This fruit- and tea-infused rum is a lovely mix of bitter and sweet. Perfect for a refreshing spring or summer cocktail! Start your green tea and pineapple rum over the weekend, and you'll be sipping in just a few days.
I have been really into infusing boozes lately, and this infusion was inspired by a bottle of extra fancy bitters that I bought from my friend Duane. Duane is a small farmer here in Atlanta, and alongside his fruits and veggies, he has a beautiful medicinal herb garden. You can check out photos of his goods, his booth, and his farm on the Funny Farm Facebook Page.
Disclosure: I purchased Duane's bitters with my own money, and he didn't sponsor my site in any way. I just think he's a stellar fella, and I love what he brings to the local food community here in Atlanta.
Duane's bitters star cherries, shiitake mushrooms, green tea, and orange peel, and they are bitter, y'all. I could feel myself unintentionally making a bitter face after tasting the tiny drop that he put on my hand to sample. The profile was deep with earthy mushrooms and intense green tea flavors really shining through. Sweet, sweet pineapple rum felt like a perfect match for these flavors. Let the infusions begin!
You don't need fancy bitters to make the cocktail recipe I'm sharing next week, but they do bring a little extra something to the recipe's flavor. This pineapple rum would stand well on its own with some soda water and a squeeze of lime. If you do want to pick up some of Duane's bitters, keep an eye on his Facebook page. He does farmers markets all over town!
Depending on how juicy and sweet your pineapple is, you can let this infusion set for three to five days. The pineapple I had wasn't very sweet, so I went the full five. The resulting rum has a hint of tangy sweetness when you first sip it, and then a little bitterness from the green tea at the end. It's going to be so good with those bitters!
You can see that it got most of its color on that first day. After that, the color change was pretty subtle. Almost non-existent.
Homemade Green Tea and Pineapple Rum
Yield: about 12 ounces of green tea & pineapple rum
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups light rum (Most rums are vegan, but you can double-check on Barnivore to be sure!) https://www.barnivore.com/search?keyword=rum
- 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
- 1 bag green tea of your choice
Method
- Toss the pineapple chunks and bag of tea into a pint-sized mason jar, then top off with rum.
- Close your jar tightly, and give it a good shake.
- Let the mixture steep on the kitchen counter for 2 hours, then pull out the tea bag, and transfer your rum to the fridge.
- The rum now steeps for another 3-5 days. Take it out each day to give the jar a shake. Starting on day 3, open the lid, and dip a finger in to taste. When it has reached the pineappley strength you desire, fish out the pineapple chunks, and store the remaining rum in the fridge. It should keep for a few months, as long as you keep it refrigerated.
Have a question? Tried this recipe? Share your thoughts!