At Mirabelle Restaurant & Tavern at the Three Village Inn, the chai 1751 cocktail embodies the establishment’s atmosphere, offering a drink experience complementing its setting.
“We wanted to offer a cocktail both powerful in flavor but soft on the sip, so we landed on incorporating chai into our repertoire of housemade Martinis,” says RaeMarie Renna, the general manager of Mirabelle Restaurant & Tavern in Stony Brook. “Simple to put together but memorable in its own right matches the cozy vibe of the tavern on a cold fall night. We named it ‘chai 1751’ to honor the year in which Mirabelle was first built by Richard Hallock.”
Chai 1751 is made with four chai tea bags, 2 ounces of vanilla vodka, .5 ounces of Amaretto liqueur, .5 ounces of simple sugar, and .5 ounces of half-and-half.
“[This is] our twist on a chai Martini,” says Renna. “It offers the same smooth sip as an espresso Martini without the bitterness of the coffee notes. The aromatics of the chai tea compliment the vanilla liqueur to create a bold yet approachable cocktail perfect for warming up in our tavern.”
For this cocktail, boil three cups of water and steep four chai teabags for two to four minutes. Make this into a simple syrup with sugar and add approximately four more teabags. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a cocktail shaker or a tall glass by shaking or stirring vigorously. After filling a glass with ice, pour the drink over it. Finally, garnish with a cinnamon stick.
“The chai 1751 has quickly become one of the more popular cocktails on our fall menu,” she says. “A refreshing and different spin on a classic, it has been met with the same excitement as our house-made Martinis and has fans of espresso Martinis gravitating towards its rich yet mellow notes, making it a staple for anyone visiting the tavern during the colder months.”
Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern is located at 150 Main St., Stony Brook and can be reached at mirabelleatthreevillageinn.com (631) 751-0555.
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