 |
| Courtesy of Lemon City Tea Co. |
Lemon City Tea Co. is bringing high-quality, ethically-sourced teas to Miami restaurants and local tea-lovers. Their teas are inspired by the "crazy, complex, diverse, and exciting" city that is Miami, with Latin American, Caribbean, and South Floridian flavors in mind.
Each tea has a creative name, story, and playlist like the El Mango Next Door ($12 for 4 oz. looseleaf) -- a tea inspired by mango-envy all Miamian's know too well. It's made of organic black tea, organic tulsi, and natural flavors that work together to recreate that feeling of waiting for your neighbor's mango to plump and plop onto your side of the fence. Recommended listening includes tracks from Celia Cruz and locals like Spam Allstars and Suenalo. Additional flavors include Granada Green, San-té-ria, Don Grey, Porteños en Paraiso, After Party, Calma-té, Limonada, and Oolong Old Fashioned.
 |
| El Mango Next Door |
In addition to creating unique Miami-inspired blends, Lemon City Tea is unique in its methodology. They are teaching locals and the restaurants they work with about cold-brewing, a technique used to brew both tea and coffee that slowly steeps the drink over many hours. The flavor profile is lighter and sweeter than iced tea made the traditional way (bringing the tea to a boil, then pouring over ice) which tends to highlight the stronger elements of the tea.
To make a refreshing and tasty cold brew, simply dump a third to half of a cup of looseleaf into a gallon of water and wait 8 to 10 hours. The tea will self-steep over time, but it's not an exact science. If you leave the tea for 10 and a half hours, you'll be fine. In the morning, simply strain the tea to get the leaves out, and, mira pa' eso, you've got cold-brewed iced tea! This technique is especially beneficial for the restaurants Lemon City works with who need to make large quantities of tea in advance.
 |
| Lemon City cold brew tea |
There comes a time though when traditional hot-brewing is best: cocktails.
"You need a bigger flavor to stand up to the alcohol," advises founder and senior vice-president Lauren Fernandez, who regularly works with restaurants to create signature tea-based cocktails. Their tea-inspired cocktails can be found at Lou's Beer Garden, Blackbrick, and NIU Kitchen. They also have a guide on their site for crafting cocktails on your own like the Oolong Old Fashioned and San-té-ria Spritzer which is perfectly spiced for the holidays.
Follow Jen Mangham on Twitter @JenMangham and on Instagram @JenM305.
Follow Short Order on Facebook, on Twitter @Short_Order, and Instagram @ShortOrder.
Source:
http://ift.tt/1vGUUcL