What better invitation for a summer cocktail than this month’s green tea? Grapes, apples and marigold flowers + crisp green tea = your latest excuse to do nothing. Here’s how it’s done.
1. Cold brew your tea! We hope by now you’re familiar with this wonderful process, but in case not: place 2 tbs loose-leaf tea in a 1-litre jar, fill with cold water, cover with a lid, shake and place in the fridge for a few hours, or until you remember you put it there. Setting a timer is work and the antithesis to cold-brewing.
2a. Non-alcoholic option: simply strain the leaves out of your tea and mix 1 tbs simple syrup, ½ cup cold-brewed tea and 1 cup soda water. Add a slice of lime, pour over ice and enjoy!
2b. Alcoholic option: Strain the leaves out of your tea. Mix 12 oz cold-brewed tea with ¼-½ cup Prosecco (or bubbly of your choice) to taste, 1 oz gin and 1 tbs simple syrup. Add a slice of lime, pour over ice and enjoy!
Did someone say summer cocktails? We have been having so much fun experimenting with iced tea! This recipe is just our spin on this summer drink but feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes!
1. Cold brew 1 litre of Blueberry Rooibos tea (2 tbs + 1 L of water in a mason jar, cover, shake and place in your fridge for a couple hours before straining).
2. Muddle some fresh mint with ¼ cup simple syrup at the bottom of a pitcher. (Boil equal parts water and white sugar until sugar dissolves, set aside
to cool. Simple syrup will keep in a jar in your fridge until your next
cocktail.)
3. Add whatever fruit you’d like to use (cut up oranges, berries, pineapple, etc).
4. Add tea, a bottle of wine, up to 2L of carbonated water (optional) and ¼ cup of brandy (also optional).
In a small saucepan bring the water
to a boil. Add your tea leaves and remove pan from heat. Cover pan and steep
tea 5 minutes. Strain tea
through a fine sieve into a bowl, then add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Chill tea, covered, until cold and
freeze in an ice-cream maker. Enjoy!
It’s August. We’re in the middle of a heat wave here in Toronto (which really could be the south, for all intents and purposes) and eating ice cream at the water park every day. So when I stumbled upon this recipe, I couldn’t resist! This is not for the faint of heart. Here it is people.
1 cup peaches, blanched, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon bourbon
Instructions
To
make the ice cream, heat the cream, milk and corn syrup in a large
saucepan until just simmering. Add loose-leaf tea, lower heat to low and
simmer, keeping a close watch so it doesn’t boil over, for 10 minutes,
then remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 2 hours.
Strain the mixture through a very fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth and try to squeeze as much of the liquid goodness out!
Whisk
together sugar and cornstarch until combined, then whisk into the
tea-infused cream mixture. Reheat and cook over medium heat, stirring
constantly, until the mixture reaches a gentle boil, then reduce heat to
low and simmer, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds (mixture will be
thick and bubbly).
Strain
mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, then cover tightly
and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least a few hours but
preferably overnight. (Take our advice here.)
To
make the peach-bourbon swirl, toss together the peaches with cornstarch
and sugar and cook in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the
peaches have broken down and the mixture is bubbly, thick and delicious, 5 minutes
or so. Cool mixture, stir in the bourbon, and refrigerate until
thoroughly chilled.
Once both the cream mixture and peach mixture are chilled, process the
cream mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s
directions. Purée the peach mixture in a blender or food processor
until smooth, then drop spoonfuls of both mixtures into a resealable
container, alternating between them. Run a butter knife through to
create a swirl effect, then freeze until firm. Makes about a quart. Which should last you about a day.
We are visiting family in Toronto this month and the heat is unreal! Let’s just say there has been a lot of watermelon and cold drinks consumed while we soak our feet in the kiddie pool. I’m not even joking.
This month’s green tea, citrusy and the slightest bit sweet from the strawberries, got me wondering what it would be like with a bit of gin…and some citrus zest to complement the lemongrass in the tea.
You don’t need to be living in a heat wave to enjoy it. In fact, if you want to infuse soda water (instead of gin) and make this non-alcoholic, I think that would be fabulous too! And still totally suitable to drink kiddie-poolside.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups dry gin, at room temperature
2 tbs Golden State Green Tea
¾ cups freshly squeezed lime juice
4-6 tablespoons citrus syrup (lemon version) to taste
6 lime wedges as garnish
For the citrus syrup:
2 cups Sugar
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange zest
Make the citrus syrup
Stir the ingredients together in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat to low & continue cooking until you get a syrupy consistency, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat & let stand for 30 minutes. Strain though a wire-mesh sieve double lined with damp cheesecloth. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one month. Makes 1 ½ cups.
Make the Base
Pour the gin into a 3 cup or larger pitcher. Add the loose leaf tea & let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, strain out the tea and add the lime juice & citrus syrup. Stir until well combined.
Make the Cocktails
For each cocktail, add about 3 ¼ ounces of the base to a cocktail shaker that is 2/3 filled with ice. Cover and shake vigorously; strain into an ice filled glass.Squeeze a lime wedge over the drink & drop it in. Enjoy!
Where it’s not (ie, Vancouver), they keep you happy.
Basically, it’s always a good time for a tea pop.
Here’s how to make them:
Simply cold brew a jar of Maracuja Orange for 6 hours or more in your fridge. (Place 2 heaping tbs of loose-leaf tea into the jar, fill with cold water, shake, cover and place in your fridge. Give it a little shake every hour or so.) Once it’s finished brewing, shake it and pour through a strainer into another jar. Add 2 tbs simple syrup, shake and pour into your favourite popsicle molds. Place into the freezer and wait patiently.
Bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Add pineapple, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let
sit 30 minutes to infuse syrup with pineapple flavor. Strain into a small
bowl; stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub until cold, about 30 minutes. Cover and chill pineapple pieces until ready to use.
Meanwhile, cold brew Berries Galore: place 2 tbs tea into a 1-Litre jar and fill with cold water. Cover, shake and place in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
Set aside 8 slices jalapeño and 8 pieces pineapple for serving. Stir mint, lime wheels, tequila (if desired), lime juice, remaining jalapeño and pineapple, 1 cup shrub, and 1 cup tea in a large
pitcher and chill at least 1 hour.
Serve in ice-filled rocks glasses garnished with
reserved jalapeño slices and pineapple pieces.
Bourbon iced tea!
We used smittenkitchen’s recipe and our own cold-brewed Kenyan Estate black tea from justea. Here’s the recipe, in slower motion:
3 oz cold-brewed Mount Kenyan Estate, 2 oz grapefruit juice (Trader-Joe’s), 1 oz bourbon (we tried a few and went with our family favourite, Four Roses), juice of ½ lime, ½ tbs. sugar.
Fill a shaker with ice and shake well. Fill 2 glasses with ice, pour and enjoy! Add sprig of mint if you’d like…we forgot but it was still delish.
