Harry Brompton's London Ice Tea

Harry Brompton's London Ice Tea

The power of twitter is a force to be reckoned with, that has brought me followers and customers from across the globe and sparked connections with wonderful people from all walks of life, some of which I can now count as friends. One such connection is the very lovely @GreyFoxBlog who has long been a champion of British design and manufacture and who was instrumental in introducing me (once again through the medium of twitter) to the chaps at Harry Brompton's London Ice Tea. They appropriately met at the Best of Britannia 2013, a celebration of all that is great about British design, manufacture and produce, where friends, Philip Harding and Ian ODonohue, along with his father Martin, were keen to extoll the virtues of their premium, bottled, alcoholic ice tea. Whilst selflessly quaffing their delicious ice tea in the name of supporting British produce, Grey Fox recalled his dipsomaniac, tea loving, cocktail creating, glass painting, blogging friend (does that make me a 'renaissance woman'?) and decided we would be a perfect fit. How right he was...

Harry Brompton's is an incredibly well balanced drink that has all the rich flavour of black tea with citrus notes and a crisp astringency that stops short of woodiness and is tempered with the light effervescence of tiny bubbles that prickle the tongue in a tantalising manner. There is alcohol in there - I know because it says 4%abv on the bottle, but that little spike of grain spirit does nothing to mar the flavour making it not only highly quaffable, but a great mixer and cocktail ingredient.

In order to give a well balanced review, Mr TG and I thought it was important to try Harry Brompton's in it's natural form before diving headlong into the cocktails and can confirm that is incredibly refreshing served over ice with a wedge of lime (as seen at the top of the page) and can even be enjoyed straight from the chilled bottle with a citrus slice wedged in the neck - perfect for you young folks, out and about on the town.

My love of tea and cocktails and the combining of the two thereof, is well documented in this blog, so it was never going to be too much of a stretch to come up with some tasty beverages. Using Harry Brompton's meant I could create cocktails with tea without the prior infusion of spirits and reduced the need for additional sweeteners as it is already lightly sweetened.

To begin with, I decided to combine a great London gin with a great London tea in this delicately floral and crisp cocktail. Berkley Square Gin counts among it's botanicals; kaffir lime and lavender, both of which enhance the citrus and apple notes of the ice tea. To further reinforce those flavours, I added a little lavender syrup and some freshly squeezed lime.

Lavender in London

2 oz Berkley Square Gin
2 tsp lavender syrup
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Harry Brompton's Ice Tea
twist of lime zest to garnish

Add the gin, syrup and lime juice to a shaker with ice and shake briefly to combine and chill the ingredients.
Strain the liquid into an ice filled, chilled tumbler and top with Harry Brompton's Ice Tea.
Garnish with a twist of lime zest.

Lavender in London - tumbler by Toasted Glass

Next up is a fragrant, peachy delight that combines Sipsmith (another London stalwart) Barley Vodka , Cartron Creme de Peche de Vigne (from Bourgogne, slightly south of London, but available from Amathus Drinks) and Harry Brompton's London Ice Tea.

Brompton Peach Tea

1 oz Sipsmith Barley Vodka
1 oz Cartron Creme e Peche de Vigne
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
Harry Brompton's Ice Tea
sprig of fresh mint to garnish

Add the vodka, creme de peche and lemon juice to a tumbler with ice and stir to combine and chill the ingredients - the outside of the glass should become frosted.
Add enough ice to fill the glass and top up with ice tea.
Gently slap the mint between the palms of your hands to release the essential oils and garnish the drink.

Brompton Peach Tea-glass by Toasted Glass

This next drink has a bit of a Moroccan influence, combining the flavours of rose, mint and lemon. Hendricks Gin is infused with rose and cucumber, making it the ideal spirit for this cocktail and the floral flavour is further enhanced with the addition of a little rosewater.

Harry in the Kasbah

2 oz Hendricks Gin
6 - 8 mint leaves
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 tsp rosewater
Harry Brompton Ice Tea

Muddle (gently squish) the mint with the gin and lemon in the bottom of a shaker.
Add ice and shake until the outside of the shake frosts over.
Strain into an ice filled tumbler or tea glass.
Add the rosewater and ice tea.
Stir to combine and garnish with mint.

Harry in the Kasbah-tea glass by Toasted Glass

This last cocktail is further proof that chilli infused Campari is an absolute must for every cocktail cabinet. The bittersweet combination of Campari and Triple Sec, combined with a chilli kick make this a tea with a twist.

Harry Brompton and the Goblet of Fire

1 oz chilli infused Campari
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Harry Brompton's Ice Tea
twist of lemon zest to garnish

Add the Campari, triple sec and lemon to a shaker with ice.
Shake to chill and strain into an ice filled tumbler.
Carefully top with ice tea to maintain the layers.
Garnish with a thick twist of lemon zest.

Harry Brompton and the Goblet of Fire-tumbler by Toasted Glass

So, I hear you ask, 'where do I get myself some of this fabulous ice tea?'. Well, I am reliably informed that Waitrose will soon be stocking it and it is currently available in bars and restaurants across the UK. However, I highly recommend you visit their website to keep up to date with developments and to be in with a chance of winning yourself a crate of the stuff - click here to enter the competition

The Love Sonnet Cocktail

One of the lovely things about creating bespoke cocktail for people are the little glimpses you get of peoples' lives. Poppy and Chris, the recipients of the Love Sonnet cocktail,  were kind enough to give their consent to let me share the details of it with you. In order to come up with something meaningful and appropriate, you must first get a measure of who they are and in the case of this lovely pair of newlyweds, it was a delightful back story of a couple with a real love for the theatre, who met later in life and were now getting married. Their wedding was to have a theatrical theme with plenty of Shakespearean references and the bespoke cocktail was being created as lovely wedding gift from a friend.

I wanted to create something that was both a celebration of love and romance and that acknowledged their love of Shakespeare and drama. The colour red symbolises love, is full of drama and is also the colour of poppies, which tied in nicely with the bride's name. The red in the bottle comes from a dash of Creme de Cassis, but the deep red colour in the finished cocktail is from fresh strawberries which also have romantic connotations. The cocktail was to have a floral note and for this I used a little Chase Elderflower liqueur which marries well with fruit and a dash of rosewater. The rose is to signify romance and doesn't overpower the drink, just adding a little complexity to the elderflower and complimenting the hint of rose infusion in the Hendricks gin.

The miniature bottles are painted with Shakespearean quotes about love and the masks of tragedy and comedy, which were part of their wedding's theme. Poppy's bottle was also painted with two little poppies to differentiate it from the groom's. The bottles, which contain the alcoholic part of the cocktail were accompanied by a recipe and handwritten explanatory letter, telling them why I had chosen the ingredients and painted the bottles with those designs.

Luckily for us, Poppy and Chris are willing to share the recipe for their delicious, martini style cocktail, so if you would like to join in the celebration of love, the recipe is as follows:

The Love Sonnet

Ingredients
1 1/4 oz Hendricks Gin
3/4 oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
Dash of Creme de Cassis
1/4 oz lemon juice
3 fresh strawberries
2 drops of rosewater

Muddle the strawberries and lemon juice in the bottom of the shaker until liquid
Add the remaining ingredients and a handful of ice
Shake vigorously for 20 seconds and double strain into a chilled martini glass

Black Lace Cocktail Glasses by Toasted Glass

If you are thinking of ordering a bespoke cocktail, either for yourself, your company or as a gift, then please take a look at these links for examples and more information.
Bespoke Cocktail Service
The Grey Fox Cocktail
The Secret Tea Society Cocktail
The Velvet Teas Cocktail

The Secret Tea Society Cocktail

The Secret Tea Society Cocktail available as part of a membership package

I have recently had the pleasure and the privilege of creating a cocktail for the Secret Tea Society; an ever increasing  group of smart, tea drinking ladies from London, Surrey, Bath and Yorkshire, united in a love of good conversation and of course, tea. As a proud member of the Secret Tea Society myself, it was of course in my own interest, to create a cocktail that reflected the very essence of what the Society is all about, that could be enjoyed by the ladies during those times when a cup of tea won't quite suffice.

Click here to find out about membership to the Secret Tea Society

Our glorious leader and grande dame of the Secret Tea Society was kind enough to fill in the questionnaire for my Bespoke Cocktail Service which asks a number of questions, pertaining to flavour preferences, as well as finding out a little more about the intended recipient. Having established preferences for gin, rose, mint and lime, it was a matter of finding a way to best combine those flavours whilst making it pertinent to the Secret Tea Society. Of course, it was only right and proper to include tea and so the main ingredient of the cocktail is Rose Tea Infused Gin and it's name is Rosy Lee.

If you would like to make this cocktail at home, you will need to first, infuse a good gin with rose tea. I recommend using one that is just rose flavoured, as oppose to one mixed with fruit as well. I used Twinings Rose Garden teabags which are available from Selfridges, Waitrose and Tesco. You can also use loose tea and strain the gin into a cup or glass when it is ready. Use one teabag or teaspoon of loose tea, per 2 oz of gin. Add your teabag or loose tea to the gin and allow to infuse for 1 hr, then remove the tea and set the infused gin aside, for later.

The Secret Tea Society Cocktail

Rosy Lee

Ingredients

2 oz rose tea infused gin
2 drops of rosewater
5 leaves of mint
1 oz lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
A little sparkling water

Secret Tea Society Cocktail available on Etsy

In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle (squish) the mint, lime juice and simple syrup to release the oils from the mint.
Add the rose tea infused gin and rosewater
Shake vigorously and double strain into a highball glass, filled with ice
Top up with sparkling water