Nothing carries tradition and heritage like tea. From Earl Grey to Chinese Oolong, tea has been a crucial trading link for centuries, and these tea-laced spirits allow those rich traditions to extend to your home wet bar. By Nick Walton.
If you look through the history books, some goods bind cultures more than others. Gin, for example, started its life in Holland before becoming an icon of the British upper-class. Today it’s made from Scotland to Tasmania and everywhere in between. Tea is another trading good that has crisscrossed the globe, from Boston to Ceylon and Darjeeling to Yunnan, so it’s fitting that savvy distillers have turned to the humble leaf to bring new levels of complexity to their spirits. Here are some of our favourites.
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Teasmith Gin
Scotland’s first hand-picked tea-infused gin, recently-launched Teasmith Gin is distilled in Perthshire’s Strathearn Distillery and takes its inspiration from the story of James Taylor, a tea plantation owner from Auchenblae who helped forge Ceylon’s tea industry. Hand-rolled Ceylon leaces from the island’s Amba Estate is joined with classic gin botanicals like citrus peel, juniper, and coriander to create a spirit that’s refreshingly young and fragrant, making it a summer essential.
Earl Grey Gin
An award-winning spirit from the T.E.A. (Tea Enriched Alcohol) range, Earl Grey Gin is made with sugar beet spirit and a clutch of botanicals, including Earl Grey leaves, bergamot oil, English rose petals, bay leaves, orange zest, and coriander. Velvety-smooth and refreshing, this elegant gin is perfect for innovative martinis and summer punches. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a touch of the Far East the company also produces a Jasmine Gin using silver tip leaves and fresh jasmine petals.
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Sipsmith London Cup
Perfect for long hot summer afternoons, Sipsmith London Cup builds on Sipsmith’s acclaimed London Dry Gin with fragrant Earl Grey and lemon verbena to create a crisp, and dry tipple ideal for tall seasonal cocktails. Stronger yet lighter than Pimms, London Cup is bottled at 29.5% ABV and delivers touches of burnt orange, caramel, cucumber, and marmalade. Top with soda and plenty of citrus.
Tang
Distilled from Chinese green leaves, the second most consumed beverage in the world, Tang was the world’s first green tea spirit when it launched in 2015. Made with spring water from France in a limited-release, this contemporary spirit has been created through a ground-breaking new distillation process that captures complex sugars from cha leaves, creating a beautifully-aromatic spirit with a bitter-sweet finish that’s aimed at a new generation of tea drinking Millennials.
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Absolut Wild Tea
Black tea from China meets Scandinavian elderflower in Absolut Wild Tea, one of the Swedish brand’s many flavoured vodkas. Combining the rich, dark notes of oolong with the delicate sweetness of white elderflower, expect hints of red apples and citrus, with a floral yet dry finish that makes it ideal for cold cocktails on a hot day.
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