Tamarind Old Fashioned
A smoky, bitter zero-proof old fashioned using lapsang tea, tamarind, jaggery, and glycerin for whiskey-like depth and weight.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Strong lapsang souchong tea
- 0.5 oz Tamarind syrup
- 0.25 oz Dark jaggery syrup
- 0.25 oz Gum arabic syrup
- 4 drops Vegetable glycerin
- 2 dashes Aromatic bitters — Non-alcoholic
Story
This was shaped during the shift from recipe generation into the “add some body” phase — the goal became replacing alcohol’s weight and barrel character. The earlier tea-based builds were extended into a more whiskey-adjacent structure using smoke (lapsang), dark sugar (jaggery), and tamarind acidity to replicate aged spirit complexity.
Method
- Stir all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass until fully chilled.
- Strain over a large cube in a rocks glass.
- Express an orange peel over the drink and serve.
Notes
- Closest analogue to an aged-spirit profile in this set.
- Tamarind + lapsang smoke combination is doing most of the structural work; the jaggery and gum arabic round out the body.