Earl Grey Cocktail Recipes

Madeline Mahoney

Photography: Karina Mak

Most people think of earl grey, a black tea with notes of bergamot, as a classic English tea served with breakfast, or served with steamed milk as a London Fog from a coffee shop. The cozy flavors of the tea make it perfect for winter, but its subtle floral notes actually allow it to pair well with a number of spirits. So today, I’ve created two cocktails using a homemade earl grey syrup. The earl grey syrup which is delightfully simple to make, and very fun to tell people that you’ve made. These are right in time for the holiday season if you’re looking to impress your loved ones!

This easy-to-prepare earl grey simple syrup is foundational to both cocktails– the Earl Grey & Elderflower Gin and Tonic and the Orange Earl Grey Cocktail.

Earl Grey G&T (above) and Orange Earl Grey Cocktail (below)

Ingredients for the earl grey syrup:

Earl Grey tea
Equal parts white sugar
Equal parts water

Recipe:

Add a couple spoonfuls of earl grey tea to boiling water.
Let mixture steep for a few minutes.
Remove tea bags or strain out tea leaves.
Add an equal proportion of white sugar and stir frequently over low simmering heat.
That’s it! Now you can store the syrup in your fridge. I used an old maple syrup bottle to store the earl grey syrup, which worked perfectly.

Earl Grey & Elderflower Gin and Tonic

Ingredients, featuring my jar of infused gin (above)

If you’ve seen my Hugo Spritz cocktail recipe, you know that I love St. Germain! But at $40 a bottle, the price feels hard to justify. I decided to try my hand at an elderflower infused-gin using dried elderflowers from Amazon and an affordable gin from the grocery store.

Ingredients for elderflower-infused gin:

1 TB dried elderflowers
2 cups of gin (I used “Art of the Still Organic Gin” from Trader Joe’s)
A couple lemon slices
4 tablespoons white sugar

Recipe:

Sift through the dried elderflowers, separating out the stems, until you have one tablespoon.
Then add the gin, elderflowers, lemon slices, and sugar to an old jar.
Stir until sugar has dissolved.
Store in a cool, dark place for about a week. Then you can strain the elderflowers out of your infused gin and it is ready to be used.

Ingredients for the Earl Grey & Elderflower Gin and Tonic:

1 shot of elderflower-infused gin
1/2 a shot of earl grey syrup
Tonic water (amount depending on how strong you like your drinks)
A small squeeze of lemon

Combine these few simple ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake vigorously, and pour over a full glass of ice cubes to create an elevated gin and tonic, ideal any season!

Orange Earl Grey Cocktail

Ingredients for the Orange Earl Grey Cocktail:

1 shot of gin
½ a shot of earl grey syrup
1 tablespoon of liquid egg whites
Top off with an orange soda (Sanpellegrino or similar)

Mix the ingredients in a chilled shaker. Shake vigorously so that the egg whites will form a foam. Pour into a coupe glass.

I hope you enjoy these two earl grey cocktail recipes! Whip these recipes out for your next holiday gathering, and you are sure to impress your guests. The earl grey syrup can also be used for baking, or as a delicately-flavored sweetener, and stored in the refrigerator for up to a month after it is made, so you can bring these cocktail recipes into the new year.