Spirited tea

A spirits distillery was the last place I expected to find tea. A group of us ate a picnic lunch on the grounds of St. George Spirits in Albany Alameda, CA and followed our meal with a tasting. We sampled several vodkas and whiskeys (one glass to four people) as well as Qi Spirits (which is produced by Qi Spirits in San Francisco the same company). We tasted Qi Black and White Tea Liqueurs, neat. The white spirit was dry, astringent and slightly fruity while the black liqueur was smoky and smooth, reminiscent of lapsang.


left, white liqueur
black liqueur

A week before the tasting, I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle's "The Coctailian" column about a white nectar cocktail made with Numi White Nectar organic tea (Numi is located in Oakland, Ca). A web search on tea and cocktails yielded sites devoted to the Zen Green Tea Liqueur and an article on tea-based cocktails. I think I will remain focused on the numerous teas and steeping techniques I have not tasted and tried before I add the tea-cocktail to my repertoire.