Chai Cocktail Basics
Let's do a little preliminary prep, shall we? The perfect chai cocktail starts with, well, chai of course. Cold-brew your favorite brand of spicy tea, then remove the leaves and store the tea in the fridge until you're ready to use it. (Plum Deluxe has an interesting autumn seasonal chai for sale right now that you may want to check out for this very purpose.)
To really give your cocktail an extra bit of zip, infuse some tea into your vodka the night before. I recommend using chai (naturally) or a vanilla black tea. Simply add half an ounce or so of unbrewed, loose leaf tea to your standard bottle of vodka, put the cap on, and stick it in the fridge overnight. The next day, filter out the tea, put the vodka back into the bottle, and voila! Tea-infused vodka.
We'll also want to make a simple syrup by boiling one part water in a saucepan, turning off the heat, and whisking in one part sugar. You can infuse the syrup with tea flavor, too, by adding a teaspoon or two of unbrewed chai to the syrup as it cools (slap a lid on to keep the flavors in). After about ten minutes, strain the syrup into a container and let it cool, then put the lid on and pop that baby into the fridge with the rest of your cocktail ingredients.
You're all ready to go! Raise your glass and let's delve into some recipes.
Vanilla Chai Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cold chai
- 1 ounce tea vodka
- 1 ounce vanilla vodka
- 2 tablespoons simple syrup
- splash of cream
- ice
Preparation:
Measure all ingredients into a glass over ice and stir.
Dirty Chai Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cold chai
- 2 ounces Kamora coffee liqueur
- 2 tablespoons simple syrup
- 2 ounces cream
- ice
Preparation:
Measure all ingredients into a glass over ice and stir. Alternatively, you could make this drink with hot chai and omit the ice for cold-weather comfort.
Frozen Chai Mudslide
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cold chai
- 4 ounces kahlua
- 2 cups vanilla ice cream
- chocolate syrup for garnish
Preparation:
Add chai, kahlua, and ice cream to a blender and blend just until combined.
Drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of a glass, then pour the chai mixture in. Garnish with more chocolate syrup and a straw.
Photos are courtesy of the author.
