Cocktails on a Friday! And beautiful weather to boot! This is a bit of a riff on both mint tea (which I love any time of the year, but I find very refreshing cold in the summertime … err, I guess it isn’t summer yet) and a mojito (yum!), plus the addition of my favorite spice, cardamom. Inspired by The Bonjon Gourmet. Drink up and cheers!
Ingredients
for the cardamom tea concentrate
4 tablespoons black tea, such as English Breakfast
25 cardamom pods, crushed
boiling water
for the cocktail
3 tablespoons raw sugar
10-12 mint leaves, plus extra for garnish
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges/slices for garnish
3 parts light rum
1 part dark rum
3 parts cardamom tea concentrate
1/2 teaspoons rosewater
ice
sparkling water
Directions
Make the cardamom tea concentrate first to let it cool. You can make this up to a few days ahead of time and keep refrigerated. Place the tea and crushed cardamom pods in a heatproof measuring cup, and add boiling water to bring the mixture to the one cup mark. Let steep 10-20 minutes. Strain the tea mixture into a jar or bottle, squeezing the liquid out of the tea, and chill. The mixture will likely cloud up once refrigerated, but this is fine.
For the mojitos, muddle the mint leaves and sugar together in a cocktail shaker. Add the lime juice. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the tea concentrate, rums, rose water and ice and shake to combine. Fill a large glass with ice and several mint leaves, then pour in the cocktail. Top with a bit of sparkling water, stir, and garnish with a line wedge. Serve immediately.
