Tea makes a wonderful non-alcoholic cocktail ingredient, and here we're pairing earl grey with Zero Proof gin and lavender for a shockingly satisfying boozeless cocktail. Whenever using tea in NA drinks, it's important to make it extra strong by using either less water or more tea and letting it steep for twice as long as you would normally. That extra time in the water pulls out more of the tea's tannin, adding a bit of grip to the cocktail.
You can use your favorite non-alcoholic gin here (or go half/half for a lower-alcohol cocktail), but we love Monday Zero Alcohol Gin. Lavender syrup can be easily made (see the note below the recipe) but is also available from producers like Monin. Lemon juice gives the drink some zip while our Lavender bitters add backbone and floral notes, and our Orange bitters round the whole thing out, complementing the bergamot in earl grey nicely.
Brew a strong cup of earl grey tea by using less water and let it steep for 8-10 minutes. Chill in the fridge.
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake for 6 seconds.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon peel, expressing the oils over the cocktail.
Recipe Note
This recipe works wonderfully by using actual brewed tea, but you could also infuse your non-alcoholic gin with earl grey tea, instead. If going this route, up the gin amount to 2.5 ounces, and let it sit in the fridge with a bag of earl grey tea for 1-2 hours, or until you've pulled a strong enough flavor from it.
HOW TO MAKE LAVENDER SYRUP To make lavender syrup, combine 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 cup of white sugar in a small sauce pot, add a handful of culinary lavender buds, bring to a very low simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let it infuse for 30 minutes. Strain the lavender out, bottle the syrup, and refrigerate.
This recipe should yield a bit less than a cup of syrup and can be scaled up or down. For a different flavor and texture, you could make this by combining honey and water with lavender buds, in the same proportions, instead of sugar.
MAKE IT MINDFULLY LOW ALCOHOL Simply combine 1 oz of regular gin with 1 oz of non-alcoholic gin for a half-strength cocktail that's every bit as delicious as a full-proof drink.
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