Last year, we celebrated National Rum Day with a spiced rum and coffee cocktail called the Dark Moon. We’re giving tea lovers something to toast with this year: a twist on the traditional dark and stormy cocktail made with our Lemon Ginger Green Tea. For ours, we chose Fever Tree ginger beer, which packs a giant wallop of ginger flavor and compliments the tea nicely without tasting watered-down.

Ingredients (per drink)

4 oz ginger beer
2 oz cold Lemon Ginger Green Tea
3 oz black strap rum
Splash of simple syrup or to taste

Instructions

Allow the tea to cool, or brew it right before serving by replacing half the brewing water with ice. Combine the tea and ginger beer over ice and sweeten with simple syrup to taste. To float the rum on top, pour slowly over the back of a spoon. Garnish with a slice of lemon and some candied ginger if you want to get fancy. Stir and enjoy!

It might sound like there’s too much going on in this recipe, but there are only three ingredients in these simple popsicles. We came up with this idea to celebrate the return of summer and our Watermelon Mimosa Green Tea Blend, a flavored blend of Sencha and Jasmine green teas, blackberry leaves, and spearmint. Fresh watermelon juice adds color and sweetness without overpowering the green tea flavor.

Ingredients (makes 10 large popsicles)

1 small seedless watermelon (or about 2 1/2 cups of watermelon, cubed)

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups brewed Watermelon Mimosa Green Tea Blend

Instructions

Brew the tea using the standard steeping instructions (1 teaspoon per cup, brewed 2-3 minutes). Stir in the sugar while the tea is hot and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Blend the watermelon in a blender and pour through a mesh strainer. Add the strained watermelon juice to the tea and pour into popsicle molds. Set in the freezer for 1 1/2 hours, then insert the popsicle sticks. This will prevent the sticks from floating or moving in the mold. Freeze overnight or longer.

One of our favorite teas this time of year is our Moroccan Mint blend of herbal peppermint and high quality Pinhead Gunpowder green tea. Delicious hot or iced, it’s perfect for spring’s crazy temperature changes. We’ve been wanting to try this tea in a cocktail, and a mojito seemed the perfect choice. Just add rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. The only thing better would be all those ingredients plus shortbread. Our shipping manager Lori found a recipe for Cuban mojito shortbread bars, and substituted fresh mint with our Moroccan Mint. The results were sweet, tart, decadent, delicious.

Ingredients

3 teaspoons Moroccan Mint looseleaf tea, roughly ground
1 cup cold butter, chopped
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup almond meal
pinch kosher salt
3 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup lime juice
2 tsp rum extract (or rum)
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

For the shortbread

Preheat oven to 350° F. Blend together the butter, sugar, salt, flours, and half the dry tea. Press the shortbread dough evenly into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over for easy lifting later for cutting. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Allow the shortbread crust to cool for about 10 minutes.

For the custard

In the food processor, add the egg yolks, condensed milk, rum extract, lime juice, rum extract and the remaining tea leaves. Pulse until combined and pour over the baked shortbread base. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the custard appears to be set. Cool completely and cut into squares. Top with powdered sugar just before serving.

We love this spring-y cocktail for its secret ingredient: green tea flavored syrup. Don’t have any on hand? Substitute a cup of brewed Jasmine 1st Grade green tea for water when making simple syrup (instructions below). Try the leftover syrup as a sweetener in iced tea or homemade lemonade.

Ingredients

For the syrup:

1 cup brewed Jasmine 1st Grade green tea

2 cups sugar

For the cocktail (per serving):

2 oz vodka

1/2 oz lemon juice

1 1/2 oz jasmine simple syrup

Instructions

To make the syrup, combine the sugar and tea in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear. Let cool.

Add the syrup, vodka, and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a glass. Garnish with lemon zest if you like, or a jasmine flower if you can find one. Cheers!

This recipe is the best thing to happen to apple cider in a long time. Yes, it’s great with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, with or without whipped cream. But it’s also so, so good with our Lemon Ginger Green Tea (shot of bourbon optional). The tartness of the lemon balances the sweetness of the cider and the ginger adds just the right amount of heat.

Ingredients per serving

1 cup apple cider (we used the unspiced kind)

1 teaspoon Lemon Ginger Green Tea

1 1/2 ounces bourbon or whiskey

Directions

Heat the cider on the stove in a small pan until simmering. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon or whiskey. Pour the mixture into a mug and steep the tea using an infuser or T-sac pouch for about a minute and a half. Strain and serve.

Variation

If straight cider is a little too sweet for you, a more traditional hot toddy might be more your thing. Steep the tea in a cup of hot water instead of cider, leaving a little room at the top of your mug. Once the tea is steeped, add the bourbon or whiskey, a shot of cider, and a tablespoon of honey (or sweeten to taste).