Pomegranate Ginger White Tea Mocktail

I’m so glad I’ve been able to stick to my new blog post every sunday for 3 weeks in a row! I’ve been thinking about fall because it’s been chilly for a week or so here. What do you think of when you hear the word fall? Pumpkins? Apples? Pears? For me, all of those but also pomegranates! They have been one of my favorite fruits since I was a kid and I enjoy them any time but in the colder months especially.

I get a weekly produce box called Imperfect Box that is trying to fight food waste. The box uses Imperfect produce and excess inventory on lots of items that would otherwise get thrown away. It’s especially cool because someone I went to high school with started this business! If you click the link above you can check it out and if you sign up through my referral link you’ll get $10 towards your first order. I’ve found this to be super convenient especially during the pandemic to get some essentials delivered to me. Please note that if you sign up through my referral code, I am also awarded $ towards my purchases.

Back to pomegranates, I had that as an option to me and was so excited to receive them in my imperfect box this past Tuesday. Using pomegranates as my base, I looked at my tea to see what would go well. I debated between an oolong and white tea and finally landed on a white tea. Next, to make this mocktail more interesting, I purchased some spicy ginger beer to add some sweet and spice!

This is basically the entire recipe but I wanted to share a few notes about it. For the pomegranates, I made a juice. For these two glasses I made juice from one pomegranate. After seeding the pomegranate, I put the seeds in a food processor, the pulp is almost purple! Then take the pulp and juice and strain it. I wanted a little pulp in mine so I wiped the strainer back and forth to get some of the pulp in the juice. This still keeps out the larger pieces.

If you’ve never seeded a pomegranate, here is a video showing you how I was taught to do it.

For the tea, you can cold or hot brew it. Due to timing, I brewed mine hot then ran it through a press brew that had ice to cool it down to make the process quicker. I would suggest adding a little bit of extra tea so the brew is stronger and will come through with the other flavors.

A note about the ginger beer. I only used ginger beer but I think to make it less sweet you could always change the proportions and do something like 1/2 the glass with tea then fill the rest with a combo of pomegranate juice, ginger beer and a plain seltzer.

This was made to be a mocktail but I took some of it and added a bit of whiskey to enjoy so it can easily be turned into a cocktail if you’d like that too!

Orange Chai Bourbon

I'm back with another Owl's Brew Raddler drink recipe! This one has a little bit of a kick! The raddler used in this recipe is a seasonal one called Short and Stout. The stout is blended with Chai spices, coconut and pineapple. YUM! I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned my beer preferences before but I'm a stout lover, and a chai lover so this flavor was made for me!

You're probably like UGH she is using Bourbon again?! Let me tell you why though! Besides being a total unabashed bourbon lover, it goes well with so many flavors! The spiciness of chai specifically goes well with bourbon in my experience. 

This is a super simple recipe but has an important step that I think unlocks all sorts of flavors. To start the drink off you want to add the orange slice FIRST then pour the bourbon over the orange. When you let these two sit for a few minutes they are getting the chance to know each other better and mixing their flavors up :)

HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART! Take a spoon, muddler or whatever you can find and mash that orange and bourbon together!!! Not only are you mixing the flavors but the pulp gives the drink an extra punch and more texture. 

An orange garnish is perfect for any orange lover who wants to squeeze a little extra juice in their drink. 

All these flavors go really well together and the bourbon gives it a kick! When Mr. Tea Thoughts tried it he said, " It tastes like fall in a cup!" Enjoy your orange chai bourbon fall in a cup! 

Beer, tea & tequila cocktail

BeerTea!

I find all sorts of fun brands through instagram and I was so excited to come across Owl's Brew which combines beer & tea! I was at a total wine & more and came across this flavor that combines amber ale, darjeeling hibiscus, strawberry and lemon juice. How could I resist?!

Just a little background, I actually enjoy a good beer so the thought of combining beer and tea was really exciting for me. They have a stout coming out in October with chai and I can't wait to try that one too!

After some thought, I decided that the black tea and lemon would be a great combo with tequila. I also wanted to add a little spice so I included some ginger liqueur as well. The great thing about this cocktail is that you should make it one cup and you can control how strong or weak you want the drink to be!

I suggest using equal parts tequila and ginger liquer so that you get both flavors but it's not too strong. 

Once everything is in the cup just fill the rest of the cup with the Owl's Brew! The majority of the drink is the Owl's Brew so it's bubbly and sweet!

I really like the taste of these flavors combined especially because the Owl's brew has the distinct taste of beer AND tea. 

The lime garnish is a great addition to give your drink an extra kick if you'd like!

This is a super easy drink and could be made into a pitcher as well if you have a larger party. 

Do you have a favorite tea cocktail?! 

Green Tea Passion Fruit Champagne Cocktail

Tea Crystals.

What the heck are tea crystals?! I didn't know either! Pique Tea reached out to me to try their tea and I was intrigued! I've probably mentioned that I'm somewhat of a loose leaf snob but am always willing to try new things! Before I received the tea I checked out the process and guess what? To get these crystals, the tea is in fact brewed from loose leaves!

I think it's really cool that these crystals are made from actual brewed tea and are able to keep in the benefits and flavors of the tea. Although, I like to enjoy my tea slowly and in places where I don't have to rush, these packets are perfect for people who want tea but can't make the time or for traveling! I also think that these packets make tea more accessible to people and I'm all about spreading the love for tea!  

You're welcome to brew this tea with hot or cold water, I used cold water because I didn't want to wait for the hot tea to cool down. If you're making these for a party I would also suggest cold water so you can make these drinks right away! Once the water hit the crystals, they start dissovling.

I'm not sure if I've ever discussed my process but I do a lot of flavor brainstorming before I create a recipe. I think about the flavor and what I've had it with and what I've liked it best with. I also think about dishes I like and wish there was tea in! I've had many passion fruit flavored things but I'm not sure I've ever eaten a passion fruit by itself so I had to do a little research about what flavors pair well with it. 

In my research, I concluded that raspberries and champagne were a great combo for this tea! I did not sweeten this drink but if you like sweet drinks, simply add honey or sugar to the tea or the finished drink! 

You can kind of play around with the amount of tea vs champagne in this drink. I made mine slightly boozier by adding more champagne than tea. I was thinking that if you had frozen raspberries you could even use those to make this drink even cooler!

This is a super simple cocktail and I think it's great for a party! Pique Tea is affordable and has green and black teas, you can check out their flavors here!