Zealong Tea Estate was featured in the Summer 2018 issue of Nourish Magazine, followed by some delicious Zealong cocktail and iced tea recipes (including the Lady Gastby Daiquiri, courtesy of SkyCity’s Huami restaurant).
View the article online here, or view the cocktail and iced tea recipes on the Nourish Magazine website.
To prove tea is not just for breakfast or the colder months, the team at Zealong work with some of New Zealand’s best mixologists to create a variety of tea-based drinks. Here are a couple to tempt you this summer.
Huami’s Lady Gatsby Daiquiri
This is a great summer recipe for a cocktail party that’s best prepared the day before. The team at Huami recommend using good quality Manuka honey and rum like el Dorado 3yo white rum.
The syrup and infusion recipes make enough for six cocktails. Simply double, triple or quadruple … To suit your needs.
60ml LG infused El Dorado 3yo rum
30ml Gatsby Honey syrup (see recipe below)
20ml fresh lime juice
Fill a shaker with ice and shake, then double strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a fresh or dehydrated lime.
Gatsby Rum Infusion
360ml quality white rum
1 tsp Zealong Lady Gatsby tea
Combine in a container and stir. Let this sit for about half hour, then strain. Don’t leave for too long or you will get too much tannin from the tea.
Gatsby Honey Syrup
100g Manuka honey
100ml water
2 tbsp Zealong Lady Gatsby tea
Heat water in a por to about 80°C. Add 1 tablespoon LG tea. After a few minutes stir in honey. Let it heat through until even texture. Don’t boil. Take off heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of tea, stir and leave to cool. Best to let this mixture sit overnight then strain before using.
Dehydrated Lime
We use dehydrated lime wheels as a garnish. These are easy to make at home, even if you don’t have a dehydrator. Simply preheat oven to about 90°C, fan bake. Lay cut lime wheels on a wire rack. Bake for about 2‒3 hours or until dry to the touch.
Zealong Ice Breaker Mojito
Muddle 1 tbsp raw sugar, ¼ cut lime, and 5‒6 sprigs of mint in the glass, then half-fill with crushed Zealong Ice Breaker ice.
Pour over 30ml Limoncello and 45ml your choice of white or dark rum and stir.
Fill the rest of the glass with crushed Zealong Ice Breaker ice and top up with soda water.
Garnish with a slice of lime, mint sprig, or Zealong Ice Breaker tea bag.
Zealong Ice Breaker ice
Infuse three tea bags of Zealong Ice Breaker tea in 400ml hot water for 3 minutes. Let cool, then pour into ice cube trays.
Once frozen, crush the ice as needed.
Zealong Cold Brew
For a refreshing all-natural iced tea weigh 10g of Zealong loose leaf tea (or 4 Zealong tea bags) per litre of spring water and allow to infuse at room temperature overnight (10‒12 hours). Once brewing is complete, strain tea leaves out and refrigerate brewed tea until cold. Iced tea is best served chilled! For something a bit more special, infuse with sparkling water.
Enjoy either alone or used as a mixer in your favourite long or short drink.