Are you ready to get your drink on for New Year’s?
I’ve always been a lightweight when it comes to booze, so I’m ringing in 2016 with these lovely Grapefruit Green Tea Sake-tinis. These beauties are light, tart, and best of all, not too sweet!
I love the taste of sake in mixed drinks because its taste is almost undetectable. Sake’s smooth, mild character makes it an ideal steeping medium for the clean, bright taste of green tea.
Sencha is my tea of choice for this recipe. It adds a vegetal, delicate layer of freshness, and can be added directly into the sake for a cold brew overnight. A few slices of fresh ginger are also added to the steep for some extra punch and spiciness. 
When you see that the sencha leaves have fully plumped and expanded, the sake is ready to use. I like to finish the rim of each martini glass with sparkly matcha sugar. You can just use regular sugar, but the double dose of green tea both in the cocktail and around it make for a special New Year’s touch.
Ginger Green Tea Sake-tini
Ingredients:
{For the Infused Sake}
1- 300ml bottle sake (I used Hakutsuru)
1 Tbsp green tea (I used Sencha)
a few slices of fresh ginger
{For One Sake-tini}
2 oz. infused sake, chilled
2 oz. ginger ale, chilled
2 oz. grapefruit juice, chilled
{Garnishes}
3 Tbsp sanding sugar or regular sugar
1/4 tsp matcha
grapefruit wedges, to garnish
Equipment:
cocktail shaker or pitcher
martini glasses
small dish
Directions:
1. Open the bottle of sake and add in the green tea leaves and ginger slices. Let this steep overnight in the fridge.
2. When it’s drink time, mix the sake, ginger ale, and grapefruit juice together in a cocktail shaker or pitcher.
3. Place the sugar with the matcha in a small dish, then mix them together thoroughly. Prep the martini glass by using a grapefruit wedge to moisten all the way around the rim. Dip the rim in the matcha sugar to create a decorated martini glass.
4. Pour the sake-ale-juice mix into the prepped glass, then garnish with a wedge of grapefruit. Your sake-tini is ready to enjoy!
