After I made that Earl Grey Gin & Tonic, I was inspired to continue playing with tea and tonic water (that and I still had a bottle of tonic water to finish before it goes flat). So I decided to try out some non-alcoholic versions!
Brewing
I chose six teas and steeped them in 50ml of room temperature water for 2 hours (room temperature because my fridge has no space and I’ve found out that tea loses a lot of flavour when it’s too cold). After the teas were steeped, I added 50ml of tonic water for a 1:1 ratio. The teas and tisanes I chose were:
- Marco Polo (Black Tea)
- Sencha
- Golden Tips
- Duck Shit Oolong
- Twinings Cold Infuse (Watermelon, Strawberry, and Mint)
- Rooibos tea
Taste Test
Marco Polo – This was pretty good, as expected. The taste of the tea was clear and I liked the slight bitterness from the tonic water.
Sencha – Surprisingly, the taste of the sencha was pretty clear here as well, quite a strong, lovely umami note. I didn’t know if I liked it at first but the more I drank this, the more it grew on me. Still, I may prefer this with just soda water.
Golden Tips – The tea here was pretty weak, which was surprising since I expected the sencha to be the weakest. It tasted mostly like tonic water.
Duck Shit – I had the highest expectations for this but it was also the biggest letdown. The taste of the oolong wasn’t very strong and the first sip I got was mostly tonic water. Towards the end, I could make out the notes from the duck shit, but it was not my favourite.
Twinings Cold Infuse (Watermelon, Strawberry, and Mint) – Given that this was meant to be infused in cold water and not really a tea in the first place, it’s no surprise that the taste of the watermelon and mint was very strong. This was pretty much as expected and I might actually make it next time for friends who don’t want caffeine or soft drinks.
Rooibos – I also liked this! Like with the Marco Polo, the taste of the rooibos was clear and it balanced well with the taste of the tonic water. In fact, I think the taste of the rooibos was slightly stronger than the tonic water, which made for a refreshing change.
Overall, I think my favourites from here were the Marco Polo, the sencha, the Twinings cold infuse, and the rooibos (not listed in order of favourite). I’m a bit sad that the Duck Shit did not perform as well as expected, but I’ve got quite a bit of tonic left and I’m wondering what else would go well with this – puer?
What a fun experiment! My instinct says that herbal teas, like a hibiscus tea, would go well here. My instinct was that the cold influse tea would be the best, but more for flavors rather than for the intention of the tea. I’ll definitely be trying this later this summer! It sounds delightfully refreshing.
Ooooh, a hibiscus tisane and tonic sounds lovely! If I ever get some, I’ll have to try that!