Recipes » Cocktails & Mocktails

A variation on an amaro and soda. This recipe makes a versatile tea-based bitter that can be used for cocktails, mocktails, or coffee. Adapted by BPS from recipe by Cody Kirkland, originally published in October 2015 issue of Fresh Cup Magazine.

Ingredients:
2 g Juniper berries (crushed)
5 g Gentian root
2 g Wild cherry bark
2 g Anise seed
750 mL Water
1 pouch Two Leaves Organic Gen Mai Cha Green Tea
2 pouches Two Leaves Organic Earl Grey
4 pouches Smith Tea Big Hibiscus
500 g Turbinado sugar

Directions:
Combine water, juniper berries, gentian root, wild cherry bark, and anise seeds in a pot and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add tea pouches and steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea pouches, and stir in sugar in batches until fully dissolved. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into an empty 750 mL bottle for ease of use. For bitter and soda mocktail, mix one part bitter syrup with two to three parts soda and serve straight up in a chilled Collins glass or champagne flute.

Tips:
Tea can be steeped in original pouch. If using loose leaf tea, black and green earl grey should equal approximately 10 g. Hibiscus tea should equal appromimately 15 g. Bitter can be kept refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Yield:
750 mL