sit at room temperature for two hours. Strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter into a bowl. Rinse out the bottle to remove loose tea, and pour infusion back into the clean bottle. Will store indefinitely refrigerated.
