Owl’s Brew “Classic” Tea Cocktail Mixer, reviewed

The most common cocktail mixers out there are sour mix (lemon/lime and sugar) and sodas, but there are actually a wide variety of mixers out there, including some very unique ones! The Owl’s Brew is an option that is tea-based cocktail mixer. While there are many coffee- based cocktails, there haven’t been a tremendous number of tea-based ones until recently, when a trend at many cocktail bars has been to infuse spirits directly with teas like earl grey. Infusing a spirit with tea isn’t the easiest endeavor and isn’t necessarily “worth it” for someone who likes to make cocktails at home because it requires a fair amount of both spirits and time.

The Owl’s Brew is a lightly sweetened mixer that uses high quality brewed tea and agave, along with a small amount of citrus or other fruit juices, depending on which one you’re trying. This one is the classic mixer and it is made with English Breakfast and lemon peel, with lemon and lime juices. It is sweetened just enough to bring out the flavor of the tea and is probably sweet enough that you won’t need to add anything else to the basic recipe instruction of “2 Parts Brew, 1 Part Booze” printed on the bottle. This means you can easily make a refreshing cocktail that has plenty of tea flavor by simply adding ice and the spirit of your choice. Other cocktail recipes are available on the brand’s site.

I think that this is a fun mixer to have in the kitchen because it is so easy to use and offered a very different experience than other mixers, most of which are simply citrus-based. It seems very well made, as you don’t get any of the bitterness that plagues overbrewed teas. It also isn’t overly sweet, so it doesn’t feel like you’re pouring iced tea into your glass when you’re trying to make a cocktail. That being said, it is a little on the pricey side, so if you are a big tea-fan, you might want to try making your own version(s) of this mixer, or versions of some of their other flavors, to keep in your fridge instead of restocking bottle after bottle in the long run.