Midnight Index
An old fashioned built on rye whiskey infused with black tea, sweetened with rich demerara syrup and seasoned with aromatic and orange bitters, stirred and served over a large cube with lemon oil.
Ingredients
- 2 oz / 60 ml Black tea-infused rye whiskey (house infusion)House infusion recipe in the batching and preparation notes: 375 ml rye steeped with 8 g loose black tea for 45 to 60 minutes, strained.
- about 0.5 tsp per serving, used only in the infusion Black tea, loose leaf (Assam or English breakfast)
- 0.25 oz / 7.5 ml Rich demerara syrup (2:1)
- 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
- 1 dash Orange bitters
- Technique
- Stirred
- Glass
- Rocks
- Ice
- Large cube
- Prep
- 5 min · Advanced
- Garnish
- Wide lemon peel, expressed and dropped in.
- Approximate strength
- about 31% ABV in the glass
- Allergens
- None listed
Method
Place one large clear ice cube in a rocks glass and set it aside to chill.
One cube, square as a page corner.
Measure the tea-infused rye, demerara syrup, aromatic bitters and orange bitters into a mixing glass.
The whiskey already carries the tea; the rest are footnotes.
Fill the mixing glass three-quarters with cubed ice and stir steadily for 20 to 25 seconds; the tea's tannin reads harsher when the drink is over-diluted, so stop a little short of an ordinary old fashioned.25 sec
Stir a little less than you think. The index should stay sharp.
Strain over the large cube in the rocks glass.
Dark amber over clear ice, the color of a lamp through a window at 1 a.m.
Cut a wide strip of lemon peel, express the oils over the surface skin side down, wipe the rim with it, then drop the peel into the glass. Serve.
Lemon oil on the surface, the one bright line on a dark page.
Flavor notes
Malt, black tea and rye pepper on the nose with lemon oil; dry, tannic grip through the middle softened by demerara; a long finish of toast, clove and orange from the two bitters. Dry and spirit-forward; the tea should read as structure and aroma, not as sweetness.
Substitutions
- Black tea-infused rye: Plain rye, same measure, with 0.25 oz (7.5 ml) strong cold-brewed black tea added to the mixing glass · The no-infusion route for a single drink; the tea reads more as a flavor on top than a change in the spirit, and the drink is slightly lighter.
- Rich demerara syrup: Honey syrup (1:1), 0.25 oz (7.5 ml) · Softer and more floral against the tannin; a half-step toward a hot toddy's flavors served cold.
- Rye whiskey: Bourbon, same measure, infused the same way · Sweeter and rounder; cut the syrup to a barspoon so the drink stays dry.
Without alcohol
Stir 2 oz (60 ml) of a zero-proof oak-aged whiskey alternative with 1 oz (30 ml) strong cold-brewed black tea, 0.25 oz (7.5 ml) rich demerara syrup and 2 dashes of a zero-proof aromatic bitters over ice for 15 seconds; strain over a large cube and finish with lemon oil. The tea carries the tannin and dryness that would otherwise come from the whiskey.
Batching
House black tea infusion (the one house preparation in this drink): pour 375 ml rye whiskey into a clean jar, add 8 g (about 3 to 4 teaspoons, or 1 heaped tablespoon, of broken-leaf tea) loose-leaf black tea, seal and leave at room temperature. Taste at 45 minutes; strain at 60 minutes at the latest, first through a fine mesh and then through a paper coffee filter to remove fines. Longer steeping extracts tannin fast and the whiskey turns astringent. Bottle and label with the date; the spirit itself is stable at room temperature, but the tea's aroma fades, so use within 2 months. Batch for 8 drinks: 16 oz (480 ml) tea-infused rye (a little more than one 375 ml infusion, so infuse a 750 ml bottle with 16 g tea), 2 oz (60 ml) rich demerara syrup, 16 dashes Angostura (about 0.5 oz / 15 ml) and 8 dashes orange bitters (about 0.25 oz / 7.5 ml). Bottle together and keep refrigerated for a month; The batch totals 18.75 oz (555 ml), so stir 2.35 oz (69 ml) per drink over ice as in the method, or add 4 oz (120 ml) cold filtered water to the batch for the same 22 percent dilution as the stirred serve, freeze for 2 hours, and pour 2.85 oz (84 ml) straight over a large cube.
Black tea-infused rye, demerara and bitters, stirred, with lemon oil
The index is the last thing written and the first thing read, and it is usually finished after midnight with a cold cup of tea at the elbow. This drink folds that cup into the whiskey. Rye is steeped with loose black tea for under an hour, long enough to take on malt, tannin and a dry, papery grip, short enough to stay clean. Demerara rounds the edges. Two kinds of bitters mark the entries. Lemon oil across the top is the lamp left on. Stirred, served on a single cube, dark as the hour it is named for.