I’ve always enjoyed tea and iced tea, but I haven’t thought to use it as a cocktail mixer since the hard iced tea craze a decade ago. That is, until Stash Tea brought it to my attention as I accepted an offer to try its vast array of flavors.
First, a little bit about the company. Stash Tea was founded in Portland, Ore., in 1972 on the mission of seeking the taste of a “tea euphoria.” In 2017, Stash Tea became a Certified B Corporation, which balances purpose and profit. The teabags and strings are Non-GMO Project Verified and compostable.
As mentioned, Stash Tea has a large variety of flavors (150+). I love opening the packages and getting the immediate aroma of the flavors. The Asian pear was my favorite for this reason.
But you should know, every flavor is true to its name, with the most powerful being the cinnamon apple chamomile, which I’ll save until the colder months. Ginger peach, orange spice and Meyer lemon are among the other ones I enjoyed. A box of 18 tea bags costs $3.95.
To my pleasant surprise, Stash Tea works well in cocktails. Using recipes from Stash, I first made the Mango Passionfruit Hard Seltzer, which includes vodka and seltzer. I found it incredibly refreshing with a nice balance of flavors (including from the mint leaves) as I spent a day at the lake.
The Pomegranate Raspberry Iced Tea Cocktail took a little bit longer to prepare (the recipe serves 10), but it was worth it for this crowd-pleasing drink. The only thing I would change is to increase the amount of rum used.
Other cocktails include the Citrus Hibiscus Sangria and the Berry Moroccan Mint Julep.
In Madison, you can buy Stash Tea at Pick ‘N Save, Hy-Vee and Festival Foods, among other places.
Photo courtesy of Stash Tea
Tags: tea
