Last Saturday, after the couple of tiki cocktails that I had whipped up, the girls were ready for something different. There’s been a bit of a buzz over the last year for cocktails that are mixed with tea (and for liquor bottled with tea) that I’ve largely ignored. However, with a couple of adult beverages already in me, my inhibitions were lowered and I decided to give tea based cocktails a try.
For this effort I pulled out my bottle of Evan Williams bourbon and my Stirrings Peach liqueur. These are two flavors that go well together and also seemed a natural to go with a Southern inspired tea based cocktail – particularly since I’d be using Gwen’s sweet tea. After fooling around with the bourbon, peach liqueur, tea and maple syrup (yes, that’s right, maple syrup – it adds depth to the flavor profile) I settled on two versions of the same cocktail. One is sweeter and one is more boozy, thus fitting Gwen’s and my tastes.
Sweet Peach Tea
- 1-1/2 oz Evan Williams bourbon
- 1/8 oz Stirrings Peach Liqueur
- 1/4 oz maple syrup
- 4 oz sweet tea
Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously to chill and combine. Pour into a collins glass, adding ice if needed. Garnish with a peach slice.
This drink has a nice, sweetly mellow flavor. I really had to cut down on the peach liqueur, having started with 1/2 oz. Even that small amount overwhelmed the drink. However, for my taste, this was a bit too sweet, so I adjusted it for my taste.
Peach Tea
- 2 oz Evan Williams bourbon
- 1/8 oz Stirrings Peach Liqueur
- 1/4 oz maple syrup
- 4 oz sweet tea
Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously to chill and combine. Pour into a collins glass, adding ice if needed. Garnish with a peach slice.
This version gets closer to the boozy cocktails that I prefer while still maintaining all its southern charm. With more bourbon and less tea there is a deeper, smokier quality and the maple notes come through stronger as well, which make a nice compliment to the bourbon and peach.
By the time we got through these cocktails it was definitely time to call it a night…which, of course, we didn’t do. The cocktail experimenting was definitely over though!
Cheers!