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Brrr! It's getting cold here in NJ, and I have been retreating to my fall favorites to keep warm: fires, blankets, mulled cider, and hot toddies! I first experienced a hot toddy as a child when I was sick with a sore throat or when I came in freezing from playing out in the snow. My mom presented me with this, at the time, extremely potent concoction that was overwhelming to sip but definitely took the cold edge off. Since then, I've actually come to enjoy this hot tea recipe in the fall and winter because it warms you from the inside out, and so I have adapted my own versions to my particular tastes.
The classic hot toddy is made with black tea (because it mixes well with lemon and honey), but green tea does too, and I think you could make it delicious however you want according to whatever teas you prefer. The possibilities are infinite, but here is a simple standard recipe:
1oz (or more if you like!) of brandy, whiskey, or rum
1 tablespoon honey (sometimes I like to use agave nectar instead)
1/4 lemon (add more if you accidently made it too strong)
Golden Monkey Paw black tea
Voila! Curl up next to a fire, keep sipping, and keep toasty.
I'm guilty of often over-estimating and over-brewing how much tea I really want to drink when I steep it in a pot. Sometimes I'll brew a whole pot and think that I will want to drink it all, only to drink a cup and not want anymore. I hate wasting things, and so I've tried to be more careful about how much I might realistically drink and what to do with left over tea.
There is, of course, always iced tea. I've noticed that the same kind of tea tastes totally different cold then hot, and doesn't always call for the same additional ingredients, if any at all. For example, I always put milk in my chai, but left over chai iced tea that I leave to sit in the fridge tastes much better naked and alone.
That's not the only thing I do with leftover liquid. Every so often I put some in my tropical plants. Not only the liquid, but also the tea leaves themselves. Plants that like acid or alkaline, such as azaleas, hydrangeas, dogwood, raspberries, blueberries, and most tropical plants, thrive when their soil is enhanced with the acid from teas, especially black teas. Acid-loving plants don't need this often, maybe a few times a year, but it can aid in the fullness of their leaves, the vibrancy of their color, and the overall strength and productivity of the plant. If you have a garden, the spring is a good time to mix tea leaves in with the soil, or you can add liquid tea or leaves to water and water your garden with this mixture.
Otherwise, tea leaves are always a great addition to a compost pile. This helps to aid in the breakdown of organic matter in the compost, and gives the soil nitrogen. Nothing needs to be wasted!
Last week, as my paddle sliced the inky lake water of Northern Minnesota, my mind wandered like a radio on scan. The beautiful surrounding set my wanderlusting mind on roam. On this particular day up North, I could feel the chill in the air and see the stirring wind sending waves and white caps to greet our lightweight canoe. Naturally, I tuned my mind to visions of fall: orange and red dotting the trees, football games, Halloween!, plus the perfect cozy sweater and a hot mug of cider. I would’ve traded my paddle for any of them.
It’s the dog days of summer, but I’m already anticipating the new season, new beginnings and a new take on a classic drink. I believe it’s in order.
Cider on Fire—as I like to call it, however, Mulled Cider works too.
Inspired by Nigella Lawson from the Food Network.
• 1 pint (16 fluid ounces) cider
• 2 fluid ounces dark rum
• 9 fluid ounces Apricot Chai*
• 1 1/2 ounces soft dark brown sugar
• 2 clementines
• 4 cloves
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 2 cardamom pods
*California Tea House’s Apricot Chai takes this to a whole other level. With a blend of citrus peels, vanilla bean bits, ginger slices and more, the result is an aphrodisiac that will spike up your party and punch.
Directions: Pour the cider, rum and herbal tea into a wide saucepan. Add the sugar and place the saucepan over a low heat. Slice the clementines in half and stick a clove into each half. Add the clementines to the pan. Break the cinnamon sticks in half. Add the cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom pods to the saucepan. Heat the saucepan until the mixture is almost boiling. Turn down the heat once the pan is near to boiling. To serve, ladle the mulled cider into heatproof glasses with handles (or cozy gloves).
Perfect post-canoe battle, a festive fall event or right now. Believe me, you’ll want to save this. I’m still dreaming about it.
Ingredients: Serves 8
1/2 cup Earl Grey Simple Syrup or other tea infused simple syr up
6 cups mixed fresh fruit cut into cubes or rounds
Mint sprigs for garnish
Directions:
If you want slightly softer fruit, heat the syrup, then pour it over the fruit in a large bowl and chill. For fresh, crisp fruit, use cool syrup. Toss it with the fruit, garnish with frest mint sprigs, and serve.
Earl Grey Simple Syrup
Ingredients:
2.5 cups boiling water
1/4 cup loose-leaf Earl Grey tea leaves
2 cups granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon dried lavender
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lime
Impression:
I love fruit as much as I love tea. Discovering this recipe from the book, Culinary Tea, was an absolutely blissful moment for me. Making the simple syrup was just that: simple. I didn't have plain Earl Grey tea, nor did I have a vanilla bean, even though dried lavender is ornated around my house. But what I did have is our Vanilla Creme Earl Grey which does contain vanilla and lavender, so this was perfect in making the syrup without deviating from the recipe at all! The zested orange and limes were a pleasantly refreshing touch. I used blueberries and raspberries and boy was I in heaven from the first bite. This is a perfect snack to have while you watch either the sunrise or the sunset. I even had enough left over the next day to drizzle in a cup of greek plain yogurt and that too... was scrumptious.
While flying to Las Vegas for a friend's bachelorette party, I was page-turning Southwest airline's magazine called "Spirit" when I happened upon a most interesting tea alcoholic drink. With its main ingredient being tea, naturally I was eager to try this on our trip and figured it would do the ladies a lot of good to loosen up the right way while tanning at the Hard Rock poolside.
The article's title was "Bourbon Slush" and it was a recipe provided by Fred Thompson, author of Bourbon: 50 Rousing Recipes for a Classic American Spirit. I will soon discover that Fred properly characterizes this concoction as a "slurpee for grownups." Fred described the drink as a whiskey sour meets a granita. He promises that it makes a great beach drink. Hmmm...this sounded too dangerous for a pack of wild and sexy ladies in Sin City. But why else go to Vegas if we can't walk on the wild side?
So I tore out the article (yes, I'm THAT girl) with the plan of attack that the poolside bartender would make a whole pitcher for us. Needless to say, my high hopes where just that. Of course they couldn't take special orders and didn't have fresh brewed iced tea with concentrated lemonade and orange juice!
Determined to have this made, I kept the recipe in my bra for safe-keeping and enjoyed it with some friends the following Sunday at home. I must say, slushie and delishious it was! Freshing I might add, but I soon realized that one was more than plenty...
and a good idea to have kept it a secret from the ladies!
Ingredients: (Makes 6 Bourbon Slushes)
2 cups brewed black tea (I used Organic Darjeeling)
1 pint Maker's Mark
2 tablespoons sugar
1 12 ounce can frozen lemonade, concentrate, thawed
16 ounce can frozen orange juice, concentrate, thawed
Chilled lemon-lime soda
Directions:
1. Combine in large metal bowl. Put bowl in freezer, stir with a whisk every two hours until mixture is frozen.
2. Scoop frozen tea into an old-fashioned glass until it's about two-thirds full.
3. Top off with soda without stirring the mix. Serve when soda has turned the frozen tea slushy.
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