Gastro Traveling

Tea Forte's Cocktail Infusions

It’s time to give the Twisted Tea…Long Island Iced Tea….Texas Tea…a break for while.  And if you’re tea totaling it, pack up that sun tea canister on your back deck for the season.  With Tea Forte‘s specially crafted blends packed into silken pyramid shaped infusers, you’re in for labor-free top notch tea infused cocktails!  Just place the infuser your glass, pour the spirits over, and you get a deliciously nuanced flavor strong enough for 2 steepings.

It all started when Tea Forte’s founder had a friend jokingly toss a tea infuser into his cocktail.  Surprise!  He quickly learned that tea infuses directly into alcohol without needing hot water.  Now the race was on to develop tea combinations that could be successfully extracted by complimentary liquors.  Experimenting and consulting with chefs worldwide, one of their main objectives was also to develop effective food and liquor pairings.  What resulted were the following 3 unique blends consisting of whole leaf teas, rough-cut herbs, and flowers:

1. Lavender Citrus - Blends white tea, lavender, lemon balm, and bergamot creating a delicate palate and dramatic violet color in concoctions like Cosmo de Provence, Lavender Pear Martinis, and Lavender Lime Rickeys
2. Lemongrass Mint - Brings together lemongrass, spearmint, and lemon myrtle particularly well suited for light and refreshing drinks like a Lemongrass Gin & Tonic, Wild Mint Mojito, or a Bali Breeze
3. Silkroad Chai - An intoxicatingly rich blend of organic black tea and exotic spices adds additional layers of savory depth and complexity to cocktails like the Chai White Russian, Bombay Chai Rum &Tonic, and the Peach Chai Crush

And I didn’t forget those of you who want to keep it alcohol-free.  At this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, a premier gathering of mixologists, bar tenders, and professional tipplers featured The Sassy Southern Belle, a virgin cocktail that includes Tea  Forté’s Lemongrass Mint Infuser:

1/2 ounce Perfect or Boiron peach puree
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 ounce TLM Tea Forté mint tea-infused simple syrup
2 ounces Fre® alcohol-removed White Zinfandel
1 ounce Fre® alcohol-removed Brut