Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Singbulli Darjeeling Tea

     I am a huge fan of tea.  It is an incredibly versatile staple.  You can drink it hot or cold, sweetened or unsweetened, or you can even use it in recipes.  I recently had the opportunity to try Darjeeling Organic Fair Trade from the Singbulli Estate in the Himalayas.  This tea is positively delicious and I was amazed to find how many different ways I was able to use it.

     Of course, I started with a traditional cup of hot tea.  That's the usual way that I expect Darjeeling to be served.  I like mine with a little bit of sugar and sometimes I add a bit of honey, but this particular Darjeeling has such a wonderful flavor that I didn't want the honey to distract from it.

     After enjoying the tea hot, I decided to try it cold.  Darjeeling is frequently used in iced tea blends, but this was the first time I ever used it by itself to brew a pitcher of sweet tea.  It was a wonderful surprise!  Nothing shocking, mind you, but definitely different from the usual black teas I use for my sweet tea.

     Since I was in an experimental mood, I decided to make a cocktail using my interesting new sweet tea.  I mixed it with a shot of Amaretto.  Positively delicious!  Definitely a sweet drink.  If you are interested in this cocktail, but prefer your drinks to be a bit less sweet, try making an unsweetened tea for this.

     Finally, I used the tea I had brewed as an ingredient in dessert. I made a basic cupcake recipe, but used the Darjeeling tea in place of the milk that the recipe called for.  This change in the recipe doesn't make for an exceptionally dramatic flavor change, but creates a delicious and delicate cupcake flavor.  I topped these cupcakes with a simple strawberry buttercream frosting.  The combination was wonderful.

No comments:

Post a Comment