TeaChat

I'm a mild enjoyer of flavored teas- rasberry/black is a good combination, and peach/black is a straight-up winning blend in my book. However, I also like to just take some earl grey, straight green tea, or even some oolong and pop it in to brew with dried fruits of my own growing- right now I am waiting on my blueberries and dewberries (wild blackberries) to ripen so I can dry them for use in tea.
However, recently, regarding iced teas, I asked myself this question: Why does it just have to be tea?
So I set out on a mission to blend the world of the cocktail with the world of iced tea. The result? Tasty stuff, I tell you.
By muddling orange, then shaking with a chilled spiced earl grey (a clove or two, a pinch of cassia/gourmet cinnamon and brewed with a slice of orange) and the juice of half an orange, I was able to create a light, winsome iced tea using basic mixology. The orange juice provided a lovely, light foam on the top, and the garnish (half a slice of orange) made it pretty to look at when served on the rocks in a tumbler.

I am waiting for my blueberries and dewberries to hurry up and get ripe so I can do the same with them.

Am I crazy for combining tea with mixology?

Middle aged Asian businessmen have been drinking Johnny Walker with bottled green tea for ages....

Wow, a dude who likes Earl Grey and peach black tea!! A man after my own heart!! BTW, the mixing sounds nice. That's about the way I do smoothies, but I've never tried mixing things with tea. Sounds good. I'll have to try it. BTW, I saw you're new. Welcome!

I've often thought that alchoholic tea drinks would be pretty cool and that we should see more of them... but nothing can really take away from a fine cup of good tea steeped properly and served without milk or sugar, it's an elegant and subtle pleasure that no alchohol can improve.

MarshalN wrote:Middle aged Asian businessmen have been drinking Johnny Walker with bottled green tea for ages....

Of course.
Personally, I'm fond of a good hot toddy. But I am talking about using cocktail technique, using teas or blends of teas instead of alcohol.

peachaddict wrote:BTW, I saw you're new. Welcome!

Thanks. I'll try not to live up to generall accepted definitions of being a "n00b." *wink*

rabbit wrote:I've often thought that alchoholic tea drinks would be pretty cool and that we should see more of them...

Solidly agreed. However, I'm not talking about putting alcohol in tea. I'm talking about using tea like alcohol.

but nothing can really take away from a fine cup of good tea steeped properly and served without milk or sugar, it's an elegant and subtle pleasure that no alchohol can improve.

Very true. However, tea can give some beautiful flavors when mixed with other things. For example, gravy made with earl grey and some muscadine squeezings is poetry in a boat.

The general goal I'm looking for with this approach is to help people realize that tea is not confined to being cheap bags in a paper cup from Starbuck's, nor is it limited to being a snooty drink had by snobs and nerds. By giving it a vibrancy inherited from the technique of making a good cocktail, tea can be introduced to a culture that is used to too much taste with too little nutrition without compromising the health benefits or quality of the tea.


And yeah. I am a future "tearoom" owner.

Us westerners need to adopt tea into our culture more like those from the east, the poor and the rich alike all enjoy tea, it shouldn't be a status-symbol or something to make you "different", but should be as widely accepted as soft drinks are (and hopefully someday will conquer the evil soft drink empire! hehe.)

[edit] I've been fascinated with cooking for some time now, but I'm not a chef by any means... but I would really love to (and am planning on) learn how to cook JUST so that I can make recipes with tea, you don't see enough people doing that (although I HAVE seen some, and their recipes looked delicious!)

[edit 2] I too am a future tea room owner I'm currently holding off on that dream and opening a website, but I will DEFINATELY own a tearoom someday.

I've tried alcohol and tea together several different ways, and it's just not my thing.

My worst experiment involved Grey Goose and Pouchong. *shudder*

^rofl... that does sound pretty gross... what were you thinking?

Yeah it was pretty appalling. It was one of these "hey, I like Pouchong, and I like Grey Goose...why not just throw them together?"

Not my brightest moment.

Mudock,
Have you checked out Adagio's TeaChef link at the top of the screen? Some people have come up with some yummy things to do with tea. If you get the monthly sample and submit a recipe, you'd certainly be helping others expand their ideas of tea. And who knows...maybe one of your creations could be a future winner!
I'm going to try your orange-with-Earl-Grey; mmm, juicey.

klemptor wrote:Yeah it was pretty appalling. It was one of these "hey, I like Pouchong, and I like Grey Goose...why not just throw them together?"

Hahaha. That is amazing. Did you vomit? It's not a heinous failure unless you vomit. [/flippant]

daughteroftheKing wrote:Have you checked out Adagio's TeaChef link at the top of the screen? Some people have come up with some yummy things to do with tea. If you get the monthly sample and submit a recipe, you'd certainly be helping others expand their ideas of tea. And who knows...maybe one of your creations could be a future winner!

I've actually applied for this month's tea (Wuyi Oolong). Currently I am thinking if I could caramelize it, it would make a lovely syrup to go over some vanilla white pepper ice cream. The trouble is preserving that oolong bouquet while still getting something in there thick enough to make a sauce. The sweet aftertaste of oolong would go really well against the bite of the pepper in the ice cream. Garnish with lemon zest, accompany with chai. Voila.

I've got a beta drink created. I'm actually sipping it right now. Here it is. Feel free to make it and, of course, critique it.

Orange Muddle
Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
2 heaping teaspoons earl grey tea, assam or breakfast tea (loose leaf)
1 orange
0.25 ounce lime juice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon dried/crushed red pepper
1 cup crushed ice

The Tea
Pour 2 cup boiling water over tea and pepper. Steep for two minutes before adding cinnamon. Steep for four minutes before straining and removing tea/pepper. Allow to cool to room temperature.
The Drink
Cut the orange in half. Cut a slice off of one half, then chop the remainder of that half into little pieces. Places the pieces into a shaker with lime juice and 1 cup of crushed ice. Muddle the orange thoroughly with the ice.
Juice the remaining half of the orange. Add this and the (now cooled) tea. Shake vigorously. Strain over ice, garnish with a cinnamon stick and half a slice of orange.

I'll have a picture of the actual drink later.

H.M. Murdock wrote:

klemptor wrote:Yeah it was pretty appalling. It was one of these "hey, I like Pouchong, and I like Grey Goose...why not just throw them together?"

Hahaha. That is amazing. Did you vomit? It's not a heinous failure unless you vomit.[/flippant]

I wanted to vomit, but I was much more ladylike about it - I wrinkled up my nose and tossed the rest down the drain. There was no salvaging it.

Tea and cocktails seems to be a natural association. Both are significantly elegant, and both cater to the drinker's individual sense of taste. Both are a product of blending the right ingredients and techniques with a choice of drinkware to match.

I've always said I would experiment more with mixing the two (masala chai and frangelico...) but rarely have alcohol on hand at home (outside of wine, that is).

I have taken to trying tea in various cocktail glasses http://teaguru.blogspot.com/2006/06/hig ... f-tea.html

I feel any attempt at defining one's taste is always worth exploring.

Madam Potts