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!