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Don't Sleep On This Overlooked Ingredient For Homemade Cocktail Syrups

There are a few must-haves for any home bar worth its salt: some of your favorite spirits, the right equipment for making stellar mixed drinks, and flavor additives like bitters and cocktail syrup. Simple syrup made with the best sugars and sweeteners you have around is a key component of dozens of cocktails. That nectar is also an opportunity to upgrade your imbibing experience. We should all be infusing simple syrup more often, and it never hurts to get some expert advice on what elements work best.

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Jordan Hughes is a seasoned crafter of cocktails who runs High-Proof Preacher and is the author of "Twist: Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails." We asked him what additives might go unnoticed when elevating simple syrup, and he pointed to an ingredient many folks already have. "Honestly, I feel like tea is the easiest and maybe the most overlooked ingredient to add to cocktail syrups," he said.

Tea boasts a wide range of flavors depending on the blend: nutty, spicy, floral, bitter, and more. However, this begs the question: Which teas should you use? Hughes had a couple of suggestions, saying, "A strong black tea or chai is an amazing way to spice up your cocktail syrups." The bold, malty essence of black tea and the zesty notes in chai open up doors for encountering new cocktails that some aren't aware even existed. Still, like anything in the mixology world, it all depends on how they are combined – and what with.

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Best ways to use tea-infused cocktail syrup

Before mixing up your cocktail, you have to make the nectar. Thankfully, this is about as easy as making tea on its own. As Hughes said, "Most cocktail syrups involve heat in order to dissolve the sugar, so it's easy to add a few tea bags of your favorite tea or loose-leaf tea to a syrup." After the liquid has cooled, store your simple syrup for later, or get right to work making extraordinary mixed drinks.

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For those partial to chai, a Chai Tea Fizz might be up your alley. The perky spices are the heart of this straightforward concoction made by mixing your chai tea-infused simple syrup with gin, lemon juice, and egg white. Top it off with some soda, and let the spices and fizziness take you away to your happy place.

If black tea is more your thing, a Ginger Rabbit uses simply syrup infused with black tea, along with star anise and added to muddled lemon peel and fresh ginger. Incorporate bourbon, Cream Yvette, and Angostura bitters into the mix, and you have yourself something like an Old Fashioned that's bursting with zesty flavors.

Although Hughes recommended two specific tea blends that work best, that doesn't mean you can't play with your own blends. For a more classic take on an Old Fashioned with extra depth of flavor, consider making a simple syrup with Earl Grey. The robust citrusy notes of bergamot in the tea complement the bourbon and bitters, imparting fragrance without overwhelming the other ingredients.

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