Bee's Teas

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2010/01/mxmo-xlv-roundup.htmlThe first Mixology Monday of 2010 is upon us, hosted by Frederic, et al over at cocktail virgin slut.  The theme they have chosen is "Tea." I'll let them elaborate:

Tea has played a historical role in cocktails for centuries. Perhaps the best documented early example was its inclusion in punches as part of the spice role to round out the spirit, sugar, water, and citrus line up. Later, teas appear in many recipes such as Boston Grog, English Cobbler, and a variety of Hot Toddies. And present day mixologists are utilizing tea flavors with great success including Audrey Saunder's Earl Grey MarTEAni and LUPEC Boston's Flapper Jane. Now it's our turn to honor this glorious cocktail ingredient!

Tea is not something I've played with as an ingredient before, so I started with something simple, tea-infused gin.  (I went with Darjeeling because I had it handy).  That seemed straight forward enough.  Then I had to figure out what to do with it.  I figured whatever I made probably didn't need bitters since tea has some bitterness on its own, but probably still needed a sweetener.  I immediately thought of honey, as it goes nicely with tea.  Now some acid; surely lemon here is called for and not lime.  But of course, there's already a gin, honey and lemon cocktail, the Bee's Knees, so I can just use that for the proportions.  And just like that the classic Bee's Knees becomes the Bee's Teas:

Bee's Teas

• 2 oz tea-infused  Bulldog London Dry Gin
• ¾ oz Honey Syrup
• ½ oz lemon juice

Shake and strain; garnish with lemon twist

The Bee's Teas tastes, well, just like lemon iced tea sweetened with honey. But it's a cocktail! So if that's your type of drink, give this one a try. I think you can figure out how to infuse the gin, just don't leave the tea in too long lest it get bitter. I don't remember what I did, half an hour maybe and then tested it and decided it was done, or something thereabouts.

Here's the Bee's Knees for reference:

Bee's Knees

• 2 oz gin
• ¾ oz Honey Syrup
• ½ oz lemon juice

Shake and strain; garnish with lemon twist

Simple, right?

(late) UPDATE: Here's the roundup.