Abigail R. Gehring - Tea Cocktails: A Mixologists Guide to Legendary Tea-Infused Cocktails

Photos and text copyright 2014 by Abigail R. Gehring Content and recipe contributions by Teatulia Organic Teas All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications.

For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or . Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover design by Jenny Zamanek Cover photos by Abigail R. Gehring Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-449-3 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-760-9 Printed in China CONTENTS Foreword Welcome to the wonderful world of tea cocktails! At Teatulia, we are bringing best-quality organic teas to the world for enjoyment in the traditional (hot) fashion.

But we are also seeking to make tea relevant for all elements of our society at all times of day. Tea is tremendously versatile, contributes to a healthy lifestyle, and has flavor elements that allow it to pair beautifully with food and spirits. So we figured a book of cocktails would inspire everyone from mixologists to tea experts to neighborhood bbq aficionados to steep some tea, experiment, and enjoy! We hope you love this book and that it gives you a greater appreciation and affection for the beautiful, timeless Camellia sinensis and all of its herbal friends. Cheers! Linda Appel Lipsius CEO and Co-Founder of Teatulia Organic Teas Introduction In classy bars and cocktail lounges across America, tea is making a big splash. The only real surprise here is that using tea in cocktails didnt catch on much sooner! Why didnt more people say, Hey, we should try putting some tea in that Long Island iced tea!? With such a range of flavorsfrom sweet and spicy chai to dark and smoky yerba matetea is an ideal mixer. It offers nuanced complexity to your cocktails that you simply cant achieve from most traditional cocktail mixers, especially commercially-produced syrups that tend to have overpowering artificial flavor.

My first sip of a tea cocktail was, quite honestly, startlingI had thought it might just taste like a watered down mojito, when instead it was brilliantly refreshing, vibrant, and layered with subtle but luscious flavors. The recipes in this book focus on using healthful ingredients such as fresh fruit juice, herbs, and natural sweeteners, both to give you the best possible flavor and to complement the health benefits of the tea. Enjoyed in moderation, tea cocktails can give your body a boost! Teatulia Organic Teas is passionate about more than just teathey care deeply about sustainable gardening practices and social responsibility. Started in 2000 to give back to the community in Bangladesh, they sought an enterprise that would give the Bangladeshi people a living wage while protecting/strengthening the environment. Not content with the social programs already in place in their community, Teatulia's cooperative, the KS Foundation, has established revolutionary education, health, and cattle-lending programs for the people working in the garden and surrounding areas. All sales of Teatulia Organic Teas contribute to this mission, helping to better the lives of Bangladeshi men, women, and children while rebuilding the local ecosystem.

It is an honor to work with such a forward-thinking company on this book. So put a pot on to boil and call up a friendits time for a grown-up tea party! Abigail R. Gehring Tea 101 Tea is one of the oldest herbal remedies in existence, dating back more than 4,700 years when infusions of the plant Camellia sinensis were first brewed in China. Although modern medicine has overshadowed many of the ancient cure-alls of our ancestors, the benefits of tea still remain relevant today. FIRST THINGS FIRST: DEFINING TEA Its important to understand exactly what qualifies a beverage as tea. Officially, "tea" refers to black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, or pu-erh tea.

The common link between these five categories is that they are each made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Herbal teas arent actually scientifically considered teas at all because they do not come from the Camellia sinensis plant, though they may be commonly referred to as such. These kinds of teas or infusions include chamomile or peppermint, which are made using a variety of different plants with varying nutritional values. THE FABULOUS FIVE What makes the five types of teas distinct from one another? The preparation and maturity of tea leaves determine both the flavor and the nutritional content of each type. The leaves used to make black tea are both wilted and fully oxidized, meaning that they are dried and modified through prolonged exposure to air. Green tea goes through the wilting process but not oxidization, while oolong tea leaves are wilted and oxidized but not to the prolonged extent of black tea leaves.

White tea is the young tea bud and is neither wilted nor oxidized. Finally, pu-erh tea leaves are fermented. How is Tea Made? Teatulia grows and processes all of their teas at their own USDA-certified organic tea garden in Northern Bangladeshs Tetulia region. But how do their fresh, organic tea leaves get from their garden into your teacup (or cocktail glass)? TYPES OF TEA PROCESSING There are two basic methods of tea production: Orthodox and non-orthodox. Each method produces a very different final tea product. ORTHODOX Process Flow: whole leaf rolled & shaped complex flavor artisan method The orthodox method uses a process that preserves the integrity and flavor of the tea leaf throughout all stages of production.

Whole tea leaves are carefully rolled or shaped into various sizes and styles depending on the type of tea being produced. An artisan orthodox tea producer can greatly vary the outcome of a teas final appearance, aroma, and flavor by how the tea leaf is shaped, oxidized, and dried during this process. The orthodox method takes longer, but results in an attractive full leaf tea with complex flavor and aroma. NON-ORTHODOX Process Flow: shredded leaf made for tea bags one-dimensional flavor machine method Also known as Cut-Tear-Curl, or CTC, non-orthodox processing is machine driven and yields small, intentionally shredded pieces of the tea leaf that are shaped into granular pellets. CTC was originally designed for the production of a strong, full-bodied black tea that could be packaged in traditional tea bags and stand up to the added milk and sugar in a brewed cup. This method was created to eliminate some of the labor-intensive steps of the orthodox method in order to speed up time to market for black tea production.

What the CTC process lacks is the ability to produce a wide range of teas and tea flavors. Some green teas can be produced through this method, but white and oolong teas cannot. CTC is mainly a black tea production process because as the leaves are shredded, oxidation starts quickly. CTC-processed leaves are highly oxidized and they start losing their essential oils immediately. Therefore, subtle nuances in aroma and flavor cannot be controlled, creating a final tea product with a one-dimensional profile. TEATULIAS ORTHODOX PROCESSING Teatulia practices the orthodox method of tea production in order to preserve the whole tea leaf, control the outcome of the aroma and flavor of the final tea, and have the ability to produce a variety of tea styles from white to green to black.