Tea company Nature’s Cuppa has joined with Melbourne cocktail bar Eau-de-Vie to create four tea-based cocktail recipes for consumers to make at home.

Eau-de-Vie General Manager Greg Sanderson said the collaboration with Nature’s Cuppa was “a unique way to explore the versatility of tea” and extend it beyond iced tea.

“Tea is such a flexible product and when we began to experiment with the different blends, liquors and other ingredients, the results were incredible and much of that can be attributed to the high quality of the tea itself,” Mr Sanderson said.

Eau-de-Vie and Nature’s Cuppa created three tea-infused cocktails, The Green Harvest, Fairtrade Fix and Nature’s Summer Punch, and one mocktail, the Teatotalist, to appeal to summer partygoers.

The Nature’s Cuppa brand is marketed by Australian family-owned company EatRite Australasia. The tea and coffee range is Certified Fairtrade and Certified Organic and includes Ceylon, English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea, Peppermint, Chamomile and Chai Tea varieties. Its tea leaves are sourced from the Company’s tea estates in the Sri Lankan highlands.

Nature’s Cuppa Summer Cocktails created by Eau-de-Vie

“Fairtrade Fix”  :

Ingredients

60ml Gin

30ml Fresh lime juice

20ml Sugar syrup (1:1 water : sugar, dissolve sugar in warm water)

8 Mint leaves

60ml Nature’s Cuppa Earl Grey (brewed stronger than regular and chilled in fridge)

1 Scoop lemon sorbet

Method

Add the gin, Nature’s Cuppa Earl Grey tea, lime juice, sugar syrup, sorbet and mint to a tall glass and churn together with a spoon. Following this fill the glass with crushed ice and build until the glass is full. Garnish with lemon slices and a mint sprig.

“The Green Harvest”  :

Ingredients

50ml Riesling

20ml Citrus vodka

2 Wedges of lemon

2 Teaspoon strawberry jam

60ml Nature’s Cuppa Green tea (brewed stronger than usual and chilled in fridge)

1 Teaspoon honey

Method

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake hard with crushed and cubed ice. Pour entire contents of the shaker into a wine glass. Garnish with seasonal fruits, mint, fancy straws and maybe even a mini meringue.

“Nature’s Summer Punch” (serves 4)  :

Ingredients

200ml Citrus vodka

120ml Lemon juice

80ml Sugar syrup

80ml St Germain (elderflower liqueur available at liquor stores)

1 Teaspoon orange blossom water (available in the baking isle of supermarkets)

5cm Cucumber

300ml Nature’s Cuppa Earl Grey (brewed stronger than usual and chilled in fridge)

Method

Brew Nature’s Cuppa Earl Grey tea with cucumber, once brewed remove cucumber and tea bags. Add all ingredients into a large punch bowl and add ice. Garnish with fresh fruit slices, rose petals and Singapore orchids.

“Teatotalist”  :

Ingredients

45ml Cranberry juice

45ml Apple juice

20ml Lime juice

15ml Sugar syrup

20ml Pear puree

75ml Nature’s Cuppa Peppermint tea

Method

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and strain over cubed ice in a tall glass. Garnish with an apple fan and mint sprig.