Earl Grey & Grape Cobbler There’s an old-school cocktail recipe that dates back to about 1840 and is called a cobbler. I say this to stress that we are not talking about baked goods here. The cobbler recipe is very simple; what makes it special as a cocktail is its presentation and this is the idea I have in mind here. If anything, this mocktail is more of a serving suggestion than an actual recipe and you can adapt the style to suit all kinds of drinks. It works best with drinks that have lots of color and fruit.
A cobbler should be served in a goblet, which is a glass vessel often mistaken for a wine glass. A goblet is, in fact, slightly bigger than a wine glass. It’s also thicker and heavier.
You could use a wine glass if that’s all you have, but wine glasses are a bit too delicate. A good goblet has a nice weight to it that suits the recipe much better.
Garnish is key to the cobbler. It was the first cocktail that was served not only with a drinking straw (straws were considered a great novelty when they first appeared, as described in Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit of 1844),
Ingredients 3 oz / 9 cl strong Earl Grey tea
1 teaspoon sugar
1 lemon wedge
Fresh fruit salad (chopped peaches, grapes, mangoes,
pomegranate seeds, kiwi, etc.)
Mint leaves, for garnish
Crushed ice, for garnish
Preparation 1. Combine the tea and sugar, squeeze in the lemon wedge, and set aside to cool.
2. Transfer the mixture to a goblet and garnish with fruit salad and mint leaves.
3. Fill the cup with crushed ice, add a straw and a longhandled spoon, top with more garnish and serve.
Alternatives You can really play around with this idea. Raspberries are a great fruit for muddling and they are a delicious replacement for the fruit salad in the above recipe. Use chamomile tea instead of Earl Grey tea and garnish the concoction with a few more raspberries. You might want to mix fruit syrups with your teas.
Remember to make the tea strong, as it will have to stand up to the fruit as well as being diluted by the ice.
Copyright © 2012 by Kester Thompson (Author). All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
