Mocktail: Rocket and Groot Iced Tea

Guardians of the Galaxy is finally out and to celebrate I’ve whipped up my first mocktail. It doesn’t require a lot of mixing, but it will require some specialty ingredients. It’s a cold-brewed iced green tea infused with whole dried hops. 

I’ve wanted to incorporate hops into a non-alcoholic drink for a while, since there’s some evidence that hops have relaxation properties. Also the flavour range on hops is incredible. Hops can add flavours from floral (crystal hops), to citrus (centennial), piney (simcoe), and even cannabis (Zeus).

 The drink takes its name from Rocket, a racoon-like creature and the heavy weapons specialist in the film and his friend and bodyguard Groot, a walking/talking tree. In honour of Rocket’s lose of guns, I used gunpowder green tea (I’m not sure which kind specifically, but it’s at least gunpowder style) and for the Flora colossus himself hop flowers.

Source: MoviePilot.com

This is an interesting mocktail with a complex flavour that’s simple to make and cures that hop craving without having crack open a beer. The final flavour is light and slightly citrusy without bitterness.

 In the picture above it’s only been brewing for about 15 minutes, so the colour isn’t very dark yet. The finished picture is under the recipe.

Ingredients

1.5 Tablespoons gunpowder green tea

6-8 dried hop flowers

Combine in pitcher and fill with cool water. Allow to brew for 2.5 hours. Strain and pour into glass with ice. Serve with lemon (optional).

What type of dinosaur was the most relaxed?

The Tea-Rex

Cuppa Joy

The Cuppa Joy is a sweet and boozy cocktail that’s delightfully British. The name comes from my girlfriend Kim-Joy of NeedToKnead, who made the teabag shaped biscuits you see in the later pictures. It’s also her teapot. This week I’ve decided to continue with my love of infusing simple syrups. Last week we explored using fresh herbs as the flavouring agent in the simple syrup, but now we’re going to try something dried. The Cuppa Joy is a martini-style drink made from gin, lemon juice, and Earl Grey-infused simple syrup with a beautiful reddish-brown colour, fragrant nose, sweet taste and bitter finish.

Last week I suggested using a mid-range gin like Bombay Sapphire, which you can still use for this cocktail. Or you can try using some of the 5 quid stuff I bought for a party. But this cocktail is all about the gin, and the quality of your creation is directly tied to the caliber of gin you use. I recommend an upmarket gin such as Hendricks if you prefer a more earthy-vegetable taste in your martinis, or Masons if you prefer a clean yet herbal flavour.

Source: http://needtoknead.wordpress.com/

Ingredients

Ice

50ml Gin

30ml Earl Grey-infused simple syrup (recipe below)

10ml lemon juice

Length of orange peel for garnish

Combine ingredients with ice in a transparent glass. Stir with a long spoon and the ice will begin to melt. Once the volume of the liquid has about doubled (this will mellow out the boozy-ness). Strain into chilled martini glass or tea cup if you prefer. Remove the peel from the orange with a vegetable peeler and twist it above the drink. You will likely see a tiny spritz come off of the peel, that’s orange oil and it’s super flavourful and aromatic. Drop the peel into the drink and serve.

Earl Grey infused simple syrup

50g white sugar

150ml water

1 teabag of Earl Grey

Bring the water to the boil, combine sugar and tea bag. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Once it’s cool, remove the teabag, give it another stir and bottle. It will last for one month in an airtight container.

How do Americans make their tea?

They throw it in the harbour.