This is our take on the classic dark and stormy. Instead of spiced rum, we let the chai deliver the body and spice of the drink.
As with the Paris cocktail, the key here is a strong brew of the chai tea. We used eight teaspoons in a 2-cup pot resulting in a quadruple strength infusion. Make sure to press the leaves out to get the last drops. It's best to prepare the strong brew a day ahead so you can adequately chill the tea and make this cocktail as refreshing as possible. Alternative methods call for letting the tea sit for upwards of 15 minutes, but I find that sometimes an unpleasant bitterness accompanies this process. What you’ll notice is a fascinating process called “creaming” where the tea gets cloudy, you can find out more and why here.
A strong ginger flavor beverage is important here, though we used our favorite Ginger ale Bruce Cost which is as close to a ginger beer without the fermentation process that sets ginger beer apart. We hope you enjoy this cocktail!
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Enjoy getting to know Tsuyoshi Sugimoto, the owner and president of Shohokuenchten tea company in Kyoto, Japan, and a longtime colleague and friend of the Harneys.
