“Cha-Shu”- The new Tokyo trending is drinking tea at the stylish bar. It is not drinking the actual tea as it is, enjoying a new taste of tea cocktails using sprits infusing tea leaves.
If you love Japanese tea such as green tea, Hojicha, Genmaicha, and Mugicha, as well as drinking cocktails, so why not enjoy the combined flavor? Japanese tea-infused vodka is very easy to make at home.
It is fun to add the subtle taste of Japanese tea to your favorite distilled liquor and it can be used in a variety of cocktails or enjoyed on its own.
I usually don’t like sweeter so maybe you know to arrange tea-infused spirits such as mixing it with simple syrup than me.
Review The Types Of Japanese Tea
As I said, the recipe is really easy (simply infuse your favorite tea leaves in your favorite distilled spirits.) Before starting the project, let’s review the types of Japanese Tea.
It’s Fun To Make Infused Vodka
You may already know that making infused vodka is easy and fun. Waiting overnight (sometimes a month!) Is exciting and doesn’t stop, so you will open the fridge and check the colors like a little kid.
There are many ingredients to add a tasty twist to the popular spirits- vodka, gin, brandy, whiskey, rum, and Japanese shochu.
Speaking of most popular Japanese infused spirits can be “Umeshu-Japanese plum wine”.
Homemade-infused vodka is not a special thing to do, and tea-infusing is much more simple.
Just throw tea bags into your favorite spirits.
You can have it straight, on the rock, and making a cocktail. The taste is so clean and refreshing like drinking tea! So it is not suitable for people who don’t like Japanese green tea taste.
A Top-shelf, Expensive Vodka Is Required?
There are both sides of opinions, Yes and No.
Like my husband who believes the quality creates the quality, (cost creates good flavor), you can invest in a top-shelf vodka or gin. If so, you may want to use tea-ceremonial green tea rather than Itoen “Sencha” green tea bags!
Like me who likes drinking daily and don’t seem worth money to make mixed drinking such as Vodka & Tonic, Vodka high-ball, other cocktails rather than drinking with straight, on the rocks, I wouldn’t spend money for it. So, I don’t want to use ceremonial grade expensive green tea for it.
Thus, I would say “go ahead” if you are connoisseur for both spirits and green tea.
Vodka ✕ Sencha Tea
Japanese Tea Flavored Vodka
Equipment
- A clean and sanitized bottle or a jar
Ingredients
- 2 Japanese "Sencha" green tea bags 4 grams of tea leaves
- 360 ml Vodka or Gin 1¼ US Cup
Instructions
- Place the tea bags into a bottle or a jar and pour vodka (or gin) over them.
- Do not crush tea bags. It causes bitter flavor in tea enhanced.
- Steep tea leaves overnight. (minimum 3-4 hours)
- Take out tea bags after complete to avoid unpleasant astringency.
Gin ✕ Sencha Tea
The bitterness of gin and the astringency of sencha tea create a mysterious taste. By infusing sencha in gin, removes the miscellaneous bitterness of gin and enhances the sweetness and umami of Sencha tea.
Nevertheless, the botanical scent of gin is never impaired.
White Rum ✕ Hojicha Tea
Hojicha tea is infused in white rum. The sweetness of lamb and the aroma of roasted tea bring an exquisite taste.
Hojicha Flavored Rum
Equipment
- A clean and sanitized bottle or jar
Ingredients
- 2 Hojicha tea bags 4 grams of tea leaves
- 360 ml White Rum (1¼ US cup)
Instructions
- Place the tea bags into a bottle or a jar and pour rum over them.
- Do not crush tea bags. It causes bitter flavor in tea enhanced.
- Steep tea overnight. (minimum 3-4 hours)
Hojicha Rum Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 cups Water
- 1 cups Cane Sugar
- 2 Hojicha teabags
- 1 Vanilla beans
- 1 cup White or Dark rum
Instructions
- Add the water, sugar to a milk pot and simmer to dissolve sugar.
- Add tea bags, simmer for 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the vanilla beans and vanilla bean pods.
- Strain the Hojicha syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean and sanitized jar.
- Add rum and combine well and place in a refrigerator.
- Let it mature at least overnight and longer.
Whiskey ✕ Hojicha Tea
Hojicha’s toasty nutty aroma goes well with smokey whiskey flavor. Only make Hojicha-infused whiskey, you can enjoy mysterious whiskey highball or hot toddy for a cozy night in the winter season.
White Rum ✕ Genmaicha Tea
Genmaicha tea has a refreshing, toasty, and mild sencha taste. To enhance its unique flavor, vodka and Japanese shochu especially rice shochu, and Korean soju (non-flavored), are recommended. By the way, Genmaicha tea is rich in B vitamins, which helps recover from fatigue.
Shochu ✕ Genmaicha Tea
Gnemaicha tea doesn’t have the weedy green taste that people who don’t like Japanese green tea say, and also gives a unique experience for tea-infused beginners. Genmaicha’s unique roasted and refreshing flavor goes well with unique Shochu flavor.
Matcha ✕ Vodka
It isn’t infusion, but Matcha goes well with vodka. Fortunately, Matcha powder, which is hard to dissolve into liquid without a whisk, is easy to dissolve (technically not dissolve, combine well) when using alcohol.
Just 2-4 grams of Authentic Matcha powder (not for baking) with 2 tbsp of vodka.
Make Matcha high balls or you can try “White Russian” instead of coffee.
The Bottom Line
This simple guide is a great starting point for anyone who likes to make something unique and delicious.
You will find that the subtle flavors of Japanese green tea make spirits in your stock a pleasant surprise. Try mixing and matching a variety of tea flavors into your favorite spirits.
One of the things that make you happy is you don’t have to wait 3-5 days (or a month!) for your infusions. With simple ingredients and equipment, there’s no reason to procrastinate any longer!
In my recipe, I use the assorted box of Japanese green tea bags.
My Popular Lemon Sour Recipe
My Japanese-style Lemon Sour recipe is somehow the most popular in my all posts, and it is actually lemon-infused vodka at home! Try this summer drink as well!
Japanese Shochu
If you like vodka especially potato vodka, you will fall in love Japanese shochu! Here is about the made-in-Japan spirits!
