Dry January – Youth
My second no-ABV creation using tea is inspired by a gin drink called Adult Lemonade. However, instead of the juniper flavoured spirit I used a combination of herbal tea – inspired by Gin Sul – and the no-ABV spirit Seedlip. Add cucumber and a bit of acidity and you have got yourself a very refreshing drink.
Not just for Adults
Samova’s Gin Soul tea from Hamburg was inspired by Gin Sul. The tea uses juniper, lemon grass, cinnamon, lemon peel, coriander seeds, allspice, lavender and rose petals as “botanicals”. While this beautiful mix of herbs and spices is also great on its own, it also makes for a great addition in cocktails. In this case, it shares the base with the also “herbal” and somehow cucumber forward Seedlip Garden 108. Yet, instead of plain lemon juice, I went for verjus to also add more fruity notes. To balance out the drink, I added simple syrup and topped everything off with apple juice. In the end, I spontaneously decided to grate red pepper (not pink peppercorns!) on top of the drink, which also added some spiciness.
2,25 cl Seedlip Garden
3 cl Fred Loimer Verjus
2,25 cl Simple Syrup
Built – Double Old-Fashioned glass over ice cubes – top off with apple juice;
Garnish: Three Cucumber Wheels – Grate Red Pepper on top;
Song: Daughter – Youth;
Refreshing Cucumbers
The “Youth” starts with a clear and refreshing cucumber flavour. After a short while, the herbal and spicy notes of the tea kick in and add more complexity. The Seedlip underlines the fresh cucumber notes and balance out the tea a bit. Furthermore, the apple juice serves as a beautiful canvas with its slight acidity – aided by the verjus – and sweetness. All in all, this is a very delicious non-alcoholic cocktail which on the first sip you would not recognize as such.
