Chef notes
This is a decadent and old-worldly drink that warms your stomach and transports you to deep mahogany rooms filled with leather sofas and roaring fires. It reminds me of old gentlemen's clubs and a drink that's typically been drunk by old, powerful, white men, so I love to subvert it a little bit. I feel like I'm accessing a world I'm not supposed to when I drink it, and I feel more powerful for it.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lapsang souchong loose-leaf tea
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (1-inch) slice ginger
- nonalcoholic orange bitters
- 1 orange peel, to garnish
Preparation
1.Make the simple syrup by combining sugar and water; boil until sugar fully dissolves. Add tea and bay leaf, and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let steep 8 to 15 minutes, depending on desired strength.
2.Strain syrup into a clean jar/bottle. Muddle ginger in bottom of cocktail strainer, add ice and lapsang syrup.
3.Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice. Add 2 to 3 dashes of bitters on top and garnish with orange peel.
Adapted from "Dishoom: From Bombay with Love."
