Fall… the most nostalgic, sweet, smoky and luxurious of all seasons. The grape harvest, the weather turning chilly, we go back to craving hot tea, even though we never really abandoned it in the summer. When I was a child, fall meant collecting edible chestnuts with my dog, playing in the fallen leaves and trying to avoid the spiky chestnut pods (ouch, those spiky pods sting!). Chestnuts are delicious roasted on an open fire, they become soft, sweet, smoky and earthy. For me smoky and earthy flavors are the embodiment of fall, which is why I’ve created a tea based cocktail that brings all those notes together. Smoky cocktails usually feature Mezcal, a Mexican agave-based liquor, similar to Tequila, but I’m using something different. OK, I had a card up my sleeve, a smoked tea vanilla syrup and a smoky tea, so I guess that makes it 2 cards up my sleeve. The tea I used is Blue Willow Tea Heaven Needle or Tian Jian, a sheng puerh-style tea from Hunan, China, picked in the spring and smoked over pine wood. While researching information about this type of tea, I found out that Tian Jian is referred to as Hunan hei cha (dark tea) and it’s pile-fermented (similarly to ripe puerh, but the process is milder). Is it closer to sheng or shou puerh? Flavor-wise, to neither. Have you tried it? What do you think? Let me know in the comments down below.

To help beat the blues that inevitably come with shorter days and less sunlight, this tea cocktail is bright and vibrant. Read on to find out what makes it so bright and remember, drink responsibly.

My favorite smoky tea cocktail

Ingredients:
1 oz (3 cl) bourbon
3 gr smoked Tian Jian tea leaves
1 teaspoon Smoked Tea Vanilla Syrup (I used Raft)
¼ of a small beetroot (steamed, peeled and diced)
Fresh ginger, grated (to taste)
Juice of  ½ a Meyer lemon
Juice of ½ a lime
Juice of ½ an orange

Instructions:
Steep the tea leaves for 5 minutes in 1 cup water at 195 F (90 C), let cool to room temperature. Measure 2 oz (6 cl) of cooled tea into a cocktail shaker. Add Smoked Tea Vanilla Syrup. Separately, blend together beetroot, ginger and citrus juice until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. You won’t need the coarse beetroot pulp for this recipe, but you can set it aside to add to your oatmeal or smoothies. Measure 4 oz (12 cl) of beetroot and citrus juice mixture and add it to the cocktail shaker together with ice cubes. Shake vigorously, strain into a coupe or other glass of choice and serve. Cheers!

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion. I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned in this blog post.