There are some who are tea addicts and some who love their alcohol. How about then combining both drinks to yield the perfect concoction?
Tea can be drunk hot or cold, with or without milk or sugar, and now there is a third way to drink the camellia sinensis’ brew. You can partake of it even as a fine wine! Tea, in any form, is always a health drink. The polyphenols present in tea wine help prevent cardiovascular diseases as well as dementia. Furthermore, it is known to control blood sugar levels and even fights off the common cold.
Cheers to a pleasant cuppa!
Ingredients
Young tea shoots – 6 kgs
Granulated sugar – 750 gms
Raisins – 250 gms; chopped
Lemon – 2 pcs
Yeast – a pinch
Method
- Mix the young tea shoots with the granulated sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves.
- Add the raisins and squeeze the juice of the lemons into this mixture.
- Add the yeast. Mix well.
- Keep the mixture in an air tight glass jar for at least two months, in a cool and dark place.
- After two months, open the jar, remove the scum and strain the mixture.
- Repeat the process and keep straining and filtering the mixture every two months.
- After about 8 months, the wine is ready for its first sip.
The longer you keep the wine, the more mature it will become. Its colour looks similar to that of brewed tea. This wine is initially sweet tasting but it leaves a mild note of tea as you continue sipping. We implore you to attempt this simple brew. Begin your preparations in earnest and by the time the festive season comes around next year, you will have stocked a most unique brew — one that will sure have many wondering about its origins.
