04/14/2025
I am part of a cool cadre of cocktail comrades who meet about each month (with a theme) to share our creations and company. This was the most recent, the theme was "Tea."
KERNEL TEA PUNCH
⅛ tsp wormwood leaf
½ tsp licorice root
1 tsp marshmallow root
1 Tbsp crushed Ceylon cinnamon bark
2½ Tbsp Assam black tea
1¼ C water (boiling)
2¼ oz Vanilla Sugar
2 oz Lemon Juice
2 oz Lemon Peel
few dashes Ango bitters
~1½ C Mellow Corn (~half bottle)
Prepare lemon peel oleosaccharum the day before by removing the peel from 2 lemons (avoid the pith) and adding to 2 oz of sugar in an airtight container. Leave at room temp to macerate.
The next day, mix leaves and roots in a heat-proof container and pour 1¼ C just-boiled water over. Steep for 10 minutes and strain. Press the 'tea' to get as much of the 1¼ as you can out.
Pour this 'tea' (after it has cooled to at least 180F) into the lemon peel oleosaccharum to melt the sugar, stir until dissolved and again strain to remove the peel. Press again to obtain as much liquid as possible.
Open a new bottle of Mellow corn and pour out the same amount as your tea/lemon liquid and reserve for other drinks.
Add the lemon/tea mixture to the newly opened bottle, shake like the dickens and refrigerate for as long as you can wait.
Pour 3oz of the Punch over ice in the glass of your choice and stir a bit as you would stir down an old fashioned.
It's a cross between an Arnold Palmer bitter Old Fashioned and southern sweet tea - It's Kernel Tea Punch.