3 Easy-to-Make Tea-Infused Martinis

Pardon me, old chap, but did you know that teatime is becoming the new happy hour?! Calm down, we’re not suggesting you replace your happy hour with tea and crumpets! Quite the contrary actually. Our mixologists have been crafting new ways to incorporate tea into delicious cocktails!

Use the recipes below as an excuse to call up your Sunday brunch crew for a very un-brunchy afternoon gathered around a Mad Hatter inspired tablescape with all the fixins for tantalizing tea-based cocktails! Just don’t forget to occasionally shout “Clean cup, clean cup! Move down!” as it’s a great way to keep the energy up for a rambunctious teatime! We’ve even included a boozy twist on macarons that will pair wonderfully with, well, everything, as macarons are always amazing.

Earl Grey Lavender Martini

Ingredients

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 tbsp. lavender simple syrup (more to taste)
• 1 earl grey tea bag (can use for up to 6 servings)
• 1.5 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Let the earl grey tea bag steep in the vodka or gin for at least 20 minutes, or longer (up to an hour) if you want a stronger earl grey flavor.
2. Mix together the infused alcohol, lemon juice, and lavender simple syrup into a mixing glass filled with ice.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Optional: Garnish with lavender buds and/or lemon slices.

Green Tea and Thyme Martini

Ingredients

For the Green Tea:

• 3 green tea bags
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

For the Martini:

• 2 ½ oz. prepared green tea
• 1 ½ oz. Vodka
• ½ tsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Add 2 cups of water to a microwavable dish and heat until boiling in the microwave for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tea bags, honey and fresh thyme to the boiling water. Cover with a plate and let steep for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the thyme and let cool in the refrigerator until you’re ready.
4. In a shaker filled with ice, add 2 ½ oz. of your brewed tea, the vodka, and lemon juice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.
5. Garnish with a fresh thyme sprig and a slice of lemon.

Sweet Tea Lemon Drop Martini

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ oz. Sweet Tea Vodka
• ¼ oz. triple sec
• ¾ oz. lemon juice
• Colored sugar in yellow
• Candied lemons for garnish

Directions

1. Cut a slice of lemon and rub the fruit across the rim of your glass to moisten it so the sugar will stick.
2. Dip the rim of the glass in colored sugar to coat. We picked yellow sugar.
3. Combine the vodka, triple sec and the lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake well.
4. Strain drink into glass. Garnish with candied lemons.

Champagne And Raspberry Chambord Confetti Macarons

Ingredients

• Macaron shells
• 150g finely ground and sieved almond flour
• 150g confectioner’s sugar
• 150g granulated sugar
• 110g egg whites 35g water
• 4 tbsp. rainbow sprinkles

Champagne and Raspberry Chambord buttercream filling:

• 250g butter 250-300g confectioner’s sugar
• 6-10 drops champagne essence
• 6-10 drops raspberry essence
• 2 tbsp. raspberry Chambord liqueur
• Pink food color paste

Directions

MACARON SHELLS:

1. Wipe down everything that will touch the egg whites with lemon juice. This eliminates grease, as any fat left on your whisk or bowls will ‘deflate’ your eggs, meaning no meringue will form. Also make sure to only ever use glass or metal bowls and measuring cups as plastic ‘soaks’ in and holds on to fatty residue.
2. Sieve your almond flour and confectioner’s sugar together three times. (Yes, three times. You run the risk of rather unattractive lumpy looking macarons if your dry mix isn’t as refined as it should be.) Set aside.
3. Take your egg whites and halve them. Add the unwhipped half to your dry almond flour and confectioner’s sugar mix. Set this aside. Take the other half of the egg whites and add to your stand mixer (it is essential that you have one as you’ll need to leave it whisking as you prep your syrup). Whisk these on a medium to high setting until soft peaks form, then set to a low speed as you ready your syrup.
4. In a small saucepan, bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil. Check the temperature with a candy thermometer. When the mix becomes a syrup and reaches 244 degrees F it’s ready!
5. Take your syrup and add to your whisked egg whites as they whisk on a slow setting. The best way to add the syrup is by pouring it down one side of the mixing bowl— by touching the bowl as it slides down, it begins to cool slightly. Add the syrup steadily and slowly to avoid lumps.
6. Whisk on a medium to high setting until you get glossy soft peaks. One way to test if the meringue is ready is by touching the base of the mixing bowl. When you added the syrup the bowl was hot, but once the base of the bowl is warm to the touch, it’s ready!
7. Add two tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles into your dry mix.
8. Now add your meringue mix to your dry mix and fold using a clean spatula (remember to wipe it clean with lemon juice before using). You should only need to fold the mix into a paste-like texture 30-40 times. Any more and you risk overmixing!
9. Prep a piping bag with a 1cm round piping tip. It’s tempting to use a larger tip as a 1cm may look small, but you will have so much more control with a 1cm size than a larger tip. Set aside. To avoid your macaron batter from dripping out of the piping bag while you’re readying your trays or between bakes, set it with the piping tip end folded upwards into a glass.
10. Get your baking trays, parchment paper, or mats ready. We use a mix of these when we make macarons. You can use a good non-stick baking tray but having an extra surface like parchment paper helps. Remember that parchment paper and wax paper aren’t the same. Parchment paper has a thin layer of silicone coating so that it can be used for baking, whereas wax paper has a wax coating and is only suitable for storing or wrapping up food.
11. If you need a template, try drawing out a series of circles about 1.5 inches in size onto normal paper. Once ready slide your template(s) under your parchment paper and once piped slide them out and keep them for later!
12. Once your tray(s) are ready (and templates if you’re using them) pipe out your macarons. These should be a little bit larger than a quarter.
13. Once piped, smack the tray on a flat surface. We do this 3 times and then turn the tray around before smacking it down another 3 times.
14. At this stage add some more sprinkles atop each macaron.
15. Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees C / 325 degrees F / Gas mark 3.
16. Leave to develop a skin for about 30 mins to an hour. To test if a skin has formed, touch them with your finger. If you feel and see a ‘skin’ and no batter sticks to you then they’re ready to bake!
17. Bake for 12-30 minutes depending on how you place them in your oven. We bake ours for longer as we set our tray on the lowest shelf and place an empty tray on the top shelf to avoid them browning.

Buttercream Filling:

1. In a stand mixer add butter (diced and softened) and cream.
2. Add in the confectioner’s sugar with champagne essence, raspberry essence, raspberry Chambord liqueur, and pink food color paste. Mix until incorporated.
3. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round piping tip with the buttercream.

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