By Robert Schinkel - Bartender, tea expert, storyteller and entrepreneur - www.robert-schinkel.nl
The Old Fashioned is one of the most classic ways of making a cocktail. The oldest definition of the cocktail is "a stimulating liqour composed of spirit of any kind, sugar, water and bitters" (1806) and this drink is precisely that. Well, almost precisely because some of the water in this cocktail is tea. The slow build-up of the drink and the extensive stirring creates a dillution that perfects the cocktail. The spirit I've used is Macallan 12 years old, a single malt Scotch from the Highlands with notes of plums, sherry, nutmeg and cinnamon. No smoke there but my choiche of tea adds a subtle note of woodfire. The Ceylon Souchong is a tea that has been gently dried on a cinnamonwood fire and connects superbly with the caracter of the whisky. This is a drink to sip slowly while your comfortably seated in good company.
Glass type: Old Fashioned
Technique: Stir
Ingredients
50 ml Macallan 12 yo.
40 ml Dilmah Ceylon Souchong
2 dashes orange bitters
1 barspoon of fine sugar
Tea brewing
Brew 2 grams of tea in 200 ml hot water (95C) for 5 minutes
Chill before use
Method
Add the sugar and the bitters to the glass
Add 2 ice cubes and stir for 15 seconds
Add 25 ml of whisky and 2 ice cubes and stir for 15 seconds
Add 25 ml of whisky and 2 ice cubes and stir for 15 seconds
Add 40 ml of tea and 2 ice cubes and stir for 15 seconds
Garnish with a sprayed orange zest