Pegu's Earl Grey MarTEAni

Audrey Saunders is the mixologist at Pegu -- the hottest place to get a drink in Manhattan. She knows how to make her cocktails. I found this recipe in New York Magazine and am republishing it without their permission, but this drink is too good not to share.

Audrey's Earl Grey MarTEAni

Ingredients
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup (1:1 sugar-to-water ratio)
1 1/2 ounce Earl Grey tea–infused Tanqueray gin (see recipe below)
1 egg white
Garnish: lemon twist

Instructions
Measure all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice, and shake hard to a 10-second count. Strain into a chilled martini glass, 1/2 rimmed with sugar, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Earl Grey Tea–Infused Tanqueray Gin
1 750 ml bottle of Tanqueray gin (for its flavor and high proof)
4 tablespoons loose, Earl Grey tea

Measure tea into bottle. Cap and shake, and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter into a bowl. Rinse out bottle to remove loose tea, and pour infusion back into clean bottle. Will store indefinitely refrigerated.

Capetown Collins

I had this drink recently at No. 9 Park, Boston's favorite and most delicious dining spot. Meals here are more than pricey (think $75 a head for a 3-course prix-fixe, sans alcohol), but more than worth the steep tab. Their mixologist is a genius and this twist on the old gin-based favorite is really special. Perfect for a summer or fall afternoon.

Capetown Collins
2 oz. Gin (Any straightforward London dry should do the trick)
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
2 oz. Rooibos-rosemary syrup*

Place all ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well, and strain into ice cube-filled Collins glass. Garnish with rosemary sprig.


*Rooibos-rosemary syrup
Simmer one cup water, sugar, and a rosemary sprig in a medium saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add 1½ teaspoons loose rooibos tea leaves and let steep for 1 hour. Strain through fine mesh strainer and bottle it.