Yorkshire Old Fashioned with Taylors Yorkshire Tea
The Old Fashioned is one of America's great cocktails. Popularized at the Waldorf-Astoria in the late 1880s, the term "Old Fashioned" was originally used to refer to a whiskey based drink mixed with bitters, water, and sugar. In most recipes, bitters and sugar are mixed, chilled, then bourbon (or sometimes brandy) is added followed by a citrus rind, typically orange. In today's mixology bars, you'll see an Old Fashioned served in a short tumbler, with a large ice cube, and possible a Maraschino cherry thrown in at the last minute.
This recipe takes that classic cocktail and adds an additional fragrant layer on top by infusing the bourbon with Taylors Yorkshire tea. The Yorkshire teas - whether you use Gold or Red for the recipe below - are black tea blends, which naturally have a bright, bold and refreshing flavor. Mixed with bourbon, it cuts some of the bite of the whiskey and smooths out those smoky notes nicely.
Overall, the recipe is simple and not that different from your typical Old Fashioned recipe. It all starts with a "whiskey tea," which make in advance by steeping the loose Yorkshire tea leaves in your bourbon.
Because it takes some advance preparation, we recommend you do the infusion about 2 hours before you plan to serve drinks.
Making the Yorkshire tea-infused Bourbon
Ingredients and supplies you'll need:
- 1 cup (8 ounces) bourbon
- 2 tablespoons loose leaf Yorkshire tea
For larger batches, you'll want to increase the amounts above accordingly. Once you have everything you need, start the whiskey infusion by combining the Yorkshire tea and bourbon in a covered jar. You can use a mason jar or an airtight piece of Tupperware. Then you'll want to allow that mixture steep at room temperature for 2 hours to allow the whiskey to take on the notes of the tea. Once complete, strain the tea leaves and discard the leaves. You can return the whiskey to the sealed jar.
How to Make the Yorkshire Old Fashioned
With the bourbon/tea infusion ready to go, you'll go about making the Yorkshire Old Fashioned by simply following the recipe below:
Ingredients you'll need:
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar, or 1 raw sugar cube
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- A few drops water - high quality club soda is preferred
- 2 ounces Yorkshire-infused Bourbon - about 1.5 shot glasses worth
- Garnish: Lemon twist (optional)
Once you have all of your ingredients ready to go, you start the drink by putting the sugar in an old fashioned, or tumblr glass then add the bitters over the top. If you're using a sugar cube, you'll want to add a couple splashes of water to make it easy to muddle. Muddle the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. If you don't have a muddler, use the end of a wooden spoon handle.
Once the mixture is completely mixed, you can add the bourbon and top with ice. Stir vigorously 10 seconds to chill and incorporate the infused whiskey.
Garnish with lemon twist and a cherry if desired.
Enjoy responsibly!