A TOAST TO TEA
From Ceylon and Oolong to matcha and hibiscus, tea can be a creative addition to a cocktail mix…
Hong Kong’s first contemporary tea cocktail bar, Tell Camellia’s menu highlights include Japan ( see left), a umami-filled mix served in a floating wooden cup that combines re-distilled and evaporated matcha tea, shochu, pumpkin seed, mint, fermented soybeans, and a garnish of rare plankton and seaweed dust. Nutty and fullbodied, the Sri Lanka cocktail combines retovaped Ceylon Tea blended with coconut, basmati rice, green algae, rye whisky, and homemade Ape Amma milk wine, which is traditionally drank in Sri Lanka during the festive season. T&Tonic, a subsection of the cocktail menu dedicated to herbal and tisane teas re-distilled with gin, includes quirky takes on the G&T including mango & strawberry and chocolate & coconut. facebook.com/tellcamellia
At Draftland in Taipei, the first bar in the world to serve libations on tap, there’s plenty of tea-inspired cocktails to keep you wired ‘til the wee hours, with cocktails changing seasonally so mixologists can mix and match different raw ingredients when they’re at their best. Order up the Asia’s 50 Best Iced Tea winner (gin, rum, sparkling wine, green tea, osmanthus & elderflower), the Afternoon Tea Punch (gin, dark rum, Earl Grey Tea, sugar & lime) or the Hibiscus Cocktail (vodka, hibiscus tea, passion fruit, honey and lime). Draftland has a sister bar in Hong Kong, with Tokyo and Seoul coming soon. draftland.tw
Literature lovers will adore San Francisco’s Novela, where cocktails take their inspiration from classic tomes by Shakespeare and Hemingway against the bar’s chromatically classified book collection. The seasonal menu currently includes Bagger Vance, a cool blend of Bourbon, papaya, lemon and breakfast tea that takes its creative cues from Steve Pressfield’s 1995 novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance. There’s also handcrafted seasonal punches on tap, including Bourbon, which sees the spirit muddled with blueberry, apricot and green tea and grapefruit, and Vodka, a refreshing mix of white peach, cardamom tea, italicus and lemon. novelasf.com
Feeling broken? Get yourself fixed at the Liquorium in Paris, which offers an inventive twist on the old-school apothecary, with cocktails playfully presented as cure-alls at its speakeasymeets cabinet of curiosities setting. Try a Hocus Pocus (Remy Martin, yuzu syrup, Earl Grey, Bourgoin Verjus, egg white & thyme). If you’d prefer a non-alcoholic tipple, sip on a Doctor Pepper (homemade turmeric and pepper puree, Rooibos tea, pineapple juice, coconut soy milk and maple syrup). liquorium.fr