Sponsored review: Twinings Moroccan mint tea mojito

 

Both Ro and I enjoy a good cuppa tea every once in a while. Mostly weekends, we try making all these different types of tea and enjoy it with some biscuits and such. I particularly love experimenting with it..like making a macaron flavour with it, different flavours of iced tea's with it, the occasional masala chai and our favourite the mint tea.

I received a couple of boxes of Twinings tea to review and after enjoying some with our biscuits and cakes, I decided to try something new. I had never made a cocktail with tea, and my love for everything cocktail made me try this Moroccan inspired mojito. Its such a cool recipe..i mean it combines my favourite mint tea with rum and really, what's not to like about that?

 

I also absolutely love the whole Afternoon Tea idea. I find it incredibly romantic, to dress up and go to a fancy hotel for some tea. I have been wanting to throw a tea party at mine for a long time, but haven't had the time to do it. But I did whip up some macarons for an afternoon tea-ish session with friends beginning of summer. I served them with Twinings Earl Grey (my favourite), English Breakfast and Assam tea- all great tea's. The English breakfast makes a mean mint tea as well. But be careful to not let it steep too much, or else your mint tea is gonna taste bitter. I have wasted waaay too much tea with that mistake.

Recipe adapted from here (Makes 2 to 3 glasses)

 

Twinings English Breakfast- 2 bags
Boiling water- 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom pods- 20, crushed
Sugar- 3 tbsp (adjust accordingly)
Mint leaves- 10 to 15
Lemon juice- 3 tbsp
White rum- 3 oz
Ice

 

Into a measuring cup put in the tea bags and bruised cardamom pods.
Pour enough boiling water to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid in total.
Seep for about 2 to 3 minutes, remove the tea bags, but not the cardamom and store in the refrigerator till ready to use.
Meanwhile, muddle the mint and sugar together in a cocktail shaker and keep aside.
When ready to serve, add the tea mix to the cocktail shaker, followed by lemon juice, rum and some ice cubes.
Shake away and then pour into individual glasses, top with a sprig of mint, a lime wedge and some ice and you are good to go.

 

Notes: The drink was not sweet at all, so the second batch i made, I used sugar syrup (1/4 cup) instead of sugar and added it to the tea mix when it was still warm. The mint leaves were muddled on its own.
Add more rum if you want it super boozy :)

With thanks to Twinings for the samples

Blackberry bramble

Finally summer is here (to stay I hope). Days are warm with highs of 20C and evenings are cool. Pleasant enough to sit out on the balcony and enjoy a beer. The pub near our house is almost always full and its impossible to get a seat outside. My flip-flops and skirts have come out of hibernation, but I'm not yet brave enough to venture out in shorts as the crazy winds are still around, reminding us that summer is not completely here.

I have been bugging Ro to take me on one of those countryside walks...through the gorgeous yellow rapeseed fields. I hope I have one more weekend with loads of sunshine and high temperature to venture out, before they are harvested. On one Sunday afternoon when all of London was out enjoying the sun, we went into Greenwich town to check out Jamie Oliver's new restaurant "Jamie's Italian' and I had a blackberry bramble which was just amazing. I HAD to recreate it at home and that's exactly what I did on a Friday when the temperatures hit a high of 26C. Its not the authentic bramble which has Creme De Mure, the blackberry liqueur, in it, but I made it work with whatever was at home. Apologies for hijacking the name for something not even remotely related to the original. I thought it would be fun to do individual servings in small milk bottles. No one questioned me, because they all know better than to argue with a crazy prop-obsessed food blogger :)

I'd been lusting behind these really cute school milk bottles from the dotcomgiftshop website and as luck would have it, they sent me a set to review. They have a lot of cool stuff on their website, especially for food bloggers who are prop obsessed. There are 6 bottles in a crate and they are oh-so-adorable. They are great to serve individual drinks in and can double up as a decorative item at home- like mini flower vases. The only problem is that the bottles are tiny, and can take only about 1/2 a cup of liquid each. May not be that great for adults- especially when you give them an awesome drink and they finish it off in a gulp- but they just look too pretty and I love them. I can see myself using them as prop ever so often.

Recipe adapted from here (serves 3)

Gin- 4 oz

Blackberries- 10 to 12 (plus enough to garnish)

Lime cordial- 3 oz

Simple syrup- 3 oz (recipe follows)

Ice cubes- a hand full + enough to top

Tonic water- 300 ml

Make simple syrup by boiling together equal parts of sugar and water. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Keep aside to cool and use as required. Of course I'm lazy, so I just mix water and sugar in a glass and chuck into the microwave for a couple of minutes. Take the glass out, stir to dissolve the sugar and chick it into the freezer for a couple of minutes.

Combine the gin, blackberries, lime cordial and simple syrup together in a cocktail shaker.

Add a hand full of ice cubes and shake away.

Strain into glasses, add more ice and top with tonic water.

For the glass bottles, I strained the drink into a measuring jug, topped with the tonic water, gave a gentle stir and then poured it out into the bottles.

With thanks to dotcomgiftshop for sending me the milk bottles to review.

Summer drinks

The weather has been incredibly good the past couple of days and we have resorted to keeping a bottle of chilled water in the refrigerator and taking glugs from it when needed. Ro's hay fever has flared up and he's irritated with it most of the time, but still refuses to stay indoors, and takes the cycle out for a spin to the nearby parks and such whenever possible. As much as I'm enjoying the heat and sunshine, it sometimes gets to me, especially at night when it gets too stuffy and warm, in spite of leaving the windows open. I should probably take off the duvet and use a normal sheet, but we are always jinxed when we do that, because the very next day after we vacuum seal the duvet and stash it away, it becomes cold and unbearable at night, leaving us sleepless and cranky. Same with taking the floor fan out. The day after we assemble it, it would be raining and cold and windy and we'd never have an opportunity to use it. 

Anyway's, coming to today's post, I have been making these gorgeous cold summer drinks whenever the weather is amazing (read HOT) and have been waiting for the right moment to post them. They are not really precise recipes, but more 'add as you like' versions, and so can be adapted in whichever way you prefer. Today I guess temperatures are soaring at 27C and its perhaps the best day to post the recipes for these summery drinks. I am sooo gonna go ahead and make some Pimms later in the day.

Mango Mood (serves 2 to 3) 

 

The moment I saw Finla's mango cocktail recipe, I knew I had to try it. To be honest, Ro and I dont crave for mangoes during the season. I mean we will pick some up if we feel like it, but dont crave it tremendously. I like mango flavoured drinks more than the actual fruit and that's why I had to give this cocktail a go. Its perfect to serve while entertaining guests and of course, you can never go wrong with anything vodka based :)

Mango juice- 250ml

Orange juice- 100 ml

Vodka- 100 ml

Lime juice- 20 ml

Ice cubes- as required.

Caster sugar- to rim the glasses (optional)

Take some caster sugar in a plate, rub a lemon lightly on the rims of 2 cocktail glasses to moisten i,t and then turn it upside down and dip the rims in caster sugar. 

Shake off excess sugar and chuck them in the fridge.

Pour all the other ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake away to glory.

Take the glasses out of the refrigerator and strain the drink into them.

Serve immediately.

Lime mint cooler (serves 4)

 

This brings back fond memories of college days. We used to hang out at this pretty popular juice joint called 'Fruit Shop on Greams Road,' but since we were all living off meagre pocket money, we could only afford the cheapest drink on their menu- the lime mint cooler which was Rs. 10 at that time (I'm sure its gone up like crazy now) and we would sit with that drink for as long as possible. Ah good ol days.

Its not a drink everyone would like as its got a very distinct mint flavour. Ro hates it, but that doesnt stop me from making a couple of glasses for myself. Add some grated ginger for some added punch, or replace sugar with honey for a lighter version.

Lime juice- 1/4 cup

Lemon juice- 1/4 cup

Mint leaves- 1/4 cup

Sugar- 4 to 5 tbsp (depending on taste)

Water- 4 to 4.5 cups

Ice cubes- as required

Lemon zest and mint leaves- to garnish

Blend together all the ingredients, except the garnish items, in a blender till all the sugar is melted and the mint leaves have broken down.

Strain the mix into a large jug, do a taste test. Add more sugar if needed, more water if its too tart and ice cubes if its not cold enough.

Pour into individual glasses and garnish with some zest and mint leaves.

Pimms- the quintessential British fav. (makes one large pitcher)

No summer in England is complete without a pitcher of Pimms and I for one love it. If you have a bottle of Pimms, making variations with different mixers is absolutely easy, and hardly would you have anyone say no to it. This is the basic version and recipe is adapted from here.

Pimms No. 1- 1 cup

Lemonade- 3 cups, chilled

Mint- a few springs

Cucumber- 1/4 cup

Orange- 1, quartered

Strawberries- 1/2 cup, hulled and halved

Ice cubes- as required (optional)

Into a large pitcher pour in the Pimms. 

Top with lemonade. Add ice cubes if required.

Garnish with cucumber, orange and mint and serve chilled.

while pouring it out, you may want to use a spoon to scoop out some of the fruits and add to individual glasses. 

Its best drunk with a straw and eating the alcohol soaked fruits might be a bit tricky, but after a couple of drinks, who cares if you use your hands :)

Sambharam (Spiced buttermilk- serves 2)

 

This drink definitely needs no introduction. It's a staple at every South Indian household, especially during the hot and humid summers. I am ashamed to say this, but I have made sambharam only once since coming to London and I had to click pics and record it for posterity. I remember glugging down packets full of this yummy stuff during my under grad days, from this small shack just outside college. God know what all they used to add in it, but it was the most yummiest, spiciest buttermilk I've ever had. Recipe adapted from here, styling from here

Buttermilk- 300 ml, chilled

Water- 100 ml (if required)

Ginger- 1 inch piece, peeled

Green chillies- 2

Shallots- 2 small (optional)

Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida- a pinch

Curry leaves- a sprig

Salt- to taste

If the buttermilk is too thick, dilute it with the water. The ones we get here are pretty thick and so i keep adding water bit by bit till i get the slightly loose consistency.

Add enough salt, mix well and keep aside.

Grind/ crush coarsely the ginger, green chillies, shallots, cumin seeds and asafoetida either using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.

Crush the curry leaves with your hand and all it to the buttermilk, along with all the crushed mix.

Give a good stir and serve cold.

If you dont like to bite into the spices, then let the buttermilk chill in the refrigerator for a while so the flavours get infused, and then strain before serving.

Bloody Mary (makes 1, double it if required)

 

My recent fav is the Bloody Mary. If made right, it's perhaps one of the yummiest cocktails ever, but if ruined, it could taste like tomato soup with a kick. I used to make this cocktail a lot back in India because vodka and tomato juice is readily available and there is very little or no effort whipping this up for unexpected guests. You can also make a virgin version without the booze. Recipe adapted from here

Vodka- 50 ml

Tomato juice- 125 ml

Celery salt- 1/4 tsp + enough to rim the glass

Black pepper- a dash

Tabasco sauce- a generous dash (less if you dont prefer it spicy)

Worcestershire sauce- a dash

Ice cubes- as required

Take some celery salt in a saucer. Rub a lemon lightly on to the rim of a tall glass to moisten it ,and then turn it upside down and dip the rims into the celery salt. Shake off excess salt, as you dont want it to be too salty. You can use a salt and pepper mix for the rims, if you dont have celery salt. 

Fill the glass with ice.

Pour in the vodka and top it up with tomato juice. You can dilute it with some water if you think the tomato juice is too thick.

Season with the celery salt and black pepper.

Add the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces, stir it all in and serve.

If you can get hold of celery sticks, use that as a decoration (and a stirrer).

PS: My sister-in-law (brother's wife) is getting into London on Monday and she's with us for about 3 weeks. I am sooo looking forward to some girly time with both my sisters-in-law (Ro's sister is also in London) and so blog posts may not be that regular.