Sparkling Wine and Sparkling Tea Cocktail

Sparkling Wine is exciting, it’s alive with dancing bubbles that make you feel like you could go out and explore the world. Sparkling Tea is relaxing, it makes feel you calm, reducing those everyday stresses and worries, so they don’t weigh on you so much, it’s like meditation in a glass.

It is going to be a fantastic combination, pairing them together in their own unique Cocktail. Let’s explore the creations of both before stepping into our mixology room.

Patrick Simcic – Sparkling Wine

This is one of those occasions where the label speaks to who they are, the soft welcoming colours, the grapes being carried carefully high through the sky just to be delivered to you.

Patrick Simcic handcraft their Sparkling Wine and Wines in the Goriska Brda region of Slovenia. They are a young family who decided to follow their passion and make their dream into a reality, I stumbled across this quote that they use, I thought it was worth sharing ‘Wine is my art in the bottle!’.

Patrick Simčič Wines – Penina Pavlina – Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “Zesty green fruits with notes of exotic fruits on the aroma.”

Flavour 👅 “Crispt green apples skins, zesty gooseberry and green apple flesh on the palate.”

This Slovenian Sparkling Wine Won a Silver Medal in the Gastronomic Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

Saicho – Sparkling Tea

Created by Saicho Drinks each bottle they produce is from a different country, each displaying its own aromas and flavours, but all delivering that glorious relaxing fizzy taste, silky and smooth on the palate, relaxing and calming you, they help relieve some of the stress which would otherwise be bringing you down.

This company was created by now husband and wife team, Charlie and Natalie, who met each other whilst studying PhDs in Food Science. Charlie loves Wine and Food pairing, but Natalie can’t drink alcohol of any kind, so Saicho was born from the desire for Charlie to share the experiences of Wine and Food with Natalie and from Natalie not wanting to miss out on the experiences Charlie wanted to share with her.

When you think of Cold Brewed Tea, you can’t compare it to normal hot tea, the flavours and aromas are more delicate, enhanced, rich, and balanced, edging more towards a Sparkling Wine over Hot Tea. Considering that at least 90% of the bottle is made from grapes, it makes sense that these Saicho teas can pair wonderfully with food and even find their way into Cocktails, with Saicho showcasing dozens of Cocktails which utilise their Sparkling Tea on their website.

The name Saicho isn’t just a random word, or even two names put together, it is the name of a real person, backing back to 805. Saicho had just returned to his homeland of Japan after a long Buddhist retreat in Tang China, with him her brought the knowledge of an exotic drink that the Chinese monks would use to prolong and enhance their meditation sessions, he also brought back with him the source of this mysterious drink – tea seeds, which he would soon plant in Japan.

Saicho would then create his own Tendai school of Buddhism, but tea seeds don’t grow overnight, it would take 5 years before the seeds grow into trees.

The crowning moment for tea in Japan came when The Emperor Saga visited Saicho’s Sofukufi temple, he was presented with a cup of tea and indefinitely fell in love with the creation, he would order the planting of tea seeds across the provinces of Japan, helping to further the spread of tea and allowing more people to fall in love with it as he did all those years ago.

If we go back to the company, Saicho, they only use single-origin tea, hand-picked, cold brewing for 24 hours, finely balanced by a hint of sweetness and dash of acidity and finished with a touch of sparkling to enhance those flavours.

Cocktail – Kir Saicho

Ingredients

• Chambord
• Sparkling Wine
• Sparkling Tea

How To Make The Kir Saicho

1. Grab a glass
2. Pour in 15mls of Chambord
3. Pour in 50mls of Sparkling Tea
4. Top up with 50mls of Sparkling Wine
5. Garnish With A Raspberry or small Cherry

Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “A sweet character of black raspberries with hints of delicate floral notes on the aroma.”

Flavour 👅 “It starts with a gentle touch of sweetness then flows into a darker raspberry and crispt green apple skin character, the sweetness intensifying, finishing off with crispt and delicate green apple skin, lychee and floral notes.”

Saicho – Jasmine – From China

Scented with Jasmine blossoms, this green tea from Fuding, in Fujian province, China, has a delicate floral aroma and notes of apple sherbet, lychee and vanilla, making it a refreshing aperitif.

Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Young notes of crispt green apples, lychee, vanilla and a bouquet of flowers on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Fresh lychee, green apples flesh, hints of subtle sweet lime with white floral notes on the palate.”

Saicho – Darjeeling – From India

This black tea was grown in the foothills of the Himalayas in Darjeeling, India. Harvested in the summer to develop its unique Darjeeling muscatel flavour, the tea has notes of mandarin, ginger and wood spice and gentle, dry tannins.

Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Fresh and vibrant herbal tea aromas, twigs and ginger notes as well.”

Flavour – “Refreshing Bubbly tea, interesting hybrid of tea and fizz, young and expensive, hints of sweeter spices, ginger and mandarin. The Sparkling part is subtle, adding to the taste experience rather than trying to take over.”

Saicho – Hojicha – From Japan

Originating in Kyoto in the 1920s as a way of utilising leftover leaves, stems, stalks and twigs, Hpjich is a toasted green tea from Japan. The tea has a deep umami character and notes of nori seaweed, roasted hazelnut and delicate smoke, with dry and woody tannins.

Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Roasted hazelnuts and nori seaweed sheets on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Flavours consist of nori seaweed sheets, roasted hazelnuts and dark oak wood.”