After water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. For thousands of years, the aromatic leaves of Camellia sinensis have been brewed and served as a calming drink around the world. In South Florida, JoJo Tea has been bringing in teas from all over the world and introducing them to the public at their tasting room in Miami and at restaurants and cafes throughout South Florida.
Now they can add bars to the list as cocktail enthusiasts seek out the perfect tea for their cocktail and punch. Michael Ortiz, founder and CEO at JoJo Tea, has been working with bartenders and mixologists to develop tea-based cocktails since 2012. To Ortiz, finding tea synergies with spirits and creating cocktails is inspiring.
“It feels like an open canvas where the forms of tea can be painted with rum or whiskey to familiarize drinkers with the satisfying finish of tea,” he says. “Sip after sip, the rich oils of tea are layering onto the tongue and providing more and more lasting impressions.
“Tea in China is often evaluated by a quality which translates to ‘returning sweetness,’” explains Ortiz. “If we drink the tea hot, and lightly aerate it with our inhale as we bring it in, the steam carries all of the complex and nuanced aromatics with our breath. After we swallow, the following exhale carries all of these flavors onto our breath. The best teas always leave deep contemplation in the breath. This is what they call huí gān, or returning sweetness.” But cocktails are rarely served hot enough for the steam to carry retro-nasal flavors that will loop back around on the following exhale,” Ortiz says. “That’s for good reason. Alcohol releases fumes that carry the aromatics onto the exhale after the sip.”
One of their collaborators is Banks Fine Rums. “I was amazed by their beautiful energy and vast knowledge,” says North American brand ambassador Stilo Pimentel. “Banks Rum was created to mimic the spirits that would have been used in traditional English punches that used teas.”
Another recent Jojo Tea collaboration was with The Glenlivet Single Malt Whisky, whose brand ambassador, Rob Ferrara, used JoJo Tea in his cocktails when he was a bartender.
“A good tea is as important as any ingredient when making cocktails or cooking,” he says. A supporter of small local businesses, Ferrara sat down with the team at JoJo Tea for a collaboration that includes blends from JoJo Tea for The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve and the newly released The Glenlivet 14-year-old Cask Selection. Both teas were chosen to show the mixability of single malt scotch cocktails. Sip on these cocktails at Le Sirenuse at the Four Seasons Surfside.
The last place you’d expect to find a serene tea tasting room is on the third floor of a nondescript building that...
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