Oolong Martini

One thing I’ve observed over my days of drinking martinis and drinking oolongs is that they are very similar. Gin, which is a liquor that is distilled with a mixture of botanical ingredients for a herbaceous, floral, or minty profile. Simply put, you can produce so many different flavour profiles in gin-making.

The same goes with oolong. Because oolong is on a huge spectrum of oxidation levels as well as tea growing regions, each oolong has it’s own unique flavour profile. For example, a lot of Taiwanese teas are creamy, lightly oxidized, and slightly floral, whereas a lot of teas produced in the Wuyi Mountains take on mineral qualities of their rocky terroir, and tend to be darker oxidized.

This brings me to one of my favourite and simple cocktails, the martini.

Brendan and I tried our tea of the month, Duck Shit Oolong, in a simple cocktail to see how it would develop its flavour and meld with the gin we had sitting on our bar. We used a local gin, The Spirit of York. It has a minty profile, which we were skeptical with it meshing with the floral and fruity nature of the duck shit. But we tried it anyway, and it delivered! It really brought out the oolong’s fruitiness. Plums and mint. Who knew!

Try it for youself, and let me know what you think!

Tea Infused Gin Recipe

2 cups gin
2 teaspoons oolong
Combine gin and oolong in a small dish with a lid. Cover and let steep for 10-12 hours, or overnight. Strain tea leaves and discard, keeping the liquid. Store in an airtight container.

Oolong Martini Recipe

3 oz oolong infused gin
1/2 oz white vermouth
1 lemon twist, for garnish

Refrigerate your martini glass to maintain a cold drink.

Combine gin, vermouth in a cocktail shaker. add ice. Replace lid, and shake vigorously until the cocktail shaker is ice cold and you’re no longer able to hold the shaker, around 30 seconds.

Strain the contents of the shaker into your cocktail glass, leaving the ice behind. Add your lemon twist and enjoy!