Ginger-Mint 'G & Tea'

You can and should cold brew green tea—not just during the summer. In this recipe from Digital Content Editor / Resident Mixologist Kelly, cold brewed green tea meets bright, zingy ginger-mint syrup for a gin-based cocktail to enjoy any time of the year. The recipe makes one cocktail, but since you'll be making batches of green tea and ginger-mint syrup anyway, we encourage scaling up and sharing with friends.

For Green Tea:

1 litre cold water (filtered, ideally)
15-20g good-quality loose green tea

For Ginger-Mint Syrup:

100g sugar
100ml water
50g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, tightly packed

Method: Green Tea & Ginger-Mint Syrup

1. Make the green tea: Whisk green tea with water and let it brew for 6 hours at room temperature, or in the fridge overnight. Once brewed, stir and strain until you have clear liquid. Put the tea back in the fridge to chill.
2. Make the ginger-mint syrup: In a saucepan, bring sugar, 100ml water, and ginger to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add mint leaves. Let it steep for 1 hour. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bottle or jar. (The syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month.)

Method: G & Tea Cocktail

1. Combine tea, gin, ginger-mint syrup and lemon juice in a mixing glass.
2. Pour over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with ginger slice. Enjoy!

BK Tips

• Use any leftover ginger-mint syrup to flavour lemonade or for other cocktails (such as Mint Juleps). You can also drizzle it over a tea cake—it would be particularly nice over a lemon loaf cake.
  
  
• This green tea brew is best made in a non-reactive vessel such as glass or stainless steel. Alternatively, to skip a step, you can buy unsweetened bottled green tea.