BENGALURU: The first beverage that most of us drink when we wake up is usually coffee or tea. Personally, my day doesn’t start without a cup of dark coffee without sugar. When we talk about tea or coffee in a cocktail, the first thought that comes to mind is a great Espresso Martini, which is a variation of a martini with freshly brewed Earl Grey Tea. Simply put, adding a prebrewed coffee or tea to any spirit turns a cocktail from too sweet to savoury.
Since coffee and tea contain a certain amount of caffeine naturally, cocktails with them are a great way to keep awake during a long night of partying! Coffee is naturally bitter in taste; it pairs well with ingredients such as citrus like oranges and bergamot for example. Adding freshly brewed tea leaves a beautiful dryness as an after taste, very similar to dry vermouth, and we can get some interesting flavours depending on the type of tea we use in the cocktail.
For example, Earl Grey Tea gives a tannin flavour with hints of bergamot, and so, pairs well with gin, while green tea gives a malty, grassy flavour with a light jasmine aroma, and so it could be paired with vodka. Some wonderful flavours that one could experiment pairing with coffee are oranges, vanilla, caramel, and hazelnuts, and tea could be paired with ginger, mint, honey, berries, and spices.
Apart from the classics like those mentioned earlier, some other interesting cocktails using coffee or tea are some inhouse signature drinks, which are popular, such as the ‘2 Step’ which is made by first making a decoction with Jasmine Berry tea, lime and lychee juice, and clarified with milk and paired with gin. This gives a fruity and floral note to the entire drink.
Another house favourite is the Fiction, which is inspired by the Highball, where blended scotch whisky is paired with herbal honey liqueur and a house soda of coffee and orange liqueur garnished with orange scented parchment paper and a sugar nest with coffee toasted marshmallow.
(The author is the head mixologist at Ikigai)