Three Elegant Elephant blends that were basically born for a glass full of ice.
Here is the thing nobody tells you about loose-leaf tea: it is one of the most versatile cocktail ingredients alive.
Tea offers depth of flavor, natural complexity, and zero artificial anything. Steep it strong, chill it down, and you have a base that does things syrup and juice simply cannot 🤤.
These three drinks are the ones we keep coming back to all summer. One for the mocktail crowd. One for the cocktail crowd. One that honestly goes either way. You do not need a bar kit or a culinary degree. You need good tea blend and a pitcher.
One rule before you start. Cold dulls flavor. Always brew your iced tea stronger than you think you need. Two tablespoons of loose-leaf tea per two cups of water, steeped for 8 to 10 minutes, is your baseline. That strength survives the ice.
Recipe #1: Ginger Lemon Mule
Bright, sharp, and fizzy. This one will disappear fast.
The Moscow Mule has always been about ginger and citrus doing something electric together. Ginger Lemon tea is those exact two things, brewed into a concentrate. Add ginger beer, a squeeze of fresh lime, and you have a mule that tastes more like itself than any mule you have ever ordered at a bar.
Serves as a mocktail with no changes. Add vodka if you want it to end the evening faster.
| tea | 2 tablespoons Elegant Elephant Ginger Lemon loose leaf tea |
| water | 2 cups filtered water |
| ginger beer | 1 cup ginger beer, chilled |
| lime | Juice of 1 fresh lime |
| honey | 1 tablespoon raw honey |
| optional | 2 oz vodka, per serving |
| garnish | Lime wheel, fresh ginger slice |
Tart and electric, with a slow ginger warmth that arrives about three seconds after the first sip.
Steps
- Bring 2 cups of filtered water to a boil and remove from heat.
- Add loose leaf tea, cover, and steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Brew it strong.
- Strain and stir in honey while the tea is still warm, until fully dissolved.
- Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.
- To serve, fill a glass with ice and pour in 3 to 4 oz of the chilled tea concentrate.
- Top with ginger beer and a squeeze of fresh lime.
- Add vodka now if using, stir gently, and garnish with a lime wheel and ginger slice.
From sharp and bright to warm and round. Madagascar Vanilla Chai is the natural next move...
Recipe #2: Vanilla Chai Bourbon Sipper
Warm spice on ice, nice and slow. Worth every moment.
Here is the thing about Madagascar Vanilla Chai cold: it does not disappear. The vanilla deepens, the cardamom comes forward, and the whole thing turns into something you would pay fifteen dollars for at a rooftop bar. Pair it with bourbon and a little maple syrup and you have a cocktail that feels dressed up without trying to be.
Equally stunning without the bourbon. Same glass, same garnish, nobody knows the difference until they ask.
| tea | 2 tablespoons Elegant Elephant Madagascar Vanilla Chai loose leaf tea |
| water | 2 cups filtered water |
| milk | 1/2 cup oat milk or whole milk, chilled |
| maple syrup | 1.5 tablespoons pure maple syrup |
| optional | 2 oz bourbon, per serving |
| garnish | Cinnamon stick, pinch of cardamom |
Lush and spiced, with a vanilla finish that lingers long after the glass is empty.
Steps
- Bring 2 cups of filtered water to a boil and remove from heat.
- Add loose leaf tea, cover, and steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Full time. The spice needs it.
- Strain and stir in maple syrup while the tea is still warm, until fully dissolved.
- Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.
- To serve, fill a glass generously with ice.
- Pour 3 to 4 oz of chilled chai concentrate over the ice.
- Add the chilled milk and stir gently to combine.
- Add bourbon now if using, top with a cinnamon stick and a pinch of cardamom.
Warmth handled. Now something bright and summery with a little edge. Enter Spiced Orange...
Recipe #3: Spiced Orange Spritz
Citrusy, golden, and ready for a porch.
Think of a Spiced Orange spritz as the drink that makes people ask what the secret ingredient is. Fresh orange juice gives it sweetness. Club soda gives it life. A splash of Aperol gives it that sunset color and a little bittersweet edge. Leave the Aperol out and it is just as beautiful over a plain glass of sparkling water.
This is the one for a table of people with different preferences. Make the concentrate once, let everyone build their own glass.
| tea | 2 tablespoons Elegant Elephant Spiced Orange loose leaf tea |
| water | 2 cups filtered water |
| orange juice | 1/3 cup fresh orange juice |
| honey | 2 tablespoons raw honey |
| club soda | 1 cup club soda or sparkling water, chilled |
| optional | 1 oz Aperol, per serving |
| garnish | Orange slice, fresh mint |
Golden and effervescent, with warm citrus spice that blooms as the ice melts.
Steps
- Bring 2 cups of filtered water to a boil and remove from heat.
- Add loose leaf tea, cover, and steep for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Strain and stir in honey while the tea is still warm, until fully dissolved.
- Stir in fresh orange juice and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- Refrigerate until fully chilled.
- To serve, fill a glass with ice and pour in 3 to 4 oz of the chilled tea concentrate.
- Top with club soda and add Aperol now if using.
- Stir gently and garnish with an orange slice and fresh mint
One pitcher. Every kind of guest.
Brew the concentrates ahead of time, label the pitchers, and let your guests decide how they want to finish their glass. No one feels left out. Nobody drinks something they do not want.
Every blend you used tonight started the same way: small batch, full leaf, sourced with care. And a portion of every sale goes to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, where Long'uro and 46 other rescued elephants are getting another good day because of it.
Indulge yourself. Elevate the world. Pour a second glass. 🐘
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