Chamotini?

February 19, 2009 3:05 PM

I would like to invent and/or discover a cocktail recipe using as the key note chamomile tea or peppermint tea. In the course of discussing this idea I have heard a rumor of something once made somewhere in Boston with Strega and chamomile. Beyond its deliciousness, further details were lost to time. So, beyond that possible dead-end . . . any ideas?
posted by _sirmissalot_ to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

After 9: 1 oz vodka, 1 oz Amaretto, peppermint tea
Winter julep: 1 1/2 oz. bourbon, 3/4 oz. brown sugar syrup (see link), peppermint tea

Googling "peppermint tea cocktail" or "chamomile tea cocktails" yields a ton of results, but really, cocktails are such a matter of personal taste, and you've already found two ingredients that you love: what's keeping you from experimenting?
posted by halogen at 3:18 PM on February 19, 2009

Firefly's Chamomile Julep.

Yeah - why not make some chamomile and peppermint infused simple syrups and start playing? Sugar and water are cheap.
posted by Knicke at 3:21 PM on February 19, 2009

Response by poster: Well, I suppose because Googling or blind experimentation is not the same as asking old friends. To be precise, I'm looking for personal ruminations, harebrained schemes, unreasonable dislikes, half-remembered accidents, fervent recommendations, and any sort of herb-alcohol pairings that are strange and delightful. That kind of thing.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 3:29 PM on February 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

There is this Black Tea Infused Vodka recipe on Chow.com. Maybe you could do something similar with chamomile or peppermint? I want to try this with Earl Gray!
posted by apricot at 3:31 PM on February 19, 2009

Oh, poo. I clicked the wrong tag. Here is the recipe.
posted by apricot at 3:32 PM on February 19, 2009

The drink called a Beautiful mixed with some hot chamomile tea would make for a really cool take on the Bourbon Furnace or the Hot Toddy.
posted by ZaneJ. at 4:22 PM on February 19, 2009

Agreeing with apricot, here. I've made a delightful jasmine vodka by putting jasmine tea pearls in a bottle of vodka, and then letting it sit unrefrigerated for a month. It flavors it very strongly, and you can mix it or drink it straight. I would imagine chamomile and Barenjaeger would also make a very nice cocktail, just by adding a shot if it to chamomile tea. Barenjaeger is honey-flavored, and comes in a bottle with a beehive-shaped cap and a straw-like basket thing around it.
posted by Gneisskate at 7:41 PM on February 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

On a menu last night at a tea place with a a liquor license, I saw mint-tea mojito. The place is in the neighborhood, so I'll try to remember to take note of the ingredients next time.
posted by Airhen at 5:40 AM on February 20, 2009

If you can find it--and afford it--there's the Northern Italian specialty, grappa di camomilla, a chamomile-infused grappa that occasionally turns up on these shores.
posted by Splificator at 6:58 AM on February 20, 2009

I have weird tastes in cocktails, this is one I invented, based on a caipirinha, but now that I see it written down, if you make it with mint tea it is almost a mojito, that I like:

Mint or chamomile tea.
Cachaca.
Brown sugar or honey.
Lime.
Ice.

Muddle lime wedges with sugar/honey, add ice and cachaca, cover the glass with an inverted plastic cereal bowl and shake like crazy, lick the drink that remains on the cereal bowl, no sense wasting it, top the glass with tea. Drink it while you get your ass kicked in Team Fortress 2.
posted by dirty lies at 1:53 PM on February 20, 2009

I am so unprofessional, I forgot the garnish!

Garnish with fresh chamomile flowers if available, otherwise secure the damp floppy teabag on the edge of the glass using a paperclip. It is considered good form to suck the now supersaturated and bitter tea out of the teabag when you finish your cocktail.
posted by dirty lies at 1:56 PM on February 20, 2009