1811 – OLD IS NEW AGAIN: Green Iced Tea with a twist!
April 16, 2012
Hello Green TEA Cocktails. Perhaps a bit premature; it is 83 degrees today – in April!
I’m still just thinking about getting ready for summer, creating new blends for a customer, and thinking about green tea – a lot.
So, if truth be told, I’m a recipe junkie looking for inspiration this Monday. It is true – I do love a good cookbook, but it’s the recipes that do me in… Way back when I lived off just off the Portobello Road, I went to the markets all the time looking for bargains. It’s time to dust it off this recipe for a ‘green tea punch”, I found in at the market.
Try this recipe with our Chinatown Green Passion Tea either in pyramid sachets or in our Tear and Pour™ Pouches. This green tea is refreshing and tropical made e with organic green tea, organic calendula/marigold petals, and organic flavors perfect for our Regent Cocktails.
A bit of history: Early 1796, saw English and American cooks were writing about using Green Tea with alcohol. Regents Cocktails was a popular drink at gatherings all during the year. It wasn’t until late 1884 that we find the first printed recipes referencing ‘black’ tea – and it took a world’s fair to make black tea famous when combined with lemons, sugar and iced.
For my personal taste, I’m not at all too keen on lots of sugar in this cocktail. Add with care, and taste each step of the way until punch is sweetened the way you like it. My assumption on all the sugar is purely speculative. I believe most household cooks were still experimenting with ingredients from the Far East as little was known about the subtleties of green tea. As most recipes advised cooks to ‘boil and stew’ the tea for long periods; it is this very technique that resulted in the need for LOTS of sugar and lemons to balance the astringent nature of green tea.
Purchase Green Tea 
from our Sponsored Fundraiser: Bike & Build
Make the recipe:
MAKES approximately 3 QUARTS
(contact us for kid-friendly version)
This tea-infused champagne cocktail makes an elegant centerpiece for any festive occasion this spring.
Arrack is a distilled alcoholic drink produced in South Asia. It is sold in stores throughout USA. I’ve listed some brands I’ve worked with over the years.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar, water & pineapple to make a simple syrup.
1 cup cubed pineapple
2 lemons
2 oranges
1 Seville orange (also called bitter or sour orange)
2 Chinatown Green Passion Pyramid Sachets (or 1 Tear & Pour™ Chinatown Green green tea leaves)
1 cup brandy, preferably VSOP cognac
1⁄4 cup dark rum
1⁄4 cup arrack liquor, ( Batavia-Arrack, van Oosten, cachaça, VSOA
2 750-ml bottles Brut or rose sparkling wine or champagne, chilled
Garnish with star fruit and lime twists and a dash of grated nutmeg
1. MAKE YOUR OWN SIMPLE SYRUP: In a 1-qt. saucepan, combine 1⁄2 cup sugar and 1⁄4 cup water. Stir over high heat until sugar dissolves; transfer to a bowl along with pineapple. Allow to macerate in refrigerator for at least 8 hours to make a pineapple syrup. Strain and reserve; discard solids. EASY METHOD: add simple syrup with tropical or pineapple flavors.
2. Using a peeler, peel lemons, oranges, and seville orange, taking off as little white pith as possible. Transfer peels to a heavy bowl; reserve fruit. Add remaining sugar; use a muddler or a wooden spoon to vigorously crush sugar and peels together until sugar turns faintly yellow and slushy.
3. In a medium bowl, steep tea in 2 cups of hot water (150-160F )for 2 minutes. Strain tea over lemon and sugar mixture; stir until sugar dissolves. Juice reserved fruit into tea mixture. Strain through a sieve into another bowl; discard solids. Stir in pineapple syrup, brandy, rum, and arrack. Chill mixture. To serve, combine mixture and champagne in a punch bowl along with a large block of ice . Garnish with nutmeg
