Chai Spiced & Everything Nice

Taylor Giangola

“I haven’t got an official name yet,” says Cerveza Jack’s Bar Lead & Manager Taylor Giangola, giving me an advance tasting of this month’s newest cocktail creation. “It’ll probably be ‘Chai Spiced and Everything Nice,’ to kind of go with all the flavors that are in the cocktail. Everyone loves a good earthy, spicy type of feel for November.”

Her seasonal recipe calls for chai tea simple syrup, lemon juice, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and ginger beer. “Super simple, but a really good, balanced drink. We were going to do it originally with soda water, but we tried it with ginger beer and liked it better.” Topo Chico offers a less sweet citrus element if you’re into that, she notes, “but I think the ginger beer added the bubbly, with a little more flavor to it. Ginger has more of a bitter spice. Healthy for you, too — ginger is really good for your immune system. I would probably recommend the Gosling’s brand if you’re making it at home.”

She uses Tazo brand tea to make the infused simple syrup. “If I’m going to make a small batch, something that’s going to last a couple of days, I would do a cup of hot water, a cup of sugar. And mix the sugar in with the water first to make sure that everything’s all melted and combined together,” she instructs. “Then put the tea bags in there and let it sit for a couple hours to really get that chai flavor. And then you go from there.”

The rich-yet-refreshing drink comes in a tall glass, rimmed with cinnamon sugar and garnished by a smoked cinnamon stick. “It gives it more of an aroma. We torch it just to get the smoke going, and then let it die out before serving,” says Giangola. “It has a different type of profile that you wouldn’t really expect. It has that sugar content because of the simple syrup, but it’s not an overpowering sweetness.”

Developing new drink recipes is a monthly ritual for Giangola. “I knew that chai would be something good for fall. The liquor that I was going to use was the harder part, because I usually go for gin or tequila... But the spiced Captain was an inspiration — to get more flavor, add a little bit more depth to the cocktail.” She likens it to a sort of chai spiced lemonade, though “some people who have tried it say it tastes like vanilla Coke.”

Cerveza Jack's Gaslamp

Cerveza Jack’s

Chai Spiced & Everything Nice

2 oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

3/4 oz chai simple syrup

1/2 oz lemon juice

Ginger beer

Rim the glass with cinnamon-sugar. Mix ingredients in a shaker and strain over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer (sub soda water for a less sweet option). Garnish with a burnt cinnamon stick.