Roku Gin co*cktail Recipe with Earl Grey - B's Bites Drinks Drinks Recipes (2024)

An Earl Grey Gin co*cktail sounds very posh and British doesn’t it? And why wouldn’t it, it’s the merging of two very classic British ingredients – Earl Grey tea and gin. In this recipe, we’ve put a little twist on the classic and used a Japanese gin to make a Roku Gin co*cktail with Earl Grey.

Where does Earl Grey get its name?

Like most things British, Earl Grey tea has a very interesting history. It’s thought to be named after the 2nd Earl Grey who was prime minister in the 1830s. It’s essentially a black tea flavoured with bergamot orange fruit, giving it that distinctive floral scent.

There are many different stories as to how the concoction came to be. The most believable is that bergamot was used to flavour the tea at the Earl Grey household to offset the taste of lime in the local water. It proved to be so popular with guests, Lady Grey requested it be made to sell. Which is how Twinings ended up with a new product in their lineup!

Earl Grey Roku Gin co*cktail

Earl Grey tea has remained popular to this day and its floral notes means it’s often used in desserts and drinks. Like in this recipe!

I often brew Earl Grey as a mid-afternoon pick me up if I’m too lazy to make a masala chai. This time, I paired it gin, one of my favourite spirits, as a night-time pick me up.

We’d recently bought a bottle of Roku Gin at Dan Murphy’s. It was a long time since we’d bought spirits at a liquor store instead of at duty free and the price difference was painful!

Luckily Roku gin was on special and as we’re fans of Suntory, having visited Yamazaki Distillery when we were in Japan in 2018, we got a bottle.

Roku gin has more pronounced floral and citrus-y notes with Sakura flower and yuzu peel as defining flavour notes.

We’d tried with good ol’ tonic water but it felt like we could do Roku gin more justice by finding something more flavourful to go with it.

Of course, Earl Grey tea turned out to be the perfect accompaniment because of it’s own floral notes which amplified and enhanced the same notes in Roku gin.

How to make a Earl Grey Roku Gin co*cktail

It’s really quite easy to put this co*cktail together. All you need is Earl Grey tea, gin, juice from half a lemon, honey and a co*cktail shaker.

Note: While this recipe uses Roku gin, most brands will work as most gins have floral and fruity botanicals which is why Earl Grey gin co*cktails are so popular.

First brew the tea and importantly, let it cool down! A warm gin co*cktail is not very appealing.

Once it’s cooled down enough, get your shaker and add all the ingredients to it along with a handful of ice cubes. Smaller ice cubes will work better as it’ll cool the drink down a lot quicker and you’ll have to shake a lot less.

And then get to shakin’! Shake till you can’t hear the rattle of ice cubes and the shaker is cool to touch. Then, get your fancy glass of choice and pour the drink out over a large ice cube.

co*cktail Garnish Ideas

Garnish with lemon and mint and there you have it! Your night-time (or afternoon) pick me up. A few slices of Fuji apples would also work perfectly as a garnish if they happen to be in season.

The sweetness of the apples works really well with the co*cktail. Plus, the apples soak up the alcohol and feel like an extra treat after you’ve finished your drink.

You can see from the pictures that my Earl Grey Roku Gin co*cktail is quite dark. That’s because I brewed my tea for longer so the co*cktail has a slightly bitter note. If you prefer your co*cktails on the sweeter side, then brew for less time and double the honey used in the recipe.

Hope you enjoy! If you tried this recipe, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Craving more treats? You won’t go wrong with my sticky date cookie recipe.