Twofer Tea

lemonade - black tea - sumac - vodka

• 1 part vodka

• 2 parts sparkling lemonade

• strong black tea

• 1 tbsp sumac simple syrup

brew strong black tea and freeze into ice cubes

make a simple syrup and then add 1-2 teaspoons of sumac

leave the sumac syrup in the refrigerator overnight

add black tea ice cubes to highball glass

add sumac syrup, vodka, and lemonade

notes:

This cocktail gets its name because I started singing Tea for Two like Big Edie after drinking my first test.

It's a twofer because you get a ‘pick me up’ from the tea and a ‘not so fast’ from the vodka. It’s also a twofer because it’s kind of two drinks in one: the flavor slowly changes as the tea melts into the drink, taking a bit of the edge off the lemon and sugar, mixing with the earthiness of the sumac. At the end it almost tastes like a different drink than you started with.

Also since this is a part of my Istanbul quarantini series, I featured two Turkish ingredients:

sumac - a spice with a kind of sour, lemony, raisiny flavor that’s used across the Levant, although usually on grilled meat and not usually in cocktails

Rize tea - a black tea grown on the Black Sea coast of Turkey