Jennie Ripps - Wise Cocktails: The Owls Brew Guide to Crafting & Brewing Tea-Based Beverages

This book is not intended as a medical manual. The information given here is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help. Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher. Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press. 2015 by Jennie Ripps and Maria Littlefield All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher. Photo credits: Nicole Franzen page xi) and Grant Monahan (page xiv) Illustration credits: Marco Govel/Shutterstock (chalkboard throughout); Kaitlin Bostwick (owl-approved stamp, page xiv); Sophia Chang (tipsy owl on chapter openers and page 96); art_of_sun/Shutterstock (paint swashes on pages 9, 24, 26, and 102); and Renata Sviridova (3 icons, page 79) Photographs by Tina Rupp Food styling by Chelsea Zimmer Prop styling by Sarah Cave Book design by Rae Ann Spitzenberger Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher. ISBN 9781623365677 hardcover
ISBN 9781623365684 ebook We inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world around them.
rodalewellness.com For Max, to whom I will always toast.J.R.To Martin, the liquor to my tea.M.L.C ONTENTSDear Reader This book is written for you: the aspiring mixologist, the awesome mom, the young professional, the cool uncle, the inspired foodie, the I-cant-make-cocktails dilettante, the college student (there are better things to drink than vodka-crans!). Weve had an exceptional journey and an amazing adventure all while building a brand and mixing up fun cocktails. We hope that this book imparts some of the wonder weve felt while making boozy libations with a most proper base. The romantics among you can brew and pour into a teacup Prohibition-style; the healthiest can read up on all the antioxidants before imbibing.

We warmly welcome you to our comprehensive, easy, and occasionally humorous guide for how to brew and craft our favorite tea cocktails. INTRODUCTION Tea: A Love Story W here do we begin? We could start with how we realized you could reap health benefits and stay hydrated while boozing; how you could stave off a hangover, craft some seriously delicious cocktails, and impress your friends by not serving up vodka-sodas all night long. We realized a lot of things about crafting tea for cocktails over the past several years. But how did it even start? Well... like any good romance, it was love at first sight. (Fun fact! Jennie actually hired Maria straight out of college. (Fun fact! Jennie actually hired Maria straight out of college.

From intern to business partner. Sigh.) In the fall of 2011, we were managing some seriously high-profile events, working with lifestyle brands, wrangling celebrities, arranging venues, pitching sponsorships, coordinating programs surrounding Fashion Week, Sundance, Art Basel, the Super Bowl, polo events in the Hamptons, intimate events at Malibu beach houses, and so much more. Fun, for sure, but all of which made us feel crazy enough to pull our hair out at any given moment. In truth, we constantly needed a cup of tea to calm downand then a stiff drink to take the edge off. Little did we know wed soon be marrying the two and creating our very own company! It all began with the simple beauty of tea itself: a sneaky little ingredient with endless possibilities. When you drop dried herbs and plants into water, you end up with something that tasteswelllike something.

If you place dried ginger in waternot even hot water, but cool water(!)for 10 minutes, you have a gingery libation. If you drop dried hibiscus into ambient-temperature water for 5 minutes, you have a glass of tart goodness in front of you. And if you combine these herbs, spices, and teas in a way that might be delicious... well, you end up with a whole lot more. And then, of course, the health benefits. When green tea is placed in waterhot or coldyou brew up an antioxidant machine, with metabolism-boosting properties.

Add some peppermint and you have a focus-promoting powerhouse. Throw in vanilla, and you get (ta-da!) mood-boosting properties. Jennie went first, diving headlong into the allure of tea and the healing properties of leaves, herbs, and dried fruits: Who knew that cinnamon was anti-inflammatory, that cloves were a huge boost to the immune system, that sencha was jam-packed with free radicalfighting antioxidants?! In the winter of 2011, she launched our very first tea-fueled endeavor: Brew Lab Tea, specializing in custom-crafting delicious, unique, healthy tea blends for some of the most fantastic restaurants in NYC. Brew Lab Teas focus is on the nitty-gritty, real-deal, healthful properties of tea, and tea alone: Its about flavor and function. Three years ago, we chose a (wise) owl for our logo to drive home the point that you should know what you are putting into your body. But were pretty fun (we think), so it wasnt long after Brew Lab Tea was born that Jennie approached Maria about tea partiesand were not talking about scones.

Together, we made the jump from holding one glass of delish iced lemon verbena in our left hand and a cocktail in the other to what is now an obvious mash-up. Hello!? Mix em together! What can we say? A star was born. Why wouldnt tea, this amazing product with a million flavor profiles and tons of brewy goodness, pair perfectly with spirits? And who said we needed to use sugary juices and sodas in our cocktails anyway? In the early spring, we started hosting tea parties at the brownstone we worked out of. Twice a month, wed invite our friends and family, and serve them seven or eight tea cocktails, usually crafted around a theme. Our Valentines Day post-mortem party featured drinks such as If You Like Pia Coladas, My Bloody Valentine, and Cupids Arrow. These tea parties were for fun, but we were really driven by something else: We wanted to know if people would love tea cocktails as much as we did.

Many Tea-quila Poppers and Bloody Marias later, we were sure they did. And we realized that tea cocktails were super-easy to make (and drink!). After that, it was a tea- and boozy-tea-fueled whirlwind. We were crafting cocktails and hitting events to pour em faster than you can say matcha. Movie premieres, film festivals, fashion showsyou name it. Of course, we were fresh- brewing, on-site.