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Cocktail History
The Wintertime Tea is a winter cocktail that was created by food writer and author Jessica Strand and was first published in Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season. The book listed a simple non-alcoholic recipe that added a few ounces of rosemary syrup to the classic Arnold Palmer’s template of ice tea mixed with lemonade. But for our boozier version, we also mixed in some Yellow Chartreuse for even more herbal complexity.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Black Tea: This is a type of tea made with the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. We used Twinings Premium Black Tea.
Sparkling Lemonade: This is a soda made with lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. We used IZZE Sparkling Original Lemonade.
Yellow Chartreuse: This is a liqueur made in France with over a hundred herbs and plants, spices, sugar, and alcohol. For a mocktail version of this drink, omit the Yellow Chartreuse.
Winter Herb Syrup: This is a sweetener made with rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, sage leaves, white sugar, gum Arabic powder, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s sous vide recipe.
Lemon Slice: This is a slice of lemon that has been cut into a half wheel shape.
Rosemary: This is an evergreen herb.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. We used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Tasting Notes
The Wintertime Tea begins with citrus and rosemary aromas followed by a taste that features the slight dryness of chilled black tea along with an effervescent lemon sweetness, all of which is punctuated heavily by rosemary and Chartreuse botanicals lingering on the swallow.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: We both agreed that this was one phenomenally tasty and refreshing twist on the classic Arnold Palmer! The Wintertime Tea was a great pick for christening our first-ever bottle of Yellow Chartreuse and will definitely be added to our winter rotation.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“While the original recipe we found was a non-alcoholic drink made with tea, lemonade, and a heap of rosemary syrup, we decided to amp it up to at least a low-ABV concoction and chose Yellow Chartreuse’s herbal blend as the perfect punctuation. The result is a tasty cooler offering plenty of herbaceousness but even more refreshment, and the whole thing just says ‘wintertime’ in the best possible way.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“We don’t use tea in drinks often enough, in my opinion, and I hope we change that, especially after trying this boozy version. Herbal Yellow Chartreuse and earthy tea are a match made in heaven, the sparkling lemonade adds a refreshing touch, and the evergreen notes are a welcome wintry addition. It all just works together really well, and even though I typically prefer a hot tea drink when the temperatures turn cold, this one will be too delicious not to make again.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season by Jessica Strand.
Add tea, lemonade, Yellow Chartreuse, winter herb syrup, and cracked ice to a highball glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Garnish with lemon slice and rosemary sprig.
Ingredients
Directions
Add tea, lemonade, Yellow Chartreuse, winter herb syrup, and cracked ice to a highball glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Garnish with lemon slice and rosemary sprig.
Make It a Mocktail: Omit the Yellow Chartreuse to try a booze-free version of this drink.
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More Winter Cocktails
If you like this winter-inspired cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Chartreuse Toddy: A brandy cocktail made with water, Green Chartreuse, lemon juice, honey syrup, and star anise
Winter Mojito: A rum cocktail made with lime juice, winter herb syrup, soda water, a lime slice, and rosemary
Winter Pimm’s Cup: A Pimm’s liqueur cocktail made with lemon juice, simple syrup, ginger syrup, American lager, blood orange slices, cranberries, rosemary, and oregano
Frostbite: A tequila cocktail made with blue curaçao, white crème de cacao, heavy cream, and a cherry
This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2023-11-29.
