Plum Oolong-icious Screw

Get your minds out of the gutter, people. It’s a cocktail.

I’m slowly working my way through our liquor cabinet infusing anything I can with one tea or another. This time I made a tea-infused vodka that I turned into a refreshing twist on the screwdriver, a highball cocktail that is typically made with a mix of fresh orange juice and vodka.

A quick Wikipedia search enlightened me with some fun facts about the screwdriver:

• The screwdriver received its name in the late 1940s when Americans working in the oil and gas industry in Saudi Arabia were reported to secretly pour vodka into their cans of orange juice and stir the intoxicating mixture with their screwdrivers.
• Variations on the screwdriver are typically named a ‘Screw’—e.g. a screwdriver with Schnapps and orange juice is called a ‘German Screw’.

My variation, the Plum Oolong-icious Screw, is an Oolong tea-infused vodka (using Art of Tea’s Plum Oolong) mixed with fresh-squeezed orange juice and Breckenridge Bitters (my new favorite apertif liquor from Breckenridge Distillery).

If I could define my perfect cocktail, this might be it. I love a strong cocktail (where you can taste some alcohol) mixed with fresh fruit (that’s not too sweet) and a dash of something tart or bitter. If you like a sweeter cocktail, try adding some simple syrup to this recipe. But for me, this one’s perfect just as it is.

Happy cooking and sipping!

P.S. Many thanks to Art of Tea, which provided me with complimentary samples of several tea blends to play around with for tea foodie recipe creation.

Plum Oolong-icious Screw

(By Zanitea)

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

For the tea and vodka infusion:

2 heaping teaspoons loose leaf Plum Oolong tea from Art of Tea (or other fruit-flavored Oolong tea blend)

2 cups vodka

For the cocktail:

3 ounces Plum Oolong tea-infused vodka

1 ounce Breckenridge Bitters (or other apertif-style liquor)

juice of 2 large oranges, plus 2 large pieces of fresh orange peel

enough ice to fill 2 highball glasses

Preparation:

1. Prepare the tea infused rum: Steep the loose leaf tea in the vodka in a sealed glass container for 2 to 4 hours. Strain, discard the tea leaves, and store the tea-infused vodka in a tightly sealed container.

2. Mix the cocktail: Combine the tea-infused vodka, bitters liquor and orange juice in a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes, and shake until well combined. Strain into 2 highball glasses filled with ice. Top each cocktail with a large slice of orange peel, and serve.

Tips:

• The orange juice is the only thing sweetening this cocktail. If you prefer a sweeter drink, add a little simple syrup or agave nectar to the mixture.
• Breckenridge Bitters is prepared in the style of an apertif liquor, like Aperol (but better, in my opinion). If a more concentrated bitters, like Angostura, is what you have in your liquor cabinet, then increase the amount of tea-infused vodka in the recipe to 4 ounces, and only use a few dashes of bitters.