Cocktail Confidential Vol. 7: Black Tea Clove Syrup

This is not your grandma's teatime!

“The first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.” -Jack Kerouac on tea, The Dharma Bums

I did coffee a couple weeks ago, so now its for you tea drinkers to have your chance, weirdos.

I have admittedly never been much of a tea drinker myself, but as a bartender I appreciate the wide variety of flavors that tea has to offer and regularly use tea to concoct interesting syrups for mixing cocktails. Tea syrups have the benefit of simplicity, but adding complimentary flavors doesn’t hurt at all. Whole cloves will add a baking spice punch to black tea, and lemon peel adds an acidic pop to chamomile.

The magic of borderline boiling water is wonderful, so please feel free to use the framework below to experiment with teas you may have at home sitting in your cabinet. Maybe your mom remembered you had one cup of rose hip tea in 2008 so she got you some for Christmas this year because she doesn’t actually pay attention to your evolving hobbies as you mature through life.

Luckily, rose hip tea syrup will make a pretty good gin gimlet. Lavender tea? Mix it into a French 75! Hibiscus tea? Substitute it for simple syrup in a Tommy’s margarita! Turmeric and black pepper tea? Sounds like it’s time for a whiskey sour.

The possibilities are endless and the equation is simple: steep your tea and mix it with equal parts sugar.

Let’s get it.

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In this recipe, we are using cloves to add extra baking spice punch to your tea syrup. Whole cloves back a huge punch for their size, mainly because they have oils that are easily extracted when steeped in hot water. If you aren’t a fan of cloves, you can use a couple black cardamom pods, a bashed up cinnamon stick or a few star anise pods in their place. Do whatever you want!

I’d like to take this chance to highlight Mem Tea, which is a fantastic, local tea maker here in Boston. I imagine they ship nationally, so if you need tea, give them a shot!

What you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 15 whole cloves

• 16 oz very hot water but not quite boiling

• Black tea of your choice - I prefer Ceylon

• 16 oz white sugar

Tools:

• Measuring cups

• Pot or pan that is 1 quart or larger

• Whisk or something else to mix up the syrup

• Strainer

• A couple of quart containers or some Tupperware

• Tea cup or coffee mug

Making the syrup:

Heat your water on the stove or in an electric kettle until just before simmering. Steep whatever tea you are using and the cloves in the hot water for 10 minutes. We want to let the tea steep a little longer than may be suggested in the instructions to extract allllll the flavor. If you think this may create an undesirable bitter taste, please remember this is about to get poured over a pint of sugar.

Put your sugar into a quart container and strain the tea + cloves over the sugar. Combine with the whisk until all sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

That’s it. So easy yet so flavorful and versatile.

Now, let’s drink.

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The Drinks

This is cool and all, but I’ve only ever made drinks a couple times: Whiskey Sour

First egg white cocktail of Cocktail Confidential incoming! Egg whites have been used in cocktails since Jerry Thomas published his recipe for a whiskey sour in his 1862 cocktail book ‘How to Mix Drinks’, so try not to be too weirded out by it. Egg whites don’t add much in terms of flavors, but they add a wonderful texture to a cocktail that makes the drink drier and almost tannic like you might find in red wines. If this didn’t convince you to try it out, feel free to omit it!

• 1.5 oz rye whiskey, preferably Rittenhouse

• .75 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• .75 oz black tea clove syrup

• 1 egg white

Crack your egg on the rim of your cocktail shaker, ideally making a pretty evenly split eggshell in the process. Carefully toss the yolk back and forth until the egg white is in your cocktail shaker. Add whiskey, lemon juice and black tea syrup and shake without ice for 10 seconds, then add ice and shake for 15 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a skewered maraschino cherry and lemon wedge. Or just drink it.

Sipping Soundtrack: NEIL FRANCES - It’s All a Bit Fuzzy

I have a setup at home. Give me something I can impress with: Champs-Élysées

True story: one lovely summer Sunday afternoon in Cambridge, I went to a little club on Mass Ave called Middlesex Lounge for an all day party that wrapped up around 8 PM. Between 6 and 8, I drank 1 PBR and roughly 10 ounces of Green Chartreuse. I have no idea how I got home, and at 2 AM I snapped out of a blackout while peeing, and was so startled that I dropped my phone in the toilet. And that was the last time I drank Chartreuse.

• 1.5 oz cognac, such as Pierre Ferrand 1840

• .75 lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• .5 oz Green Charteuse

• .25 oz black tea clove syrup

• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to a cocktail tin with ice and shake for 15 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with an expressed orange twist.

Sipping Soundtrack: Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Press Color

Sound the cool guy alarm, because I have a full home bar: Old Fashioned

I love the versatility of amaro - Italian bittersweet liqueurs. Depending on what specific black tea you used to make your syrup with, you can find an amaro to complement those flavors. Using smoky Russian Caravan tea? A citrusy amaro like Nonino or Meletti would be perfect. Using a Sicilian citrus tea? Amaro Sfumato is smoky. Ceylon? Maybe something piney like Braulio. Go crazy.

• 1 oz bourbon

• 1 oz congac

• .25 oz amaro of your choice

• Scant .5 oz black tea clove syrup

Add all ingredients into a double old fashioned glass, add ice and stir for 15 seconds. Top with a few more cubes and garnish with an expressed lemon twist.

Sipping Soundtrack: Belle and Sebastian - If You’re Feeling Sinister

I don’t feel like drinking today: Non-Alcoholic Gin Gimlet

NA Spirits are really gaining popularity at the moment, so I figured it was time to put out a recipe that uses one of them

• 1.5 oz non-alcoholic gin

• .75 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• .75 oz black tea clove syrup

Add all ingredients to a cocktail tin with ice and shake for 15 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with an expressed lemon twist.

Sipping Soundtrack: DARKSIDE - Psychic

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FAQs

You’re talking a lot about cocktail tins and .75 oz and other stuff I’m unfamiliar with. Can you elaborate?

So in order to make these cocktails, you’ll need some basic bar tools. You can usually purchase these in a set with a cocktail shaker, a jigger (measuring tool), a barspoon for mixing, a Hawthorne strainer and a mixing glass. Jiggers typically have a 2 oz side with a 1.5 oz line, and a 1 oz side with a .5 and .75 line.

I don’t have a bunch of these cocktail tools, but this seems interesting. Where can I get all this stuff you’re talking about?

I personally would recommend checking out Cocktail Kingdom’s complete sets. They’re very high quality and beautifully crafted.

You’re talking a lot about glassware. What’s the difference between all of them and what would typically be served in them?

There are three primary cocktail glasses that every home bar should have - highball, double old fashioned and coupe.

Highball - Ever order a vodka soda close it? Jamo ginger? That is a highball glass! Tall and thin, usually 12 - 16 oz in volume.

Double Old Fashioned - The style is in the name! Old Fashioned! Other names include ‘rocks glass’, ‘tumbler’ or ‘low ball’. They’re short and sturdy and usually 10 - 12 oz in volume.

Coupe - This is a stemmed glass that has a broad, shallow bowl to sip your concoctions out of. Think martini glass but you don’t have to be scared of the physics behind drinking out of it. 6 - 8 oz in volume is the typical size.

My cocktail doesn’t seem ‘balanced’. What should I do?

Bartenders love getting into discussions about the ideal build for a classic gin gimlet or whiskey sour. Some prefer a 2:1:1 build which would mean 1.5 oz base spirit, .75 oz citrus juice and .75 oz bar syrup, while others prefer a 2:.5:.5, which would mean 2 oz base spirit, .5 oz citrus juice and .5 bar syrup. Some might even go 2:.75:.5. But the point is, people have different preferences and you can feel free to adjust. If you want more of an acidic pop, add more lemon or lime juice. If you want it a touch sweeter, add more bar syrup.

Why is there a ‘Tip Your Bartender’ button on here? Can’t you just make it a paid subscription?

Yes, technically I could. But unfortunately the minimum charge is $5 a month, and quite frankly I find that too steep. I’d like this to be accessible to everyone who wants to mix drinks at home, so I thought a ‘pay what you’d like’ system makes the most sense for this newsletter. Tips are absolutely not necessary but always appreciated!

What’re you concocting and talking about next week?

I dunno, that’s for next week. Stay tuned!