It’s safe to say I drink more tea than your grandma. I have even been known to hoard it, keeping over a dozen different flavors at a time.
New to the drinking scene, I recently heard of the rising trend of mixing tea and liquor. Although my drink of choice is a microbrew, I decided to set out to find the perfect marriage of tea and the devil’s juice.
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Amaretto tea:
- 6 oz. hot tea
- 2 oz. amaretto almond liquer
- 1 1/2 oz. chilled whipped cream
Pour hot tea into glass. Add amaretto, but do not stir. Top with chilled whipped cream.
I chose the amaretto tea looking for a contrast from the traditional cold cocktail. The amaretto tea had a pleasant sweet almond aroma. On first sip, I was hit by the sweet almond flavor before feeling the spice in the back of my throat. Although I brewed this with ginger peach tea, I would recommend using spiced chai to enhance the spicy flavor of the amaretto liquer. This hot beverage is perfect for the autumn and winter seasons, and it even tastes similar to a seasonal drink at Starbucks.
Hot toddy:
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3/4 glass tea
- 2 shots brandy
- 1 slice lemon
Brew tea and fill a tall glass 3/4 full. Mix in honey and shots. Add lemon slice.
I heard nothing but good about the classic hot toddy, so I had to try it. Although I do not like lemon with my tea, I was pleasantly surprised by this beverage. A hot toddy is perfect for someone who does not like the taste of hard liquor because the brandy doesn’t overpower the taste of the tea. Instead, the lemon and honey dominate the flavor palate. The hot toddy reminded me of my uncle’s ginger lemon tea recipe for sick days.
Tea-riffic:
- 6 oz. triple sec
- 6 oz. sweet tea
- 2 lemon wedges
- Ice
The tea-riffic recipe was anything but terrific. Upon first sip, I was reminded of Leslie Knope’s drinking bet with Tammy One when she takes a swig and says, “Poison!” This tea is similar to a traditional sweet tea, but the triple sec overpowered the taste of the tea and it just tasted like super sugary orange flavoring.
Although I completely regret buying a bottle of triple sec, the other two hard tea recipes were delicious and will be great to sip in the colder months. Even if you don’t typically drink tea, these recipes are likely to please.
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Recipes courtesy of DrinksMixer.
Collegian Social Media Editor Katie Schmidt can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @KatieDSchmidt.
