Wintertime Tea

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Cocktail History

The Wintertime Tea is a low-proof 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’s was 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 because it’s very flavorful.

Sparkling Lemonade: This is a soda made with lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. We used IZZE Sparkling Original Lemonade because it’s delicious and made with real citrus juices.

Yellow Chartreuse: This is a liqueur made in France by infusing over 130 different herbs and plants with sugar, water, and alcohol. For a mocktail version of this drink, omit the Yellow Chartreuse.

Rosemary Syrup: This is a sweetener made with rosemary, white sugar, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s stovetop recipe.

Lemon Slice: This is a slice of lemon that has been cut into a half wheel shape.

Rosemary Sprig: This is an evergreen herb.

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! It was a great pick for christening our first-ever bottle of Yellow Chartreuse and will definitely be added to our winter rotation.

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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.”

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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.

Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season

Hardcover Book; Strand, Jessica (Author); English (Publication Language); 128 Pages – 09/22/2020 (Publication Date) – Chronicle Books (Publisher)

$19.95

AuthorVery Merry Cocktails

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 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

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