The Story Behind The Chardonnay Day Iced Tea
This week my cocktail is inspired by one of the best days on the calendar, National Chardonnay Day. I always have a cold bottle on hand in the fridge so I didn’t have to do much searching for supplies and finding flavors to pair with that bottle of Chardonnay is like trying to decide when to drink Chardonnay – it was pretty easy.
After a quick look around the kitchen I pulled together some lime, honey, tea and gin, all additions I felt would accentuate the floral and citrus botanicals of the wine. A little experimenting was necessary (and fun) to find the correct balance in this cocktail but in the end I think the result is absolutely delicious. A fitting tribute to a great white wine on its official day.
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounces Chardonnay
- 1 ounce gin
- 1 ounce chamomile tea
- ¾ ounce lime juice
- ½ ounce honey
- 1.5 cups ice
- lime twist for garnish
Directions
- Brew eight ounces of tea for 45 seconds to extract sufficient flavor and allow to cool.
- Reserve one ounce and discard the rest – unless you plan to make more than one cocktail.
- Combine tea and honey in shaker and stir to thin the honey, then add the remaining ingredients and shake with ice.
- Strain into serving glass over fresh ice.
- Garnish with a lime twist and enjoy!