Here at the 5pm Dining blog, we have Scottish gin running through our veins.
At this time of year, we sometimes ponder if Scottish gin is all that is running our veins. Even so, we would think twice before reaching for the bottle before lunch.
Happily, a recent collaboration between eteaket, one of the UK’s leading loose-leaf speciality tea companies, and the Isle of Harris Distillery has created an unusual tea blend which is made from the unique botanicals used in its Isle of Harris Gin.
Sugar kelp
The Isle of Harris Gin Tea is a herbal, caffeine-free blend which includes juniper, coriander, angelica root, cubebs, orange peel, liquorice root, cassia bark and sugar kelp.
That last ingredient is hand harvested by a local diver from the deep underwater forests of the Outer Hebrides. This unusual botanical gives the gin (and now this tea) its distinctive flavour and special smoothness.
Your blogger sampled the tea at its launch in eteaket’s new Rose Street retail store in Edinburgh last night.
It is delicious. There is a good balance of zingy citrus flavours and also an attractive warming spice. In the background, there are gentle hints of liquorice.
G ‘n’ Tea
Tasting it next to the neat gin, they are like two peas in a pod. Not surprisingly, the tea mixes well with the Isle of Harris Gin in cocktails.
Connor Chilcott of The Lioness of Leith mixed up one using marmalade and it was extremely refreshing. We’ve put the recipe below.
Erica Moore, founder of eteaket, said:
‘This has been a pet project of mine for a while as my Mum is from the Isle of Harris and I spent a lot of my youth there. I’m pleased we’ve been able to create a distinct, complementary tea blend that sits well alongside the wonderful Isle of Harris Gin.’
Unleash your inner tea geek
In the same way that interest in coffee has exploded over the last ten to fifteen years, more and more people are beginning to discover their inner tea geek.
We’re not saying that the UK is about to abandon its supermarket teabags any time soon but there is certainly growing attention focused on the huge variety of speciality loose leaf teas available.
While baristas fuss over Chemex filters and gauging the perfect grind for your Ethiopian Harar, tea fans are weighing up the merits of Yellow Gold Oolong and second flush Darjeeling.
‘We get customers buying our Silver Needle tea to drink with dinner,’ says Erica. ‘They will cold brew it to make this very sophisticated, complex drink.’
Along with Queen Margaret University, Erica has also developed a tea made with foraged sea buckthorn, cranberry, apple and hibiscus.
‘We cold brew it and it produces this refreshing drink which is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and Omega 9,’ says Erica. ‘We’re working on carbonating it and selling it in bottles. It’s sugar-free, caffeine-free and would be ideal for taking down the gym.’
Isle of Harris Gin Tea Cocktail
Connor used Mackays Three Fruit Marmalade as one of the ingredients in the cocktail as the lemon, grapefruit and orange echoed the flavours in the gin and the tea.
Ingredients
50ml Isle of Harris Gin
25ml lemon juice
Isle of Harris Tea Blend gomme syrup
1tbsp marmalade
Grapefruit peel
Make a cup of tea using the Isle of Harris Tea Blend. Strain off the tea and make a gomme syrup with it using a 1:1 ratio of tea to sugar.
Put all the ingredients except the grapefruit peel into a Boston shaker and shake with ice.
Double strain it into a glass and serve with peel.
Where do I get it?
The Harris Gin Tea is available from 8 December to purchase online at www.eteaket.co.uk, in the eteaket Tea Store (111 Rose Street), the eteaket Tea Room (41 Frederick St) and at the Isle of Harris Distillery.
100g of Harris Gin Tea retails at £7.95, which is enough for approximately 40 pots.
In order to connect Isle of Harris Gin drinkers to the island they only sell directly, from their distillery shop on the island; through direct online sales and their new Click and Collect service, available in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.