(The Return of) The Green Hornet

So on Saturday night I’m going to be guest bar-tender, at my local bar The Green Hornet.

I wanted to make a new signature drink for Peter, the proprietor. He already has a drink called the ‘Green Hornet’, but it is something to do with Midori and he admits he is not happy with it.

I decided to adapt a drink called the Rumford Punch, from blogger Chaim Dauermann at Spill Check.

The result is something that is green (well a light, lime-green at any rate), has some reflection of local Taiwanese flavour, and has a little sting in the tail.

The (Return of the) Green Hornet

2 oz reposado (aged) tequila

1/2 oz freshly-squeezed lime juice

1/2  oz oolong tea

1 oz ginger syrup

10 coriander leaves

Shake all the ingredients, with ice, thoroughly enough to smash up the coriander. Loosely strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a coriander sprig and a lime wheel or wedge.

I like the taste of reposado aged tequila, and if you’re in Taipei, I think the Lunazel brand, available from Drinks, is great value.

Brew up the oolong tea in advance, and cool it or you’ll melt your ice and dilute the drink. You need a very strong brew. It’s a good idea to cover the leaves with boiling water, then strain this out immediately to ‘wash’ them, then add water again and brew about 2 minutes. Brew too long and it gets bitter, so make it strong by using a lot of leaves, rather than leaving it too long.

Here’s the recipe I used for ginger syrup (thanks Ben), but I still find it barely strong enough. Not sure how to make it stronger.

Use a good amount of coriander leaves – maybe a heaped tablespoon or so. Tear them a little and add them to the drink with the ice. Shake it very well to pulverise them, and when straining, don’t use a tea strainer and let little bits get through.

This drink seems fairly adaptable, and you could easily switch the proportions of tea and syrup for a little different flavour. You could also muddle the leaves mojito-style and make it a tall drink. My friend John likes it this way, but I prefer the first method.

Thanks to the ginger syrup, it’s not as green as I would have liked, but I think it’s a very nice drink, and I’m very happy with it. Try one and let me know what you think.