Ruby Pagoda Tea Mocktail - Friday's 5 o'clock Wet Your Whistle Call!

Out with the Old and In with the New. The New Year, that is. The holidays were a blast but now it’s time to clean up our act a little bit.  So in our typical style of "Let’s Go Big", my husband and I started our Liver Cleanse today! So far it has been energizing and I am amazed at how fast I started to feel peppy. But then I thought, what to do about a Friday cocktail? I began my search…… Mocktails!......... but what seemed like an easy mission turned into a mission impossible. Everything had sugar or simple syrup, cream or caffine or soda water in it. Well those are not allowed in my world for the next 3 weeks.

Then I came across Silk Roads Ruby Pagoda Mocktail and knew that my mission was accomplished. The tea with its brilliant ruby red color is what makes this a festive mocktail. Ruby Pagoda Tea is a refreshing and slightly tart herbal blend containing rooibos, hibiscus flowers, rosehips, rose petals, citrus peel and pink peppercorns.

Dress it up by serving in a flute or champagne glass – this mocktail deserves some elegant stemware!

Ruby Pagoda Tea Mocktail

Makes 1 quart

1 tbsp. Ruby Pagoda Tea, 2 cups water, 2 cups cranberry juice, juice of 2 freshly squeezed limes, ice

Bring water to a full rolling boil and pour over tea. Steep for 10 minutes, then strain. Refrigerate until cold. Combine tea with cranberry and lime juice. Shake over ice before pouring into glasses.

Optional: to transform this from a mocktail into a cocktail, we recommend adding 4oz to 8oz of vodka or gin per quart.

This is rather like killing two birds with one stone. Mocktail hour and tea time. Let me know if you have any other recipes that could help me out during this cleansing period.

Cheers!