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Cocktail History
The Wintertime Tea is a winter cocktail that was created by food writer and author Jessica Strand and was first published in Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season. The book listed a simple non-alcoholic recipe that added a few ounces of rosemary syrup to the classic Arnold Palmer’s template of ice tea mixed with lemonade. But for our boozier version, we also mixed in some Yellow Chartreuse for even more herbal complexity.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Black Tea: This is a type of tea made with the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. We used Twinings Premium Black Tea.
Sparkling Lemonade: This is a soda made with lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. We used IZZE Sparkling Original Lemonade.
Yellow Chartreuse: This is a liqueur made in France with over a hundred herbs and plants, spices, sugar, and alcohol. For a mocktail version of this drink, omit the Yellow Chartreuse.
Winter Herb Syrup: This is a sweetener made with rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, sage leaves, white sugar, gum Arabic powder, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s sous vide recipe.
Lemon Slice: This is a slice of lemon that has been cut into a half wheel shape.
Rosemary: This is an evergreen herb.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. We used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
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Tasting Notes
The Wintertime Tea begins with citrus and rosemary aromas followed by a taste that features the slight dryness of chilled black tea along with an effervescent lemon sweetness, all of which is punctuated heavily by rosemary and Chartreuse botanicals lingering on the swallow.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: We both agreed that this was one phenomenally tasty and refreshing twist on the classic Arnold Palmer! The Wintertime Tea was a great pick for christening our first-ever bottle of Yellow Chartreuse and will definitely be added to our winter rotation.
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“We don’t use tea in drinks often enough, in my opinion, and I hope we change that, especially after trying this boozy version. Herbal Yellow Chartreuse and earthy tea are a match made in heaven, the sparkling lemonade adds a refreshing touch, and the evergreen notes are a welcome wintry addition. It all just works together really well, and even though I typically prefer a hot tea drink when the temperatures turn cold, this one will be too delicious not to make again.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season by Jessica Strand.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2024-10-14.
Wintertime Tea
The Wintertime Tea is a winter cocktail that was created by food writer and author Jessica Strand and was first published in Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season. The book listed a simple non-alcoholic recipe that added a few ounces of rosemary syrup to the classic Arnold Palmer’s template of ice tea mixed with lemonade. But for our boozier version, we also mixed in some Yellow Chartreuse for even more herbal complexity.
Ingredients
Method
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Add tea, lemonade, Yellow Chartreuse, winter herb syrup, and cracked ice to a highball glass.
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Stir for 5-10 seconds.
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Garnish with lemon slice and rosemary sprig.
