Zen and the art of mixology
Monday, February 16th, 2009What do you get when you combine Midori, whiskey and green tea liqueur?
I know, it sounds really unappetizing. But, thankfully, when I received a box from Skyy Spirits containing Midori, Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey and Zen Green Tea Liqueur, they also tossed in a packet of pretty cool recipes, none of which combined all three ingredients. Thank God. Because all that liqueur combined sounds like a recipe for an awful hangover.
I have to be honest, I’m more of a beer girl than a liquor drinker. And if I do have liquor, it’s usually an occasional espresso martini or margarita. Anything more than that is a one-way ticket to Blackout City. Moderation, I know. But when you don’t like the taste of liquor, you tend to choose fruity or “girlie” drinks, thus making them easier to drink and, well, that’s when the trouble starts.
So when I got this little box o’ booze from Skyy, I was pretty excited to play bartender and whip up some interesting cocktails, since my knowledge of cocktails and mixology is minimal, at best.
The only liquor in the box that I was familiar with was Midori, the sour apple liqueur used to flavor martinis, shots and other frou-frou drinks. It’s sweet and sour and a little goes a long way. If you love Midori and are sick of ordering the same old Midori Sour, visit www.midoriusa.com. There’s a ton of recipes and little factoids you can use to impress fellow Midori drinkers. (Did you know that “midori” means “green” in Japanese? I’ve impressed you, I can tell.)
Also in the box was Tullamore Dew. Tullamore is an Irish whiskey and, according to Skyy, “this pale amber blended whiskey has spicy, lemony and malty overtones with charred wood undertones giving a soft, buttery, rounded and complex flavor that lingers in the mouth.” When I think “soft” and “buttery,” I’m thinking Werther’s Originals, not whiskey. But, I have to say, I am not a fan of whiskey in general. To me, the smell and taste is reminiscent of hospital anesthetic. The taste is so unpleasant and so is the burn in your throat after you knock back a shot.
The only whiskey I want to drink is if it’s masked by the taste of Bailey’s Irish Cream and Guinness, as in an Irish Car Bomb. (As a side note, you may want to be careful in which bar you order an Irish Car Bomb. I found this out the hard way at an Irish pub in Manchester when the record scratched after I ordered a round. Some Irish pubs find the drink to be extremely offensive, as it’s a reference to IRA terrorism. And then there are some that just don’t want to deal with the potential broken glass, spilled booze and sloppy, out-of-control drunkenness that comes with downing a round or two of boilermaker-like drinks. All good reasons.)
The last bottle was a tall, slick green bottle of Zen Green Tea Liqueur. Zen is “a unique blend of the finest Japanese green tea leaves, premium hebs and natural flavors … the first super-premium green tea liqueur ever introduced in America.” Basically, it’s like green tea-flavored schnapps. It has 20 percent alcohol by volume, about 4 percent less than DeKuyper’s Puckers. It’s not a liquor that you’d pour yourself a nice, tall glass of; It’s meant to be added as flavoring to a drink.
After taking inventory, I got out the recipe packet and started mixing.
The first recipe I concocted was a Hot Tully, Tullamore Dew’s version of a Hot Toddy. The drink consists of 1 ounce of Tullamore Dew, two lumps of sugar (or for those of us who aren’t 80-year-old British women, a teaspoonful or two) and hot water, with a slice of lemon. As much as I don’t like whiskey, the sugar and lemon did mask the harsh whiskey taste but not enough for me to enjoy. It seems like it’d be a good après ski drink for those who enjoy whiskey. But not for me.
Thankfully, the next recipe was sans whiskey. Dreaming of Zen is made with 1-ounce Zen liqueur, .5-ounce Midori, 3 ounces mango juice, white pepper and 2 ounces of cream. I tossed all the ingredients (minus the white pepper, because who has white pepper?) in a cocktail shaker with ice and strained it into a martini glass. It tastes orange creamsicle. It’s creamy, sweet and – yup, I’m going to say it – yummy. I also tried a version of this drink with raspberry juice instead of mango, and the result was comparable to a strawberry milkshake (again, yum). The Midori, though only half-a-shot full, and the juice completely overpower the taste of the green tea liqueur, so you could probably do without the Zen and no one would notice. To really kick up this cocktail, I added an ounce of vanilla-flavored vodka. With the vodka, it tasted more like I was drinking a martini, instead of a fruity shake.
In order to really get a taste of Zen Green Tea Liqueur, I made the Zen Latte. The recipe calls for 1½ parts of Zen and six parts of steamed milk, with a dash of matcha powder, a finely ground powder green tea. Needless to say, if you don’t find white pepper in my cupboard, you’re not going to find matcha powder (a.k.a. I skipped this fancy garnish). Drinking a Zen Latte is like drinking a green tea latte from Starbucks. It’s very comforting, soothing and tasty and doesn’t at all taste like liquor. It’s a drink I’d cozy up to after an afternoon of snow shoveling or skiing. The sea foam green color is really fun, too. I also tried a version of this drink on ice with vanilla vodka, which makes a refreshing, summertime cocktail..
All in all, I’d have to say that Zen Green Tea Liqueur was my favorite. It’s not sweet or fruity like Midori or kick-you-in-the-face strong and boozy like Tullamore whiskey. Adding the green tea liqueur to martinis and other cocktails creates a unique drink because of its mellow taste and crisp color. It’s definitely a bottle I’ll keep stocked in my liquor cabinet for cozy, warm winter cocktails and refreshing summer coolers.
