There is a specific kind of golden hour that only happens at a garden party: string lights just starting to compete with the last bit of daylight, someone's playlist drifting from the porch speaker, and a pitcher of something cold sweating on the table before anyone has even asked what is in it. For most of the summer, that pitcher has been full of mocktails at our house. This time, we let the bar cart join the party.
Tealayas iced teas were built to be cold brewed, which happens to make them one of the best mixers in the business. A slow, cold steep pulls out the fruit-forward sweetness and the tea's natural body without dragging along the bitterness that hot brewing can leave behind, so what you get is a concentrate that tastes like it was made for a bar, not a teapot. Below is one fully detailed signature recipe, plus four more riffs so you can build an entire drinks menu around five Tealayas blends.
A quick note before we start: these recipes contain alcohol and are written for readers of legal drinking age in their region. Drink thoughtfully, keep water on hand, and never serve them to anyone underage. Each recipe below also includes a simple swap if you would rather keep things zero-proof.
What You Will Need
- Tealayas loose leaf iced tea blends (Shillong Strawberry, Manali Mint, Lucknow Mango, Doon Litchi Peach, and Landour Chocolate)
- Cold, filtered water
- A pitcher or mason jar for cold brewing
- A fine mesh strainer or the steel infuser that ships with every Tealayas order
- Ice, a jigger, and whichever spirits your recipe calls for
The Signature Recipe: Shillong Strawberry Gin Fizz
This is the one to make first. It is bright, a little tart, and it turns a pale rose color that photographs better than anything you will find on a cocktail menu right now.
Ingredients (makes 2 drinks)
- 3 tbsp Tealayas Shillong Strawberry Iced Tea (loose leaf)
- 250 ml cold filtered water
- 3 oz (90 ml) dry gin
- 1 oz (30 ml) fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp honey or agave, warmed slightly so it dissolves
- Chilled soda water, to top
- Fresh mint and sliced strawberries, for garnish
Method
- Add the loose leaf tea to the cold water in a jar. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight. This is a concentrate cold brew, so it is steeped stronger than a standard glass of iced tea.
- Strain the concentrate through a fine mesh strainer or your steel infuser, pressing gently on the leaves to release the last of the color and flavor.
- Fill two glasses with ice. Divide the gin, lime juice, and honey between them.
- Top each glass with the strawberry tea concentrate (about 100 ml per glass), then finish with a splash of soda water.
- Stir once, gently, so you do not knock the fizz out of the soda. Garnish with mint and a strawberry slice on the rim.
Zero-proof swap: skip the gin, add an extra splash of soda water and a squeeze of lime. It is still a genuinely good drink, not a consolation prize.
Four More Grown-Up Riffs
1. Manali Mint Mojito
Cold brew 3 tbsp Manali Mint tea in 250 ml water for 6 hours, strain, then build it exactly like a classic mojito: muddle fresh mint and lime in the glass, add 2 oz white rum, fill with crushed ice, pour over the mint tea concentrate, and top with soda water. The tea's cooling menthol note does half the work the muddled mint usually has to do alone, so it stays balanced instead of turning into a sugar bomb.
2. Lucknow Mango Margarita
Cold brew 3 tbsp Lucknow Mango tea in 200 ml water for 6 to 8 hours. Rim a glass with tajin or chili salt, shake the tea concentrate with 2 oz tequila, 0.75 oz lime juice, and 0.5 oz orange liqueur over ice, then strain into the glass. The mango's natural sweetness means you can go lighter on any added sugar than a standard margarita mix would need.
3. Doon Litchi Peach Bellini
Cold brew 2 tbsp Doon Litchi Peach tea in 150 ml water for 6 hours (this one is meant to be more delicate). Strain, pour 1 oz of the concentrate into a champagne flute, and top slowly with chilled prosecco. The litchi and peach notes read almost like the fruit puree in a traditional Bellini, which makes this the easiest recipe on the list to make look impressive.
4. Landour Chocolate Mudslide
Cold brew 3 tbsp Landour Chocolate tea in 200 ml water for 8 hours for a deeper extraction. Shake the concentrate with 1 oz coffee liqueur, 1 oz cream liqueur, and 1 oz vodka over ice, then strain into a chilled glass. This is the dessert of the group: rich, a little indulgent, and best served last.
Why This Works
Cold brewing extracts flavor compounds slowly and at a lower temperature than hot steeping, which means the tannins and catechins that cause bitterness in hot-brewed tea stay mostly locked inside the leaf instead of dissolving into your glass. What you pull out first, and in the greatest concentration, is the fruit character and the natural sweetness of the blend. That matters more in cocktails than in a plain glass of iced tea, because a bitter or astringent tea base fights with alcohol instead of rounding it out. A clean, cold-brewed concentrate gives the spirit somewhere pleasant to land.
It is also why these recipes ask for a concentrate rather than a standard-strength brew. A cocktail gets diluted by ice, citrus, and mixers on its way to your glass, so starting with a stronger cold brew keeps the tea's personality from disappearing under everything else in the shaker.
Brewing Tips and Common Mistakes
- Do not rush the steep with hot water. Using hot water to speed things up brings back the bitterness cold brewing is designed to avoid, and it will throw off the balance of every recipe here.
- Strain twice if your tea looks cloudy. A second pass through a fine strainer or coffee filter gives you a clearer concentrate, which matters for drinks like the Bellini where presentation is half the point.
- Make the concentrate a day ahead. Cold brew keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days, so you can prep the tea base the night before a party and just build drinks to order.
- Taste before you add extra sweetener. Tealayas blends are made with real fruit and no added sugar, so most of these recipes need less simple syrup than a standard cocktail recipe calls for. Add sweetness in small increments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the tea concentrate in advance for a party?
Yes. Cold brew concentrate holds its flavor in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed container, which makes these recipes genuinely easy to prep ahead of a gathering. Just give it a stir before using, since some settling is normal.
Do I need special equipment to cold brew for cocktails?
No. A mason jar or pitcher and the steel infuser that comes with every Tealayas order are enough. A fine mesh strainer helps if you want an extra-clear concentrate for drinks like the Bellini.
Can these recipes be made without alcohol?
Every recipe above includes a simple non-alcoholic version, usually by swapping the spirit for extra soda water, citrus, or a splash of coconut water. The tea concentrate is the flavor engine in each drink, so the mocktail versions still taste intentional rather than like something is missing.
Which Tealayas blend is easiest to start with for cocktails?
Shillong Strawberry is the most forgiving for a first attempt. Its flavor is bright and well balanced on its own, so it plays well with almost any spirit and is hard to get wrong.
How strong should the cold brew be for mixing into cocktails?
Roughly double the strength of a normal glass of iced tea: about 3 tablespoons of loose leaf per 250 ml of cold water, steeped for 6 to 8 hours. That concentration holds up against ice, citrus, and spirits without getting lost.
Bring the Bar to the Tea Table
None of this replaces a good glass of straight Tealayas iced tea. It just proves the same cold brew that makes a perfect afternoon glass also makes a genuinely good cocktail base, which is a nice thing to know the next time you are planning a party and do not want to run to three different stores for mixers. If Shillong Strawberry earns a permanent spot on your bar cart after this, you can find the loose leaf blend and its steel infuser on the Tealayas Shillong Strawberry Iced Tea product page.
