Inspiration Cocktail Soirée
Featured Tea: Four O’Clock® Chocolate Mint Black Tea
Pairs well with: lamb, strawberry confit, stolen glances
The party was fun, sure, but it seems to be ending tragically early. Oh well, one last one before you go. As you slide up to the bar you nearly miss it from across the crowded room - that grin, those eyes, so warm and enchanting. They are gravity. You can barely peel away long enough to order your drink and then you're sucked right back. It feels helpless to try and fight the pull and yet finding a way through the
throng of people feels equally impossible. But what’s the rush? The night is young and this feels inevitable. Perhaps this soiree ended at just the right time after all.
Martini’s are often misunderstood and in some ways intimidating. The beauty of them is that they can be so many things that it’s so easy to be unsure of what they really are - elegance in a glass. Of course, the muddying of these waters wasn’t helped by the era of disco drinks that gave way to such things like the Lemon Drop and the Chocolate Martini. We give a nod to the latter while still maintaining the DNA structure of the classic martini.
I’ve used an Old Tom style of gin as it tends to lean a little sweeter, something that benefits this flavour profile. However, don’t hesitate to play around with your favourite gin or even sub in vodka if that’s more to your taste. The real secret to this drink lies in the Chocolate Mint Black Tea from Four O’Clock® .
We are going to use it to create a backbone flavour profile that everything else will support, even the gin. This will be accomplished by using it as the dilution for the Martini. Every cocktail needs dilution. It’s part of why we shake or stir a drink. The dilution gives space for all the flavours of the drink to fan out and play together. It also softens the alcohol which allows us to better perceive flavours.
Normally, we dilute with water, but we can add even more flavour if we dilute with something like tea. It’s also important to remember that when doing this we will need to find another way to chill the cocktail as we wouldn’t want to shake or stir this after already diluting. The best way is to use our gorgeous tea to dilute a larger batch and then store it in the fridge, then all that’s needed is to grab and pour! This is perfect to make if you’re entertaining people and don’t want to busy yourself in the moment making Martinis for everyone.