2017 Best Cocktails in America: G & Tea

These 10 cocktails, selected by the editors of Restaurant Hospitality, showcase bartenders’ creative takes on top bar trends. Read on and get inspired. See all the winners >>

G & Tea

Trend: Tea

Where to get it: The Reserve at The Langham, Boston 

Creator: Ava Kawana, restaurant manager   

Price: $30 (serves 2)

Ingredients: Reserve Gin, The Langham’s Palm Court Tea, honey from Follow the Honey, lemon juice and club soda. 

About the drink: When the hotel launched its new signature Reserve Gin, it was inspired to create a tea-based cocktail for The Reserve restaurant, which is the location of its Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood. The G &Tea, a large format, tea-based cocktail, is the result. 

A look at the trend: Tea was an ingredient in a number of cocktail entries this year, but none like the G & Tea created by restaurant manager Ava Kawana at The Reserve at the Langham hotel in Boston. The cocktail serves two and is a signature of the hotel’s elegant afternoon tea service.

The G & Tea is presented in a glass teapot with the tea-infused gin at the top and a lemon-honey-spritzer mixture on the bottom.

The gin is at room temperature while steeping for three to five minutes, which colors the spirit “Langham pink,” the color of pink roses that decorate the hotel and are incorporated into the tableware design.

At the table, the tea-infused gin is poured over a single cube of ice, into which lemon slices have been frozen. The guests add as much of the lemon-seltzer-honey as they like for a fully customized and refreshing cocktail.