It's Cocktail Time - featuring Rutland Tea Co

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're feeling tea-riffic today!

Regular visitors to the blog will know that we love a good cup of tea with our afternoon tea or maybe a glass or two of bubbles....but we also love a great cocktail! We think there is nothing better than a well made cocktail to tickle the taste buds!

Recently I've been experimenting with some tea in my homemade cocktails and I wanted to share this one as I am so pleased with how it turned out! 

This is a sweet and fruity cocktail, probably slightly better suited to the summer months....but I can't see the problem with being prepared for the warmer weather! I can just see myself in the garden with a glass of this on a summer's evening. The flavours are tropical - think oranges and pineapple and you're on the right lines!

For this cocktail I have used the wonderful Earl Grey Blue Rose tea from Nottingham based Rutland Tea Co. This is a scrummy tea whether you enjoy it hot or cold. Its a traditional Earl Grey with citrus flavours which has been super charged with pineapple-peach flavours. The flavours are tropical, but remain light and refreshing. 

I discovered this tea as part of a Tea Tourist monthly subscription box, but you can also buy this tea directly from the Rutland Tea Co.

For this cocktail you'll need to brew the tea in advance and then leave it to go cold.

I have used Orange Marmalade vodka from Chase Distillery, as this is my preferred citrus vodka. You can substitute this for another brand if you have a favourite. I also used a sugar syrup - I was lazy and used a shop bought version. If you're feeling in the mood or don't have any pre-made you can easily whip up a batch of sugar syrup at home...

Homemade sugar syrup

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring cold water and sugar to a boil.

Turn the heat low and constantly stir the mixture until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear, this will take approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

Leave to cool

Finally I have topped my cocktail off with a little Prosecco - I can't remember which brand I used....you can use whatever you happen to have at home or your favourite brand. 

Now the important bit....

To make the cocktail

This is really simple....no shakers or mixologist skills required!

In a glass (I used a wine glass) with ice combine:

100ml of the cold tea

25-50ml of sugar syrup - I recommend putting a little in and tasting it for sweetness

50ml of citrus vodka

then top it off with a little Prosecco

Et Voila....you've got a glass of sunshine to enjoy! 

I topped mine off with a slice of orange (it was a clementine to be precise) but I was just trying to be fancy! If you have no fruit to hand, don't worry!

Have you used tea in your cocktails at home? Do you have a favourite recipe? I'd love to hear about it and maybe give it a try myself - get in touch and let m know!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel