Sometimes my cocktail creating process can evolve or devolve into something completely different from the original idea I started with, and that's exactly what happened the other day when I came up with my new Halloween inspired cocktail: The Steepy Hollow. If you've followed my blog contributions for Lovehappyhour.com for a while, then you may understand my deep love for Autumn and its associated holidays and seasonal offerings. October begins next week and so do my home, culinary and mixology preparations for one of my favorite months of the year, so stay tuned for some pumpkin-themed additions coming soon, too!
What started off as aln all black "Fright Night" drink idea quickly turned into a different tea-inspired libation. I steeped some black tea into the Kraken Black Spiced Rum and then played around with some fresh squeezed juices and other ingredients to create a tasty treat called the Steepy Hollow. It's essentially a spICED spiked tea with some fresh citrus flavors and the ingredients make for a fun and Fall based Halloween drink!
I first heated up 1 cup (about 6 oz & yields 6 cocktails) of the dark, Kraken rum in the microwave for a minute and then steeped one bag of black tea in it for about 5 minutes. Next, I removed the tea bag and once the rum was cool I was ready to make my drink. Now just follow the instructions below to create you very own Sleepy Hollow cocktail made with black tea and blood orange soda…boo haha! Cheers, and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more cocktail recipes and fun!
Add tea infused Kraken Black Spiced Rum (see above), Bacardi White Rum, orange and lemon juice, orange zest, *orange-thyme simple syrup, mint leaves and ice in a shaker tin. Shake well until shaker tin gets very cold. Strain liquid into a glass of ice. Add 3oz of Trader Joe's Blood Orange Soda to your drink and then transfer back into the shaker and then back into the glass again to evenly distribute the soda with the rest of the drink. Garnish with an orange peel, mint sprig and optional Halloween pick. Enjoy!
*To make orange-thyme simple syrup, boil 1 cup sugar with one cup water and add 5 fresh sprigs of thyme along with 5 long orange peels until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and strain store in air tight container for future use. This simple syrup is a great tea sweetener substitution for just plain old sugar in your hot or iced tea!