Forget Gin And Start Drinking Your Tonic With Earl Grey Tea

Just because you're off the booze doesn't mean you can't pour yourself a refreshing sipper at the end of a long day. The right pairing of tea and tonic can yield the perfect wind-down mocktail that can fit comfortably both on a beverage table at a backyard party and on the couch while streaming your favorite zone-out shows. Plus, dumping tonic and tea into a glass couldn't be an easier move to master, and the results are impressive.

Instead of reaching for gin to make yourself an after-work beverage, bring a subtle hint of astringent bitterness to your glass by making syrup flavored with Earl Grey tea. While you can use iced tea straight in beverage recipes, taking the time to convert your favorite tea blend into a syrupy, sugary substance can add body to your beverage and create a mouthfeel that is weighty and substantial on the tongue. Effervescent and flavorful, these pretty drinks can be garnished to your heart's content with fruits, herbs, and even edible flowers.

To make tea-flavored syrup, dissolve one cup of sugar in one cup of hot water before adding tea bags to the sugary mixture. You'll want to steep your choice of tea a bit longer than what is required to make a regular cup for maximum flavor in your syrup. If you're using tea bags, reach for three tea bags instead of two, for example, or add an extra heaping tablespoon if you're brewing from loose leaf teas. Not only should you not feel shy with the ingredients, you may want to make more syrup than what you think you'll need, as your Earl Grey-flavored recipe can be bottled up and swirled into other drink recipes or used to top morning plates of French toast and pancakes.

Once your tea-enhanced syrup has cooled, choose a suitable tonic complement to highlight the flavors in the tea. Tonics with notes of orange can play well with the unique citrusy, bergamot waves found in Earl Grey teas, and flavored tonics can mingle well with other tea varieties like hibiscus and lemon. When mixing ingredients, you won't need much of this homemade syrup to flavor your iced alcohol-free drinks. A ½ to ¾ of an ounce can smoothly dance with a 3 or 4 ounces of tonic water and a squeeze of lemon, lime, or grapefruit. All that's left for you is to sit back, sip, and savor.