It's getting to be that time of year again - the time where you remember that you wanted to make home-made Christmas presents and wonder how to find the time in the next four weeks to make thoughtful gifts. Herbal tea cordials are a great option - they're quick and fun to make, have a lot of room for creativity and experimentation, and are a tasty gift that's sure to be appreciated. In truth, there's no reason you can't use these for gifts year-round.
Traditional cordial-making techniques can take 4-6 weeks of infusing fresh fruit into liqueur. There's nothing wrong with that, but we're going to make something equally as delicious in about fifteen minutes instead. Herbal teas can make wonderful cordials because they usually have a blend of ingredients, resulting in a complex and satisfying flavor. There are so many interesting herbal tea flavors that there are almost endless cordial options to explore.
You can also make caffeinated tea cordial, but I recommend against it for gift-giving, as cordial is often drunk in the evening. If you know your gift recipient is the sort who can drink a pot of coffee before bed and not be affected, by all means go ahead and use black tea, but I find that caffeine-free cordial makes a more universally-drinkable gift.
What you'll need:
- A box of herbal tea.
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 3 cups of vodka. You don't need to buy the most expensive vodka, but don't get the cheapest either. Bottom-shelf vodka is harsh and will make resultingly harsh cordials. I spent $30 on a 1.75 liter bottle of nice smooth vodka, and got six 2-cup bottles of cordial out of it. $5 of alcohol per gift is really pretty reasonable, when you break it down!
- Containers. I save glass bottles through the year - the ones pictured below are repurposed maple syrup bottles. You can also buy lovely glass bottles at some craft stores, at the Container Store, or online. Or you can get creative with whatever you have on hand - plastic water or soda bottles or mason jars could certainly work with funky-fun creative labeling. Just be sure your containers are food-safe, clean, and airtight. (Word of warning: those 99-cent cork-top craft bottles can be leaky - the bottle tops may need to be dipped in parrafin or beeswax after filling to seal and prevent spillage.)
- Equipment: 2 pans and a stove, a measuring cup, a stirring spoon, and ideally a funnel.
I recommend against actually keeping your ingredients on the stove as you work; these photos are for concept illustration only. ;)
In one pan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and some teabags. For my blueberry cordial I used 4 teabags. Put these on low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves completely, then turn off the heat. This makes a tea-flavored simple syrup.
While that's warming up, pour the 3 cups of vodka into the other pan and set over low heat. Please never leave vodka on the stove unattended! As it warms, add some teabags to the vodka. For the blueberry cordial I used 6 teabags in the vodka infusion. You never want this mixture to get hot enough to boil, just warm enough to allow the tea to infuse - you'll see the color changing as you stir.
Turn off heat; allow both the simple syrup and the vodka infusion to sit for a few minutes until the tea has infused into each.
Next, remove the teabags from each mixture, squeezing slightly. Pour the simple syrup into the vodka infusion and stir.
That's it - you've made cordial in about the time it takes to make a cup of tea! Give it a taste. It might be bottle-ready right away, or you may decide you want to tweak it. Each tea flavors differently, and each person has different preferences, so it's perfectly normal to tinker until the final product satisfies you. Add just a little at a time as you tweak; you can always add more.
- If you want it sweeter, you can add a bit more sugar and dissolve it into the cordial over low heat.
- If you want it less alcoholic, you can add a little bit of water.
- If you want it more alcoholic, you can add a splash more vodka
- If you find the flavor isn't strong enough, you can add a few more teabags and infuse them over low heat.
Then you're ready to bottle! If you're making more than one flavor of cordial, be sure to label each flavor as you bottle it to prevent confusion later down the line. I usually add the date as well.