For summertime mocktails that shine, look to tea

In early 2020, I developed long COVID and stopped being able to tolerate alcohol. In my experience, it was among the triggers of relapses so severe I would spend long stretches of time incapacitated with renewed symptoms of extreme fatigue, brain fog, tachycardia and more.

As a food and drinks writer, this presented a particularly distressing work challenge: How could I create recipes that I couldn’t always have?

The tea cabinet offered endless inspiration. Teas have long imbued alcoholic drinks with both tannic qualities and aromatic range. (Think whiskey-laced toddies or 17th-century batched drinks like Regent’s Punch.) They can also lend a wide range of depth and character to nonalcoholic drinks.

“Tea is a really good way to build complexity into a cocktail,” said John deBary, a New

York City-based bar expert, author and founder of the nonalcoholic drink brand Proteau. “Black tea, green tea and Lapsang souchong are all really good go-tos when I make a nonalcoholic drink.”

Strongly brewed black tea anchors this nonalcoholic take on a classic Dark ’n’ Stormy, lending its tannins to the final drink.

SALTED LIME CORDIAL

Finely grated zest from 6 limes

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon black pepper 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 ¼ cups fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)

CHILLED BLACK TEA

2 black tea bags (or 2 tablespoons loose-leaf black tea), such as Darjee

ling

COCKTAIL

Ice

3 ounces chilled black tea 1 ounce salted lime cordial

4 ounces fresh ginger beer

Lime wedge

Make the cordial: Ina medium bowl, combine lime zest, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves. Rub the zest and spices into the sugar until the sugar is green and very fragrant. Slowly pour in the lime juice, whisking to combine and dissolve the sugar completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours, up to 24. Strain through a finemesh sieve; pressing on the solids. (You should have about 1 ½ cups cordial.) Discard the solids. Keep cordial in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Make the chilled black tea: In a tea kettle or small saucepan over high heat, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat, add the tea. Allow to steep 10 minutes, then remove the tea bags or, if using loose-leaf tea, strain through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate. Keep it chilled in the refrigerator, tightly covered in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.

Make the cocktail: Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the tea and cordial. Top with ginger beer, stir gently to combine and finish with a lime wedge.

Notes: When choosing a black tea, look to Darjeeling, English or Irish breakfast, or Assam. For something without caffeine, reach for buckwheat tea and increase the brew time to 20 minutes.

The spices in the salted lime cordial are easily shifted to your pantry and preferences. If you don’t have ground ginger, fine. If you want to add cardamom, go for it. The point is to infuse the cordial with a warmth that complements the ginger beer. Please don’t, however, skip the salt. It enhances the cordial’s flavors.

Leftover cordial — sweet, spiced and deeply sour — can be mixed on its own with sparkling water or tonic, or if you’re looking to incorporate it into an alcoholic drink, into a gimlet.

David Malosh/New York Times