Tag Archives: Woodford Reserve

Tuesday Tea – Summer Sunset

August 29, 2023 By in Tuesday Tea Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Here it is for your drinking pleasure—the last teatail of the summer. But haven’t we had a great time creating, mixing, and drinking them? I know the Gibson Household sure has.

For this one, I turned to Ohio Tea Co. and their French Lemon Crème. Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore all things lemon. I’m actually a little surprised that it’s taken me this long to create a lemony teatail.

French Lemon Crème is delicious hot, but I wanted to see how well it held up when iced. The base of green rooibos is perfect for the addition of lemon peel, calendula, lemon wedges, and vanilla flavor. It brewed up a lovely deep orange and smelled heavenly.

As for which spirit to pair with the French Lemon Crème, that took a bit of experimentation. I must admit that I didn’t know exactly what I wanted from this teatail, and I certainly didn’t want to copy someone else’s recipe. I trusted that when I hit the right combination, I would know it.

But getting there took some time! Below are the combinations we tried en route to the perfect teatail.

  • Absolut Citron w/ sugar syrup – very herbal with a burn
  • Il Tramonto Limoncello – smelled and tasted like bubblegum
  • Il Tramonto Limoncello w/ sugar syrup – even more bubblegummy
  • Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy – lost the flavor of tea altogether
  • Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy w/ sugar syrup – syrup brought up the lemon flavor and smoothed out the bite of the shandy, but it still overwhelmed the tea
  • Oliver Lemon Moscato – too tart
  • Oliver Lemon Moscato w/ sugar syrup – mildly lemon but too bland
  • Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon w/ sugar syrup – warm and spicy but did nothing for the lemon flavor
  • Hendrick’s Gin w/ sugar syrup – creamy lemon flavor, smooth
  • St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur w/ sugar syrup – bright floral and lemony

Contrary to what you might think, we weren’t even tipsy at this point. We did, however, start to get close to what we wanted in a teatail. I will admit, though, that we will probably revisit this one next year for more taste testing and tweaking of the recipe. Otherwise, we think you’ll enjoy what we decided upon for the time being.

Summer Sunset Teatail

6 t French Lemon Crème

6 c fresh water

1½ c raw sugar

1 c fresh water

¼ oz. St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz. Hendrick’s Gin

Bring the six cups of water to 212° F in a stainless-steel pot on the stove. While the water heats, measure out the French Lemon Creme tea into a large, mesh tea ball. When the water reaches the appropriate temperature, place the tea ball in it and cover the pot with a lid. Remember to turn off the heat below the pot (gas stove) or remove it from the burner (electric stove).

Allow the tea to brew for six hours, during which time it will also come down to room temperature. You may swirl it gently, otherwise do not remove the lid from the pot. The long, undisturbed brewing time ensures the tea is strong enough to stand up to the liquor you will add later without being bitter.

While the tea is brewing, add the raw sugar to one cup of water in a stainless-steel pot and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over a medium-high heat, stirring gently, until a rich syrup has formed. Remove from the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. The syrup can be stored for up to a week in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

When the tea has brewed, you may swirl the tea ball once to ensure evenness of color. Remove the tea ball and discard the expended tea. Do not press out the contents into the brewed tea. Pour the tea into a glass pitcher, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator until the tea is completely chilled.

To Prepare

In a cocktail stirring glass, measure ¼ oz. St. Germaine, ½ oz. Hendrick’s, and ½ oz. sugar syrup. Stir for about 15 seconds to combine.

In a drinking glass that holds at least 12 oz., place 4 ice cubes. Pour the spirits and sugar mixture over the cubes. Top off with chilled French Lemon Creme tea and stir gently to combine.

Let me know in the comments if you try Summer Sunset and how you liked it. Also, I don’t have a pretty picture of the finished teatail, but I do have one of the fruits . . . or rather spirits of our labor. Enjoy!

Tuesday Tea – Blue Thunder

August 22, 2023 By in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

I can already smell fall in the air. It’s a wonderful experience if, like me, you are not a summer person. One thing that always helps me deal with summer heat and humidity is the expectation of drinking a delicious teatail. The great thing about the one I’m featuring today is that the flavors tiptoe close to those one would also enjoy during the fall. And if you’re like me in this respect as well, you enjoy drinking iced tea long into the cooler months of the year.

Once again, Ohio Tea Co. delivers with their Blueberry Crumble tea. Green rooibos is the base for currants, beetroot, cinnamon, blackberry leaf, lemongrass, and malva flowers. The aroma in the packet and when it’s brewing is spot-on for a blueberry muffin. Admittedly, I’ve never tried Blueberry Crumble hot because my tastebuds went straight to “What can I do with this iced?”

The hubby and I agreed that too many spirits in this tea would ruin the flavor, so we went to work trying to decide which one would enhance the tea. Vodka came to mind first because it’s so incredibly neutral, but we quickly discarded it because it can also be incredibly bland. Gin came to mind for me, but I think I was mentally guided by the picture on the packet, which looked very English to me, and gin always seems so English. Again, we discarded this option because gin would be too zesty with the tea ingredients.

“We need something warm in flavor to compliment the Blueberry Crumble tea,” I said.

That’s when we both exclaimed, “Bourbon!”

Woodford Reserve, which tastes of caramel and vanilla, slipped into this teatail as if it was made for it! It was warm and complimenting in flavor as well as warm on the backside but without the burn.

Coming up with a name for a teatail that is delicate and potent at the same time only stumped me for a moment. Blue Thunder as a name won the day, and we settled in to enjoy one or two more.

Blue Thunder Teatail

6 t Blueberry Crumble tea

6 c water

1½ c raw sugar

1 c water

½ – 1 oz. Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Bring the six cups of water to 212° F in a stainless-steel pot on the stove. While the water heats, measure out the Blueberry Crumble tea into a large, mesh tea ball. When the water reaches the appropriate temperature, place the tea ball in it and cover the pot with a lid. Remember to turn off the heat below the pot (gas stove) or remove it from the burner (electric stove).

Allow the tea to brew for six hours, during which time it will also come down to room temperature. You may swirl it gently, otherwise do not remove the lid from the pot. The long, undisturbed brewing time ensures the tea is strong enough to stand up to the liquor you will add later without being bitter.

While the tea is brewing, add the raw sugar to one cup of water in a stainless-steel pot and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over a medium-high heat, stirring gently, until a rich syrup has formed. Remove from the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. The syrup can be stored for up to a week in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

When the tea has brewed, you may swirl the tea ball once to ensure evenness of color. Remove the tea ball and discard the expended tea. Do not press out the contents into the brewed tea. Pour the tea into a glass pitcher, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator until the tea is completely chilled.

To Prepare

In a cocktail stirring glass, measure ½ – 1 oz. Woodford Reserve and ½ oz. sugar syrup. Stir for about 15 seconds to combine.

In a drinking glass that holds at least 16 oz., place 4 – 6 ice cubes. Pour the spirits and sugar mixture over the cubes. Top off with chilled Blueberry Crumble tea and stir gently to combine.

Let me know in the comments if you try Blue Thunder and how you liked it.

‘Til Death Us Do Part

February 1, 2017 By in Edible Fiction, Food From The Secrets of Dr. John Welles Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In the summer of 1964, Dr. John Welles and Bea Turner attended the wedding of a couple that never expected to marry. Many hardships had paved the way to the happy couple’s nuptials, but they put every adversity behind them as they celebrated their special day. Everything that came before their marriage and whatever would come after only served to strengthen the bond that existed between two people truly in love. All of Addison came out to join in the joyous occasion making it a day the bride and groom would never forget.

The wedding cake I had in mind for the couple had to be completely homemade. Box mixes wouldn’t do, and the grandiose cakes created by bakers to satisfy the whims of brides today wouldn’t be believable. Unfortunately, neither my mother nor I had a recipe for a homemade white cake. Scandalous, I know.

My Internet research led me to a website with a cake that, from the recipe, looked as if it would suffice. I don’t have a problem with giving credit and linking back to the originator of a recipe, so I contacted the owner of the site requesting permission to do so. Unfortunately, I never heard back, and I’m not a recipe thief. This forced Mom and me to rework the recipe to our liking and present it as our own. Not a problem since we always tweak a new recipe the minute we find it anyhow.

The most important requirement: the cake had to taste homemade. You wouldn’t think that would be a difficult task since we weren’t using a prepackaged mix, but our cake had to capture the essence of the above-mentioned scene. How does one bake hope, beauty, richness, longing, humbleness, elegance, era, location, and love into a cake? Follow our recipe and find out.

Timeless Wedding Cake

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3 c granulated sugar (I used raw necessitating the need to pulverize the larger crystals in a food processor to ensure incorporation during the creaming process. Don’t skip this step; it’s worth it. You’ll be glad you did once you taste the cake.)

5 eggs at room temperature

3 c flour and more for dusting the cake pans

¼ t salt

2 t baking powder

½ c buttermilk at room temperature

½ c whole milk at room temperature

2 t vanilla extract –OR– 1 t vanilla and 1 t lemon

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Spray three nine-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and dust evenly with flour. Make sure to coat all the edges, and tap out any excess flour.

In a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar until it is very light in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time taking care not to over beat after each addition or you’ll end up with a tough cake.

Combine the milks and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and whisk. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture alternately with the wet ingredients. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. A rule of thumb for this process is to add one-third of the dry ingredients, one-half of the wet, another third of the dry, the remaining half of the wet, and the last third of the dry.

Mix on a medium speed until well combined, taking care to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Evenly distribute the batter between the three cake pans. The batter will be thick, almost like a pound cake batter, so use an off-set spatula to level the tops. All three cakes should bake on the same level of your oven, somewhere near the middle. Carefully shift position of the pans from front to back midway through baking.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. The top of the cakes should not jiggle, and a light crust will have formed on the top. Cool for five minutes in the pans, and then remove the cakes to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Bourbon Soaking Syrup

1 c water

1 c raw sugar

2 T bourbon (I recommend Woodford Reserve)

Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over a high heat. When at the boil, the syrup is done. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon. Set aside to cool. The syrup will thicken as it cools. Brush the cooled bourbon syrup on the top of the cooled cake layers.  If you like thicker syrup, cook longer until more water has evaporated, but take care not to burn the sugar, or it will taste scorched.

Buttercream Frosting

1 c unsalted butter, softened

3 c powdered sugar

2 t vanilla extract

2 T whipping cream

In a stand mixer, cream the butter with one cup of powdered sugar on a low speed. Scrape the bowl as needed and add the remaining two cups, one at a time. Increase the speed to medium and beat for three minutes. Mix in the vanilla and whipping cream. Beat an additional minute, adding cream by the tablespoon if needed, to achieve a spreadable consistency.  If you enjoy a thicker layer of frosting between your cake layers, consider doubling the recipe.

Assembling:

Place one layer of completely cooled, bourbon-soaked cake on a stand or plate and ice the top of the cake to the edges. Place the second layer directly on top of the first and repeat the icing process. Add the final layer of cake and ice accordingly. Use the remaining frosting to ice the sides of the cake. The bourbon soak will add a layer of flavor and keep the cake moist longer.

I knew we had achieved success with our recipe when my sister-in-law took a bite and said, “Oh…this just tastes old-fashioned.”

Enjoy!