There is a moment in every good summer evening when you want to put something truly special in people’s hands. Not a store-bought mixer. Not a powdered lemonade. Something that tastes like it came from somewhere real. These six recipes do exactly that. Each one is built around a Wild @ Heart tea, our wildcrafted tea blend collection that has been quietly making extraordinary drinks since before cocktail culture caught up with botanicals. Some have a splash of spirits. Some do not. Every single one of these tea cocktail and tea mocktail recipes is a groovy way to have fun this summer with friends.

The Crimson Canoe

Tea Cocktail | Rocks glass

Crimson Maple is our love letter to the Canadian boreal… Black tea layered with pine, wild sage, sweetgrass, and real maple. It is the kind of tea that makes you think of paddling at dusk, the water going still and copper-coloured. This cocktail leans right into that. Rye whisky is the obvious Canadian pairing, maple syrup keeps it honest, and a squeeze of lemon cuts through just enough to keep things lively.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 1.5 oz Canadian rye whisky
• 1 oz Crimson Maple cold brew or hot brew
• 0.5 oz pure maple syrup
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• Ice
• Garnish: lemon peel twist or fresh sage leaf

Method

1. Cold brew Crimson Maple overnight in the fridge using 1 tbsp loose leaf per 250ml water. Strain before using. Steep 5-7 minutes with boiled water for hot brew method and let cool.
2. Add whisky, cold brew, maple syrup, and lemon juice to a shaker with ice.
3. Shake well for 10 seconds and strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
4. Garnish with a lemon peel twist or a fresh sage leaf.

The Forest Floor Fizz

Tea Mocktail | Highball glass

Forest Chai is a Chaga and spice chai that roots you. Warming, earthy, a little mysterious! It is the kind of blend you reach for when you want to feel grounded. This mocktail lets the Chaga and spice do their thing, then lifts everything with ginger beer and a wedge of fresh orange. It looks like a cocktail. It drinks like one too.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 3 oz Forest Chai, hot brewed strong and cooled (1.5 tsp per 125ml, steeped 5-7 minutes)
• 4 oz ginger beer
• 0.5 oz fresh orange juice
• Ice
• Garnish: orange slice and a cinnamon stick

Method

1. Brew Forest Chai strong, 5-7 minutes in boiled water, and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the chai and orange juice.
3. Top gently with ginger beer and stir once.
4. Garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick.
   

The High Meadow Mule

Tea Cocktail | Copper mug

High Meadow is our Ti Kuan Yin oolong blended with wild-harvested sweetfern from right here in Ontario. Oolong cold brews into something silky and floral. It is a natural match for vodka and lime in a summer mule. The sweetfern adds a quiet herbal note that makes this mule unlike any other you have tried. Serve it ice cold in a copper mug and let the oolong do the talking.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 1.5 oz vodka
• 2 oz High Meadow cold brew or hot brew
• 0.75 oz fresh lime juice
• 4 oz ginger beer
• Ice
• Garnish: lime wheel and fresh mint

Method

1. Cold brew High Meadow overnight in the fridge. Strain before using. Hot brew method, steep for 7-10 minutes with boiled water and let cool
2. Fill a copper mug with ice. Add vodka, cold brew, and lime juice.
3. Top with ginger beer and stir gently.
4. Garnish with a lime wheel and a sprig of fresh mint.
   

The Starwater Spritz

Tea Mocktail | Wine glass

Starwater is Japanese sencha with wild balsam fir tips and grapefruit oil. It is bright, clean, and alive. Cold brewed, it becomes something extraordinary: light and forest-fresh with a citrus lift that makes sparkling water feel like a natural partner. This is the spritz for the person who wants something elegant without any fuss. It is also stunning in a clear wine glass where the colour can do its thing.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 3 oz Starwater cold brew or hot brew
• 4 oz sparkling water or elderflower tonic
• 0.5 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• Ice
• Garnish: grapefruit slice and a sprig of fir or rosemary

Method

1. Cold brew Starwater overnight in the fridge. Strain before using. Steep 5-7 minutes with boiled water for the hot brew method and let cool.
2. Fill a wine glass with ice. Pour in the cold brew and grapefruit juice.
3. Top with sparkling water or elderflower tonic and stir once gently.
4. Garnish with a thin grapefruit slice and a small sprig of fresh rosemary or fir.
   
   

The Blue Moon Negroni

Tea Cocktail | Coupe

Blue Moon brings together wild black spruce tips, Ceylon black tea, and bergamot in a blend that is moody, aromatic, and just a little otherworldly. It was made to become a Negroni. The spruce and bergamot mirror the botanicals in a good gin, and the tea adds depth that sweet vermouth alone never quite reaches. This is the cocktail for the sophisticated drinker at the table, and they will ask you what is in it

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 oz Blue Moon tea, brewed strong and cooled (1 tsp per 60ml, steeped 5-7 minutes)
• Ice
• Garnish: orange peel twist

Method

1. Hot Brew Blue Moon strong, 5-7 minutes with boiled water and cool completely. Refrigerate until ready.
2. Add gin, vermouth, and Blue Moon tea to a mixing glass filled with ice.
3. Stir for 20 seconds until well chilled.
4. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
5. Express an orange peel over the top and drop it in as garnish.
   
   

Lavender Lemonade

Tea Mocktail | Tall glass

Lavender Path is wild Canadian bergamot, lavender, Ceylon black tea, and calendula. This blend smells like a summer garden and tastes like one too. Steeped hot and cooled down, it makes the most beautiful lavender lemonade you will ever have. Honey keeps it natural, lemon keeps it sharp, and the floral notes from the tea do all the heavy lifting. Four ingredients, zero fuss, and everyone wants the recipe.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 1 cup Lavender Path, hot brewed and cooled (1 tbsp per 250ml, steeped 5-7 minutes)
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp raw honey, dissolved in a splash of warm water first
• Ice
• Garnish: lemon slice and a few lavender buds if you have them

Method

1. Hot Brew Lavender Path with boiled water, 5-7 minutes, and allow to cool fully. Refrigerate until cold.
2. Dissolve raw honey in a small splash of warm water and stir until liquid.
3. Combine cooled tea, lemon juice, and honey in a tall glass over ice.
4. Stir well and taste — adjust lemon or honey to your liking.
5. Garnish with a lemon slice and a pinch of dried lavender buds.
   
   

Tips and Tricks

Cold brew your base the night before. For the cocktails and mocktails that call for cold brew, set it up before you go to bed. One teaspoon of loose leaf per 250ml of cold water, covered in the fridge overnight. You will have a smooth, concentrated base ready to go by morning with no effort at all.

Make a big batch. Most of these recipes scale beautifully. Multiply the ingredients by eight, mix in a large pitcher, and you have a punch bowl for a party. Keep the sparkling components separate and top each glass individually so the fizz does not go flat.

Raw honey is worth the extra step. It will not dissolve in cold liquid, but a quick stir in a small amount of warm water first takes ten seconds and makes a real difference in flavour. Raw honey has a depth that processed honey simply does not.

Garnish with what you have. Fresh mint, lemon slices, orange peel, cucumber, edible flowers, a sprig of rosemary — whatever is growing in your garden or sitting in your fridge. The garnish signals that a drink was made with care. It does not need to be complicated.

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