Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Gin Cocktails

Chai Tea Fizz

A clear, straight walled highball glass is filled with a foamy, bubbly copper-colored drink topped with a thick layer of foam. It’s garnished with a small lemon peel. The background of the photo is black, and the drink is dramatically lit, resting on a bar top.

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

While chai lattes are regularly found at coffee shops and cafes across the country, rarely do they include any kind of alcoholic beverage. The Chai Tea Fizz isn’t going to appear on your local Starbucks menu anytime soon, nor even that hip coffeeshop down the street from the three other Starbucks. Luckily, it’s not a difficult drink to make at home.

The base liquor for the Chai Tea Fizz is Bombay Sapphire East gin. While similar to the famous Bombay Sapphire, the East expression also includes two additional botanicals: lemon grass and black pepper. The peppery, citrusy and floral gin pairs well with the chai tea syrup that sweetens the drink, adding even more botanical complexity.

As with any Gin Fizz, the drink is made with egg white, citrus and club soda, and then served “long,” which refers to it being served in a highball glass with no ice. This involves a dry shake first (all the ingredients save the club soda shaken with no ice), then a normal shake with ice to make sure the drink is especially cool before it gets poured in the glass and topped with the club soda. It’s important to be sure the soda is completed chilled, and it’s not a terrible idea to chill the highball glass, too.

Like the Ramos Gin Fizz, the Chai Tea Fizz is light, bright and fluffy, which makes it a lovely drink for brunch. Using a black tea-based chai rather than an herbal tea chai will also add a modest amount of caffeine, which gives you even more of an excuse to whip some of these up for your next brunch party.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces Bombay Sapphire East gin
  • 3/4 ounce lemon juice
  • 1/2 ounce chai tea syrup*
  • 1/2 ounce egg white
  • Club soda, to top
  • Garnish: lemon twist

Steps

  1. Add all ingredients but the soda into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously.

  2. Open the shaker and add ice, and shake again vigorously for 30 seconds or until well-chilled.

  3. Double strain into a highball glass and serve long (without ice) and top with soda.

  4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

*Chai tea syrup: Steep 1 chai tea bag in 16 ounces of warm simple syrup for 1 hour. Remove tea bag and allow to cool.

RAW EGG WARNING

Consuming raw and lightly cooked eggs poses a risk of food-borne illness.