Cheers to Tea Time: 5 Tasty Alcoholic Teas for Your Next Celebration

Having a cup of tea with a meal or a quick snack is one of life's simple pleasures – so much so that it merits its own celebration, such as National Tea Day. Drinking tea is a ritual embedded in many cultures. Tea culture apparently dates back to 2737 BC in China, according to legend, but there are now so many fashionable flavours to be found worldwide such as fruit teas and caffeinated or non-caffeinated tea varieties which go beyond the traditional builders tea or dreaded tasteless milky teas! There is truly a type of tea for everyone these days and that includes cocktail lovers too as there are tea infused cocktails to satisfy most tastes.

Believe it or not, but there are tea cocktails to suit each stage of your dining experience from eating starters right the way through to indulging in desserts! If that piques your interest (and why wouldn’t it), here are five alcoholic teas that will absolutely satisfy both tea drinkers and cocktail lovers alike!

Tios Hard Tea Light & Stormy

Tios hard tea is a sparkling tea infused entry in the RTD (ready to drink) cocktails market and is designed to be drunk on the go! It is made with organic white tea with a twist to provide a variation of your favourite cocktails such as Dark and Stormy. This rum based tea cocktail is a light brown colour which would look familiar to ice tea lovers with an intense ginger flavour profile providing that tangy sensation on the nose and palate. Well blended without being sugary, this is a vegan certified product that will go well by your side at afternoon tea and summer festivals as an aperitif!

Size: 250ml
ABV: 4.4%
Price: £16.99 for 6 cans

Riddles Mango Ice Tea

A sparkling ice tea rum blend that is slightly orange tinged and infused with Nigerian Moringa tea. According to folklore, there are health benefits associated with drinking Moringa tea and this works well with the fruity mango flavour to produce an easy drinking, light cocktail without reducing the flavour! It is so smoothly blended that neither the rum nor the tea dominate, but then again that will make it ideal to pair with the well-seasoned Caribbean Sunday dinner of rice, peas and chicken!

Size: 250ml
ABV: 4%
Price: £2

Masons of Yorkshire, Tea Edition

Tea drinkers and gin lovers will rejoice with this ideal combination of flavours for the Tea Edition of this gin! Mason’s Tea Edition blends dry Yorkshire tea with the botanicals and juniper flavours from the gin profile. It will be an excellent drink for both cosy nights in, as the warmth and alcohol strength will keep the cold weather at bay, and it will be suitable for the spring and summer climates too with its refreshing citrus and slightly sweeter taste. Look no further, If you are seeking that Trou Normand as that palate cleanser between dishes - this Tea Edition would be good for that or you could simply have it as a shot or on the rocks, as we said - it will please many!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 42%
Price: £33.95

Noveltea Whisky & Oolong Tea

Coming on to that after dinner time, when you might still be craving a night cap, this tea liqueur from Noveltea combines whisky with the lighter, fruity oolong tea variety. This is a boozy cocktail which is best served chilled with ice. It is as dark in colour as a traditional Scotch whisky, but without the high alcohol content! Smooth on the mouth, without being overpowering, with a subtle, smoky whisky aroma and a hint of lemon – this digestif combination is a natural partnership that will make you want more as the night draws to a close!

Size: 500ml
ABV: 15%
Price: £27.50

Tipsy Tea Spiced Chai

You might enjoy having a cuppa before bed and this spiced chai liqueur is perfect for those cosy moments to unwind at home. Packed full of spices, this alcoholic tea is designed to be mixed – you can be adventurous and try it hot or cold! Simply add a shot of hot water or sparkling cold water with a slice of lemon and away you go! Its golden colour also provides that sense of warmth in this fruity blend which tastes just like a herbal tea but with that added kick! It’s the perfect drink for catching up with the gossip with friends after that night out or dinner party!

Size: 350ml
ABV: 20%
Price: £15

Even if you may not be a regular tea drinker, these alcoholic teas explore its versatility for all meal times, tastebuds and special occasions. These will definitely satisfy those cocktail lovers searching for a lighter but flavourful alternative to their favourite cocktails and for tea drinkers seeking the tea version of an Irish coffee! The burning question now is – which boozy tea will you try first?

If you want to make some of your own boozy tea combinations, here are some suggestions to get you started.

By Latoya Austin

Which Alcohol Mixes Well With Tea?

We don’t often think of tea and alcohol as having much of an overlap, but maybe we should. Bartenders have been experimenting with tea in cocktails for a while now, embracing the deep and diverse flavours of all kinds of teas, as well as the refreshing qualities, caffeine, and health benefits.

Most spirits have quite intense and distinct flavours, and it’s often the same with teas, so randomly mixing them together is likely to be a waste of good liquid – though you might strike gold, who knows! There are, however, some well known tea and booze marriages that show what a dreamy and complementary pairing the two can be… and these are a few you can easily try!

When mixing tea with alcohol, you can serve it hot as you usually would with tea, or you can infuse it hot and let it cool, or you can cold brew – it’s up to your personal preference and the ingredients you’re using.

You can make tea as you usually would and treat it as another cocktail ingredient, or in its simplest form, just add alcohol to your tea, but at a slightly more advanced level, you can infuse tea into spirits, or syrups or even embrace the cold distillation techniques – all the information on those can be found here.

Black Tea and Dark Rum

Black tea, most famously English breakfast, is a great pairing with rum. The natural caramelly sweetness of the rum pairs well with the earthy, bitter flavour of black tea. It’s such a complimentary pairing that there are already a few established cocktails marrying the two. Fish House Punch, with black tea, Cognac, dark rum, and peach brandy, is a particularly boozy serve. A simpler cocktail is the Planter’s Punch, which often includes black tea instead of water, combined with dark rum and a little lime juice and syrup. There is also Gunfire, a legendary morning cocktail in the British Army of the 1890s that mixes one shot of rum into a regular cuppa. Oh, and a little tip. You might not want the caffeine of black tea in the evening, but rooibos is a very similar, slightly smokier tea that’s caffeine free, so try this!

Green Tea and Whisky

Japanese whisky, Irish whiskey, and American whiskey are all regularly mixed with green tea. Whilst it’s a slight shame to taint the endless health benefits of green tea, the vegetal and grassy flavours really add to many whiskies. The end result is a refreshing, breezier number with increased citrus notes. A simple Green Tea Highball with Japanese whisky, green tea and club soda is a great place to start.

Chamomile Tea and Gin

Flower power. The floral and herbaceous heart of both chamomile and (many) gins is a perfect marriage. You’ll find that the notes in the chamomile enhance the botanical complexity of floral and herbaceous gins, and also soften any sharpness. A really simple pitcher style cocktail you can make is by making some chamomile tea (either with tea bags or through flowers in water), and straining the cool mixture with gin, lemon juice, honey, and ice – how deliciously bright and breezy does that sound?

White Tea and Vodka

White tea is one of the most delicate and refreshing teas. It’s well known for its gentle honey notes and mellow flavours like apricot, peach, oats, hay, and flowers. You could pair this with a very subtle floral gin or perhaps even white rum, but they run the risk of overwhelming it. The neutrality and cleanliness of good vodka can be an interesting match to try, sucking you in with the gentle refreshment of the tea, and whacking you with a hearty hit of vodka. Infusing vodka with white tea would be a good way to go (you can simply leave tea leaves or tea bags with vodka for a few hours then strain). This way, you can make a simple white tea Vodka Martini, perhaps combining with some aromatic ingredients like elderflower liqueur and edible flowers.

The Hot Tea Toddy

The most famous way of combining tea and alcohol is in the form of Hot Toddies. We’ve listed some amazing variations of the Hot Toddy here, and it’s easy to see how tea can be introduced. It’s already a winter warmer, made most classically with whisky, hot water, lemon juice and usually honey and cinnamon too. But, with other ingredients like ginger, cider, gin, rum and apple juice often involved in riffs, there are plentiful opportunities for tea to bring something to the party. Ginger tea, bourbon whiskey, honey and lemon juice is a super warming, spicy, rich favourite. The tea you use will emphasise different elements of the Toddy – the citrus, the honey, the spices, or the spirit itself. At the end of the day, if you think a tea that you love might go well with a spirit, then serve it warm and combine with citrus, honey, spices and see – you might surprise yourself!

Similar but slightly different, you can also make any of your favourite teas into syrups. Syrups are simply water and sugar, and of course you can swap out water for tea. Check out our homemade syrups guide here!

Elevating Cocktails With Tea

In the modern realm of craft cocktail bartending, bartenders are always looking for ways to impart complex flavour profiles with real depth into their signature slings. From organic produce such as fresh fruit and vegetables to specialist ingredients such as acid powders and thickening and emulsifying agents, anything that can add complexity in flavour and texture can and will be employed.

To understand how to use tea effectively, we must first understand the variations of tea. The two major categories are herbal teas made using various herbs and spices steeped in hot water and include chamomile, ginger, and peppermint teas, and tea coming from the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, which has six further subcategories; green, white, yellow, oolong, black and dark. The difference between these six types of tea is how the raw leaves are processed post-harvest.

Tea has versatility in not only breadth but also depth. When using tea in a cocktail there are two main questions to ask yourself before starting your process - What kind of tea do I want to use? And what kind of flavours do I want to extract from the tea leaves? The answer to these questions will determine what kind of tea leaves to use and how to impart their flavours into your libation.

With this knowledge, we will explore some of the delicious brew-based cocktails created by bartenders worldwide and the various techniques they employ!

SPIRIT INFUSION

The Earl Grey Marteani was created by legendary New York City bartender Audrey Saunders for the opening menu of her bar Pegu Club. This gin-sour serve is a brilliant introduction to tea, cocktails, and both in combination, owing to its ease of replicability and the fact that it is just damn delicious.

The recipe calls for Earl Grey tea-infused gin, which may seem daunting to a beginner but requires no speciality equipment and minimal active time. Simply add ¼ cup or 8 grams of loose leaf earl grey tea to 750ml of London Dry Gin and leave to steep for at least 2 and up to 8 hours, before straining through a coffee filter and bottling.

Looking at Saunders’ choice of process is intriguing here as an infusion into the spirit allows the alcohol to leech out the flavour faster than cold brewing it before turning the cold brewed tea into a syrup, as well as allowing for a more shelf stable product than a tea syrup!

With these pros, however, always comes a con. As alcohol leeches out flavours a lot faster than water, it also pulls out the bitter tannic profile contained in all kinds of teas. To combat this, Saunders added egg white to the drink to soften the bitter, tannic finish of the drink.

While infusing the tea into spirit was ideal for Saunders’ application, infusing tea into a whole bottle of gin may not be the most ideal for home bartending use, so let’s turn our heads to the alternative of tea syrups!

SYRUP INFUSION

Image credit: 1820rooftopbar on Instagram

When infusing tea into syrup, your choice between hot or cold brewing the tea will determine the flavours you extract from the tea. A cold brewed tea will be a more delicate extraction with the predominant flavour coming from the process used to preserve the tea leaf post-harvest, whereas, a hot brew will give you a more tannic profile a lot more akin to your regular cuppa.

A great example of hot brewed tea syrup in a cocktail is the Apricot + Dragon Ball Tea from the 1820 Rooftop Bar in Edinburgh, which uses a blend of 5 different teas to mimic the flavour profile of Johnnie Walker Black Label!

We spoke with the creative lead on the project Connor Norris on his thought process for the choice of teas and method of extraction:

“The cordial made a lot of sense in this serve, and the blend of teas chosen was based on the tasting notes of Johnnie Walker Black label that were perceived by the team. Rooibos tea was the backbone of the blend, providing the malty base and bridging the gap between the flavours of tea, and single-grain whisky. Lapsang tea offered the smoke that Caol Ila brings, while Hibiscus brought the fruity notes of Cardhu and the floral profile of Glenkinchie. Earl Grey mimicked some of the tropical notes found in Clynelish, and to round it out, Breakfast Tea added the classic tannic flavours that are brought to whisky through their cask aging.”

Connor’s method of infusion was a hot brew using the sous vide, which allowed a quicker infusion for the high-volume purposes of the venue but also allowed the tannic dryness of the tea to contrast against the sweetness of the apricot jam used in the cordial.

It is an all-around delicious beverage so we suggest it as a fantastic example of what a tea cocktail can be if you get the chance to visit.

COLD DISTILLATION

This one is for my fellow cocktail bartenders who stepped into the prep space of their new venue and saw a rotary evaporator (rotovap) for the first time and wondered what exactly they had gotten themselves into - a feeling I have known all too well.

Fear not! As while a rotovap is an expensive and intricate piece of equipment, the theory behind its use is far simpler than the column and pot still distillation processes used in the making of spirits. Applying the same logic of hot versus cold brewing of tea to the vigor of your boil in your distillation chamber, you can achieve an incredible variance of end product while starting with the same raw materials. A few things to note first:

• As pressure drops, so does the boiling point of the liquid.

• As alcohol by volume increases, the boiling point of the liquid drops.

• A rotovap is by no means necessary in making great drinks, with tea or otherwise.

• For the sake of example, we will look at making a tea liqueur using distillation.

If the main goal of the extraction was to pull out the bitter tannins from the tea, then keeping the pressure relatively high and boiling aggressively at a higher temperature is the way to go. Whereas if you want to extract the flavours of the tea leaf and how it was processed, drop the pressure very low and keep the temperature low to keep the liquid on a simmer.

An old head bartender of mine once said that using a rotovap is very similar to using a barbecue - learning to read the fire and use that to your advantage is one of the keys to good barbecues. In the case of a rotovap, learning to read the boil and pressure and adjusting those to achieve the flavours that you want from them is the key to good rotovapped cocktails!

With this new-found knowledge of tea and infusion methods, you can sling yourself up a delicious tea cocktail with minimal faff for the home bartender, or go all the way to distillation for the professionals! An exciting world awaits…

By Fowwaz Ansari

Christmas Leftovers Made Fun: Festive Afternoon Tea

Be it making too much or receiving loads of foody presents, you’re bound to have lots of leftovers and little bites in the days after Christmas.

It could be instead of the traditional Boxing Day cold buffet, or just as a replacement for weeks of turkey soup, but a Festive Afternoon Tea is a great way to get all those spare bits together and assemble them into something special.  We’ve got a handy guide below for ideas of what foods to include and the drinks that perfectly accompany them!

The Perfect Food for a Festive Afternoon Tea

First Course

First up, those festive finger sandwiches. Turkey and cranberry sauce are a must, but brie or camembert with cranberry would also be a lovely twist if you’re willing to include some toasted elements.  Smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese is also a winner.

If you have any spare from the Christmas dinner (not likely as they’re many people’s favourite bit), then pigs in blankets are perfect bite sized foods for the savoury rung. The same goes for any mini sausage rolls, which is also great excuse to get any festive chutneys involved (spiced, cranberry, apple etc.)

A nice festive quiche with winter vegetables and thyme would make a great vegetarian option here, or a slice of the nut roast from Christmas Dinner if there’s leftovers.

Second Course

It’s not really an afternoon tea without scones, jam and cream occupying that middle rung, is it? For a festive twist, cranberry scones are delicious, especially with orange and cinnamon.

Chances are there will be a few preserves given as gifts, so it’s time to crack them open. If you didn’t get any, then any flavour will do, but focus on berries. Strawberry and champagne jam is perfect for the occasion. Keep the clotted cream simple.

Third Course

It goes without saying that there will probably be plenty of sweet treats to use up here.

Get those slices of leftover Christmas cake up on the top rung, and you have to include a few mince pies if they’re still going strong.

There’s no reason not to include traditional afternoon tea favourites like macarons, profiteroles, fruit tartes or Victoria sponges either.

We think some liquor chocolates are gorgeous peppered in and out of bigger sweet treats too, so it’s time to make a dent in those boxes if you haven’t already.

The Perfect Drinks for a Festive Afternoon Tea

Champagne

When Champagne is enjoyed alongside Afternoon Tea, it becomes a Royal Afternoon Tea, so I guess this would be a Royal Festive Afternoon Tea. Far from being just an extravagance, it is actually ideal for the bites above. A gorgeous Brut Champagne is a great all-rounder, because the gentle fizz and delicate fruitiness soothes throughout. Creamy, brioche and nutty notes pair well with the sweets as well as clotted cream and cheeses, and there’s enough acidity to cut through fatty oils in the pigs in blankets, sausage rolls and pastries. Every sip feels special too, which helps the festive celebrations along.

Moscato d’Asti

Moscato d’Asti isn’t the one if you’re looking for something to pair with every level of the Afternoon Tea, but it does absolutely shine with the sweeter bites. It’s so refreshing, with delicate bubbles, low alcohol and an ideal balance of acidity and sweetness. Cakes, sponges, and anything citrus – this is delightful.

Prosecco

Similar to Moscato d’Asti above, Prosecco is a companion that shines with the sweeter dishes. It’s light and fruity, and as long as you get one with a bit of intensity and complexity, it shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the flavours in the food. There’s enough fruity sweetness to avoid becoming horribly bitter and acidic, and the effervescence clears everything between bites nicely.

Riesling

Riesling has a fantastic food-friendly reputation, being armed to deal with all sorts of textures and flavours. Sharp acidity cuts through any fats and grease in meats, with residual sugar to deal with sweeter finishes. It’s fresh and lively to give a break from any overwhelming richness too.

Festive tea

We had to include tea of course. Why not fully embrace the season with a Christmas tea blend? There are lots out there, but you’ll usually find winter spices, citrus and orchard fruits – so expect cinnamon, clove, cardamom, orange and alike. It’ll throw up lots of complimentary flavours with other seasonal flavours in the food, and high heat is surprising in its ability to refresh the palate.

Sherry

A sure-fire way to put an Afternoon Tea through the Christmas transformation machine, we’re looking at sherry for those puddings. More precisely, Pedro Ximenez or Oloroso, with good sweetness and those delicious notes of dried fruits, nutsy and rich chocolates.

Pinot Noir

There’s no need for anything as heavy as a Barolo with light and varied bites like this, but a light Pinot Noir with tonnes of those soft red fruits is perfect. New Zealand Pinot is often the vibrant, fruity character we’re after, and they also happen to be rich and structured too, so can handle a little sweet spice. It’s absolutely delicious with cranberry sauce too. It’s a favourite for those Boxing Day cold spreads, so why not an Afternoon Tea twist?

If you’ve still got loads of Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies to chomp through, then we’ve got a detailed guide on drinks that marry them deliciously.

Brew-tiful Blends: Elevating Cocktails with the Power of Tea

Cuppas and cocktails, is there anything we like more? Well, how about them together? We’ve been exploring tea-infused cocktails and boy can they elevate a creation to that next level. From floral refreshment to soothing spice, these are some of our favourite tea cocktails, hot and cold, that you should definitely experiment with if you haven’t already! Let’s get the kettle on...

Jasmine Fizz

The Jasmine Fizz just gets more and more delicious with each ingredient. Delightfully refreshing, it combines the floral notes of jasmine tea with the effervescence of sparkling wine. Elderflower continues this natural and aromatic profile, with fresh lemon to cut through and add some zip. One of those cocktails that you feel invigorated drinking.

Ingredients

60ml jasmine tea-infused gin
30ml elderflower liqueur
15ml fresh lemon juice
15ml simple syrup/honey
60ml sparkling wine
Lemon twist (garnish)

 Method
Okay, so the gin. We recommend testing on a smaller amount first, but you’ll need to sit the jasmine teabags in the gin for at least 1 hour. After this, just shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled glass. Lemon or beautiful jasmine flowers for garnish and voila, a cocktail that will really impress.

Aperol Tea Spritz

Sparkling teas like these stunners work wonderfully well in place of sparkling wine in cocktails, and this Aperol Tea Spritz is a perfect example. LYSERØD is one of the driest sparkling teas out there, and those Rosé notes and smooth White Tea pair nicely with the Aperol. There are so many combinations you could try, so experiment with sparkling teas in your favourite Spritzers.

Ingredients
100ml Aperol
150ml sparkling tea (something like LYSERØD by Copenhagen)

Method
Pour both over ice – there really is nothing else to it. Relax and enjoy.

G&Tea

Adding teabags to Gin and Tonics has been a bit of a thing in Scandinavia for a while, but adding an elegant sparkling tea instead of the tonic and teabag separately makes a hell of a lot more sense if you ask us. This is a really fresh way to mix up the usual G&T for something just as clean and pure, but with more botanical depth. Just pick a tea with mild flavour and mix with your favourite gin.

Ingredients
50ml gin
100ml sparkling tea (something like Jing Jasmine Pearls)
Angostura bitters (optional)
Honey (optional)

Method
Make it as you would a regular G&T, simply combining the two. Obviously tonic is more neutral than tea, so if you want some bitterness add Angostura drops, or if you want a dash more sweetness go for a touch of honey.

Hot Chai Toddy

The addition of spiced black chai to the winter warmer that is the Hot Toddy adds deliciously comforting warmth and deep spice, complementing the whisky well. With the earthy tea, fresh lemon and touch of honey, there is an almost medicinal quality to this cocktail that harks back to the Hot Toddy’s roots.

Ingredients
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
100ml-150ml hot water
1 black chai teabag
35ml whisky
1 clove (optional)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Lemon wheel (garnish)

Method
Grab your favourite mug or handled glass and pour the hot water over the tea. Mix in the honey, whisky, and lemon until everything has merged. Chuck in the clove and the cinnamon for even more warmth. Cup in your hands and let it soothe your soul!

Birds and Bees

From Juan Coronado of The Bazaar comes this delicious cocktail using a chamomile-honey syrup to mellow the fresh lemon juice and complement a good quality gin. It’s another tea cocktail that feels clean and delicate, but with punchy gin at the heart of it. Tasty.

 Ingredients
50ml gin
30ml chamomile-honey syrup
25ml fresh lemon juice
10ml lime juice
For the syrup: 1 chamomile teabag and 15ml honey (you might want to make a bigger batch though)

Method
All the effort here is in that syrup, which is actually very simple to make. Make chamomile tea as usual and dissolve honey into it, before cooling at room temp. Then, combine everything in a shaker with ice, strain, and sip! Nom.

Green, Ginger, and Gold

Cognac is a surprisingly tasty pairing with green tea, and of course ginger so this is a gorgeously fresh and alive cocktail merging them. With fresh mint too, there is a refreshing and soothing quality, as well as rich warmth and spice and earthiness. You could try this warm or chilled, it’s up to you but we’re going for chilled this time.

 Ingredients
3 pieces fresh ginger
2 mint leaves
15ml syrup
30ml cognac (VS or VSOP)
60ml chilled green tea

Method
Muddle syrup, mint leaves and ginger with cognac and fresh, chilled green tea. Once the flavours are infused, strain into a glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with a mint leaf for that final touch.

There are so many cocktails you could make with sparkling teas in particular, so check out these! If any cocktail recipes use sparkling wines like Rosé or Prosecco, then give these a go instead.

What Should I Drink With Sushi?

With intense and varied seafood flavours, vinegary rice, and spice all in play, sushi has a reputation for being a nightmare to pair with. There are actually lots of really complimentary options out there, however, so let’s take a look at the possible drinks you could serve to elevate your sushi experience!

SAKE

Choya Sake

Sake is enjoying a surge in popularity in the West, where it’s often served alongside sushi. This isn’t something picked up from Japan, however, where traditionally drinks alongside meals served the purpose of being light, easy-drinking and cleansing the palate. Because sake is brewed from rice, serving ‘rice on rice’ in this way isn’t seen as the way forward. Having said that, sake is actually very food friendly, so a delicate, clean, and restrained sake like this might not be the traditional pairing, but the umami of both makes for a lovely marriage all the same.

Size: 720ml
ABV: 13.5%
Find here: £11.25

BEER

Asahi Super Dry

This might not be the most innovative pairing we’ll give you that, but a light and dry Asian lager like this that isn’t too malty, and overpowering is a really solid pairing. Japanese beers used to be thought of as bitter, but Asahi was at the forefront of changing that and their Super Dry is crisp and clean, allowing the sushi to shine.

Size: 620ml
ABV: 5.2%
Find here: £2.40

WHITE WINE

Reichsrat von Buhl - Riesling Trocken 2021

Both wine and sushi provide endless possibilities and hugely varied flavours and styles. One varietal that we always return to for intensely flavoured foods because it is so adaptable is Riesling. Crisp and highly acidic German Riesling like this is great for fighting spice, complementing fattier fish, and offsetting the bold flavours with bone dry refreshment. It’s as close as you can get to adding lemon juice to fish in a bottle of wine which is why it works so deliciously.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 12.5%
Find here: £12

SPARKLING WINE

Sainsbury's Cremant d’Alsace, Taste the Difference

A delicious and velvety dry sparkler like this really enhances the zest in seafood, and rather than competing with the flavours of the food, it simply refreshes from the backseat and allows its fizzing texture to open up the raw fish. Champagne loves sushi too, but at a fraction of the price this is the wiser option with little compromise on quality whatsoever.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 12%
Find here: £12

TEA

Green tea - Konacha

Tea is often traditionally served alongside sushi, and the high heat is surprisingly adept at refreshing the palate between bites, preserving the delicate textures and subtler flavours found in sushi. There are a few different teas you could serve. Genmaicha is a roasted rice tea that’s nutty and served warm, but green tea is probably the best match. Sencha and konacha are both popular types in sushi restaurants, and both wash down the fatty fish to reset the palate perfectly. They’re also a great way to include a non-drinker in the sushi experience with something more exciting than just water.

Size: 100g
Find here: £11

Copenhagen Sparkling Tea GRØN

Sparkling tea is more popular than ever, and if you don’t like the idea of warm tea with your sushi it’s a fantastic way to go. There are 6 Delicious Sparkling Teas here if you’re interested, but the one that we recommend with sushi is Copenhagen’s Green. It’s as fresh as any drink gets with a stunning green tea base, but also ginger to tie in with the dishes and fizz for resetting the palate.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 5%
Find here: £16.95

The right drinks accompaniment can truly make or break a meal, so check out other guides including Indian, Thai and Mexican!

6 Sparkling Teas You Need To Try

Drinking a quite staggering 150 million cups of tea a day, Brits famously love the stuff, but this doesn’t mean everyone is overly keen to experiment with how they drink it.

A hot cup of tea has more than cemented its place as drinks royalty, but as we say goodbye to the cold and grey days and welcome in the sun, a hot cup of tea doesn’t have quite the same pull so we’re here to let you know about the newest way to drink tea – chilled and bubbly!

Aside from being another way of enjoying tea, sparkling tea is also a fantastic non-alcoholic alternative to sparkling wines so let us introduce you to some of the most delicious ones out there to try.

Belle & Co. Alcohol Free Sparkling Rosé

You wouldn’t expect such well balanced fizz for the price, but that’s exactly what you get with this. The level of sweetness is perfect, as is the effervescence and it’s built a reputation for being almost identical to alcoholic Rosé. The green tea is not substantial but rounds out the red berry profile nicely. Flawless for under a fiver.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0%
Find here: £3.50

REAL Royal Flush

This is a bottle of bubbles that really quenches the thirst for a sparkling wine like Prosecco. Produced in the Chiltern Hills, it uses first flush Darjeeling that carries rhubarb and notes of stone fruits in what is a really fruit-forward mix. The touch of acidity on the palate makes it great alongside various dishes such as grilled fish. And it’s top-notch value!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0.5%
Find here: £8

Copenhagen Sparkling Tea BLÅ

Whilst working at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen, Jacob Kocemba decided to treat tea in the same way as grapes. At first, this was a handy way to pair drinks with desserts, but it turned out so good that the rest is history! They now have a really neat portfolio of bubbly teas, with BLÅ being one of their newest. It’s actually inspired by 13 different teas, most noticeably jasmine but also Darjeeling and various white teas. The result is a delightfully complex and aromatic fizz that feels soft and fresh. Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company has been doing this longer than anyone, so it’s no surprise that this feels astoundingly well put together. A must-try!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0%
Find here: £13.75 (usually more!)

Saicho Darjeeling

We’ve enjoyed Saicho for a while now for its distinctive tea flavour, such as this stylish bottle of Darjeeling picked from the Himalayan foothills. Fresh peach and orange peel balances out a more savoury, herbal side with anise and lavender in this really stylish and flavoursome fizz.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0%
Find here: £15.74

Fortnum's Rosé Sparkling Tea

Fortnum and Mason have included 8 certified organic teas in this fizz that not only carries really moreish and complex flavours but tannins you would expect from a wine too. Hibiscus and jasmine tea come to the fore and despite the lightness, every sip feels like a treat. Deep and lingering Darjeeling anchors the loftier tropical fruits, cranberries, subtle ginger and fresh elderflower and raspberry. If you’re looking to retain your caffeine hit then there is 150mg per litre too!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0%
Find here: £17.95

Jing Jasmine Pearls Sparkling Tea

The jasmine-scented green tea here is sublime, pulled together by tea maker Liu Guioqing in Shekou Garden in China. Everything about the fizz and bottle screams elegance, with reinvigorating green tea depth, refreshing dry mouthfeel and sophisticated natural notes of jasmine flower and honey. Delicious.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 0%
Find here: £21

After even more tasty no-low alcohol drinks? Check out these varied beauties!