Tea and alcohol

A few years ago when Christmas was approaching and summer was getting started, some friends and I went to a lovely tea cafe called Storm In A Teacup for a little Christmas catch up. It was a wonderful little cafe/bar that served mainly tea, and we were all excited to visit. After the appropriate gift exchanges we set to examining the menu, because this place had something else we were all keen on: Cocktails. Infused with tea.

It was a startling idea. Tea and alcohol are both amazing in their own ways, but combined together? Was such a thing possible? Many of you would be familiar with an Espresso Martini, and these tea cocktails were the same idea. Only tea swapped in for coffee. Perhaps not the most revolutionary idea in the world, yet it was surprisingly good.

If you’re feeling a bit sceptical, I don’t blame you. Tea is a sacred thing and mixing it with alcohol feels almost wrong. However it is well worth a try. To give you a little taste, I’d suggest making a Gin and Tonic and Jasmine. It’s simple, and is the perfect foot in the door.

This is an easy one to make. All you’ll need is a bottle of gin and some jasmine tea leaves. Simply add about four or five teaspoons of tea leaves to the bottle of gin and let them soak at least overnight. After that you’re good to go. I’d suggest using Bombay Sapphire for this recipe. This brand of gin mixes very well with tea leaves with added bonus of the lovely blue bottle.

Once the tea is infused it’s okay to leave the leaves in the gin. They will continue to steep and release flavour for a little while, so make sure you adjust the amount of gin to your taste. Before pouring it’s also a good idea to agitate the bottle and move the leaves around. This helps redistribute the liquid and even out the tea infusion.

Also it’s entirely possible that you make get some tea leaf fragments in your gin after pouring. With a little practice it’s easy to avoid any of the larger leaves being poured. However with the smaller ones there isn’t much you can do. It’s not something you’ll need to worry about. It’s safe to ingest the leaves.

Give G&T&J a go, and if you’re feeling really bold you can try mixing different teas in the gin. Any fruit or floral black tea mixtures work.