Homemade Tea Cocktail Bitters

[tingjunkie]

So, the wife and I recently found a vintage Old Mr. Boston's Bartender's Guide from 1941 at an antique store, and have been trying out lots of old school cocktails. It was only a matter of time before looking at ways to incorporate tea into the mix.

Just tonight I began macerating a couple teas in high proof vodka to make our own cocktail bitters. High Fire TGY from the Mandarin's Tearoom, and Indian Spice from Harney and Sons (guess they just call it Chai now?).

I'll let everyone know how they turn out in a week or two. I'm already REALLY looking forward to a High Fire TGY Old Fashioned! If anyone has experience with this, or has incorporated brewed tea into cocktails, please let me know! Cheers.

[Tead Off]

I guess this is another form of getting Tea Drunk, eh?

[tingjunkie]

Yes indeed! No discussion of Qi either, just good ol' fashioned booze.

[Evan Draper]

macerating...High Fire TGY from the Mandarin's Tearoom

DO NOT DISRESPECT THE BLACK GOLD







sounds yummy tho

[Poseidon]

macerating...High Fire TGY from the Mandarin's Tearoom

DO NOT DISRESPECT THE BLACK GOLD







sounds yummy tho

Perfect post! hahahaha! Let us know how it goes! I love cooking with japanese greens after they are spent. I would love a nice sencha salad and a high fire TGY!

[tingjunkie]

macerating...High Fire TGY from the Mandarin's Tearoom

DO NOT DISRESPECT THE BLACK GOLD

Don't worry. Very small batch to begin the experiment.

[brandon]

Did you grind it for better extraction?

I did an infusion of FK TGY grounds at 80 PSI using room temp water, I was pretty surprised at what came out. None of the bitter compounds were extracted at all, so it was unpalatably sweet to my taste.

I have yet to find a substance that was unpalatably sweet to the TingJunkie though!

[tingjunkie]

Did you grind it for better extraction?

I did an infusion of FK TGY grounds at 80 PSI using room temp water, I was pretty surprised at what came out. None of the bitter compounds were extracted at all, so it was unpalatably sweet to my taste.

I have yet to find a substance that was unpalatably sweet to the TingJunkie though!

Not ground, just whole leaves. Not sure grinding it would have given more extraction, but rather just a quicker extraction. At least I think that's the way it would work.

I do have a manual espresso press like this. Might be time for some experimentation. Especially if my sweet tooth gets a treat!

[brandon]

Be careful with that.. I put 18g of espresso ground TGY into a double basket and brewed a fast shot (it didn't give the same back pressure). The caffeine wallop in my first two sips almost killed me.

[umijoshi]

I've made a couple that are really nice as an accent to a glass of water.

Matcha & Absinthe
Assam black tea, rectified spirit, orange peel

[tingjunkie]

Sounds great umijoshi!

The bitters I made came out quite well for a first attempt. The TGY especially makes for a killer addition to bourbon cocktails.