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Minty Green Tea Martini

Minty Green Tea Martini

Tea, meet vodka! This refreshing green tea martini with a dash of mint is the perfect pick-me-up drink. Easy to whip up for a crowd, turn it into your signature cocktail (I won’t tell).

Green tea martini with lime slice garnish
Green tea martini

Jump to: RECIPE | Ingredients | Directions

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Minty Green Tea Martini Ingredients

Tea mixology, or using tea in alcoholic drinks, is an art that’s gained a lot of traction lately and appears to be here to stay. It can be tricky – some teas have very delicate flavors that are easily overpowered – but the possibilities are endless.

We’ve mixed tea and booze plenty of times already here at Farm to Jar (like for my white tea and cucumber cocktail, or the festive chai espresso martini), but there’s always room for one more. The Summer season is waning here, but I’ll squeeze in one more summer drink: a refreshing, minty green tea martini.

You’ll only need five ingredients to make a batch of these. Let’s dive right in!

Ingredients for a mint green tea martini: vodka, mint syrup, green tea, lime juice
Ingredients: vodka, mint syrup, green tea, lime juice

Green Tea

With its botanical and sweet flavor profile, green tea makes the perfect base for a nice summer cocktail. For your martinis, try a green tea blend with dried mint leaves, like our Moroccan Mint Green Tea.

You’ll want to brew a strong green tea, using around 2 teaspoons loose leaf blend per cup of water, and steep for up to five minutes.

It’s important to use water that’s around 180 °F, rather than boiling, to prevent bitterness.

FAQ: Does green tea have caffeine? It does, but since you’re only drinking a small amount of green tea per martini, you won’t get more than around 5 mg of caffeine per serving. Compare that to around 100 mg in a cup of coffee!

Vodka

You don’t need a $100 bottle of vodka to make a green tea martini, but it’s important to avoid bottom-shelf brands. After all, green tea is quite subtle, so you don’t want a bad vodka to steal its spotlight.

In this recipe, I use regular Smirnoff vodka. Just pick your favorite vodka brand and go with that.

Mint Syrup

Green tea and mint get along like a house on fire. Whether you’re using green tea that already has mint leaves added or not, I recommend also adding some mint syrup to play up the mintiness even further. It doesn’t have to be a lot; a little goes quite a long way.

You can buy mint syrup (I use one by Teisseire) or make your own. It’s super easy, and you can use any leftovers for other mint cocktails like a mint julep. Or just mix it with water and some lemon slices in a big pitcher for a refreshing, non-alcoholic summer drink!

Mint syrup is made by combining equal parts (one cup, for example) of water, sugar, and mint leaves. Bring to a boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, and then let cool. Strain out the mint and you’re ready to make some drinks!

Homemade mint syrup with mint leaves on the side.
Homemade mint syrup

Tip: You can add a drop or two of green food coloring to your homemade mint syrup if you want your cocktails to be bright green like the one in these pictures. Otherwise, they will have the yellowish tinge of green tea and honey.

Honey

Since we’re using all these wonderfully floral and botanical ingredients, I couldn’t resist adding a little honey to my green tea martinis. You can skip it if you don’t like your drinks overly sweet, but it does add an extra layer of complexity.

You can’t use pure honey in a cocktail, as it’s too thick to mix properly in a shaker. Instead, you can either stir the honey into the green tea when it’s still warm or make a honey syrup using equal parts honey and hot water.

Lime juice

Citrus is another flavor that works wonderfully with green tea. We’ll use fresh lime juice in our martinis to balance out the sweetness of the mint syrup and honey.

Try adding a little green tea to this citrus vodka collins that was made in Spring for Earth Day

Garnishes

I kept my cocktails simple by just rimming the martini glasses with sugar (using lime juice as “glue”) and decorating them with a slice of lime.

If you want to go all out, you could make your own lime sugar, using some lime zest for added color and flavor.

Close-up of green cocktail in a martini glass garnished with lime slice
Lime slice garnish

Minty Green Tea Martini Method

Most of the ingredients in this cocktail need some time to cool, so it’s best to prepare them a little in advance. Brew some green tea, whip up your mint simple syrup (if you choose not to buy pre-made), and mix the honey with hot water or with the tea to make it workable.

Tip: Don’t forget to pop your martini glasses in the freezer either: a mint green tea martini is best enjoyed icy cold. Fifteen minutes or more should do the trick.

Once all the ingredients are ready, get the glasses out. Run a wedge of lime along the rim and dip in sugar. Then, place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake vigorously, and immediately strain into the glasses. Add the lime slice and voilà! All done.

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Minty Green Tea Martini

Green tea martini with lime slice garnish
Green tea, mint and honey come together to make a refreshing cocktail to enjoy at a picnic or by the pool.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 106
Author Marijke

Equipment

Ingredients

For the glass rims

  • 1 lime
  • sugar

For the green tea martinis

  • 2 ounces green tea
  • 2 ounces vodka
  • 1 tablespoon mint syrup
  • 1 tablespoon honey see notes
  • 1 ounce lime juice about 1 lime
  • ice

Instructions
 

  • Rim the martini glasses by dipping them in sugar placed on a shallow dish, using a wedge of lime to make it stick.
    1 lime, sugar
  • Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously.
    2 ounces green tea, 2 ounces vodka, 1 tablespoon mint syrup, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 ounce lime juice, ice
  • Strain into the martini glasses. Garnish with lime slices. Cheers!

Notes

1. Stir the honey into the warm green tea or make a honey syrup by mixing it with a tbsp of hot water, or it won’t mix with the other ingredients.
2. To clarify: you need two limes. One will be used for the juice, the other should be cut so that you obtain 1 wedge (to rim the glass) and 2 slices (as garnish).
 
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Nutrition

Calories: 106kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 0.1gFat: 0.02gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 7mgPotassium: 34mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 7IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 0.4mg
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Recipe Rating




  1. Suzanne says:

    What a great idea for St. Patty’s Day green drink. Can you suggest how to make this without vodka, or with a substitute for vodka? Also, where can Tesseire be purchased in the US? It looks to be a British company that doesn’t sell online. Thank you!5 stars

  2. Dorothy Stainbrook says:

    5 stars