Tea Infused Product Spotlight: Few Spirits

I am always on the look out for tea infused products. I am a huge bourbon/rye lover and while I have infused bourbon with tea on my own I have yet to taste a great infused spirit. Enter, Immortal Rye. I first saw Few Spirits at a local Whiskey Saloon called Jack Rose. I later checked out their site and was so excited to find that they had a tea infused rye and even more excited to see that it was an 8 immortals tea! I am a huge fan o dancongs so I had to give it a try. Check out my instagram for a reel with a quick cocktail to make with this rye!

Get to know a little more about Few Spirits below and check them out HERE .

1) Can you give us a little introduction about Few Spirits?

FEW Spirits is an innovative and creative grain to glass distillery. We focus on making bold, Chicago style whiskies, full flavored and strong and with subtlety and depth.

2) Are you a tea drinker? If so what does your tea ritual look like?

I’m an occasional tea drinker, generally lapsang souchong or black teas, although i’m a incessant coffee drinker. My tea rituals are rather simplistic and utilitarian- hot water and steep, with minimal ornament.

3) What inspired you to make a tea infused rye?

We are always working to create and add unexpected flavors into whiskey. Whether that is a fruity note in our rye to cinnamon notes in our bourbon, or 8 Immortals tea in the Immortal Rye!

4) What inspired you to choose 8 immortals for the rye?

We chose 8 Immortals after extensive experimentation to see what we liked. We tried probably 30 different teas, from black to white to green to chai, as well as different preparation methods and intensity. We found that this was what we liked best - the cold extraction of the 8 Immortals, while rather non-traditional, accentuates the fruit and really enhances the fruitiness of the underlying rye whiskey. We found the flavors very balanced and rich and complex. While several other teas were exceptional as well (I personally really liked the lapsang souchong), our entire team just knew this was right.

5) What is your favorite way to enjoy the Few immortals rye?

Responsibly, of course! But I’d say i find myself drinking it most often on the rocks or in a Boulevardier.

6) What is your favorite spirit in the Few Spirits line up right now?

I can never pick a favorite - it’s just like my kids. But I am definitely reaching for the Immortal Rye frequently these days.

Uncle Nearest Whiskey + Peach Infused Oolong

Ok, so I’ve discovered a new whiskey that I LOVE. I found it by chance, it had an incredible story so I decided to give it a try! I got sucked into learning about the greatest whiskey maker the world the never knew. Read about Uncle Nearest here!

So, I broke two of my rules to make this cocktail but I’m not mad about it. A whiskey like Uncle Nearest is not one that I would create a cocktail with. It’s what I would enjoy neat. I also rarely ever drink blended tea or fruity tea but here I’ve infused the oolong with slices of peach. It turned out a lot better than I thought!

The idea I had for this drink was pretty simple. Oolong and whiskey go really well together because of their complimentary taste profiles. Peach is also a flavor that goes well with both oolong and whiskey. Peach also symbolizes the south in so many ways and because Uncle Nearest hails from Tennessee I thought this was fitting.

Cold brewing these two together gave the oolong a slightly sweeter flavor and softened the peaches even more. You could opt to sweeten this brew if you’d like but I personally decided not to as I don’t like super sweet cocktails.

When drinking this cocktail you get the punch of the whiskey that is then softened by the oolong and peach. On it’s own, it’s not very sweet at all but when you take a bite of the peach slice, it’s the perfect amount of sweet. The slice that is muddled at the bottom also has a whiskey kick!

While the pulp of the peach doesn’t make this the most attractive cocktail, I would argue that these three are an incredible mix. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more uncle nearest and make this again!

I think the flavor of uncle nearest goes well with the other flavors but you could use a whiskey of your choice. In terms of oolong, I would go with an unflavored, large leaf oolong for sure and a dancong oolong if you can as that is the type I used.

The container I used to cold brew the tea in took about 5 cups of water and that allowed me to create two glasses! You could split this up more into small glasses and have a more potent drink.