Celebrate the 242nd Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party with These Cocktail Specials
“Tea to toss” photo by Lorianne DiSabato on Flickr/Creative Commons
The exact location of the original Boston Tea Party—that fateful night on December 16, 1773—may be something of a mystery. But that’s never stopped us from re-enacting the event, complete with a rowdy tea-tossing aboard a replica 18th-century ship. For those of you who’d prefer to mark the occasion by raising a toast to the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, here are a few choice cocktail specials to check out.
#DoubleDate at Committee / Courtesy photo
#Firstdate and #Doubledate at Committee
New England boasts one of the least tropical climes imaginable, and yet the pineapple is an iconic Yankee symbol of hospitality—which must be what Committee had in mind when it decided to serve its shareable tea-for-two cocktails in a copper pineapple. Available through the end of December, the #FirstDate ($35) features Absolut Elyx, vanilla, dry vermouth, rhubarb bitters, lemon, and Rooibos tea; while the #DoubleDate ($85) mixes Absolut Elyx with Cynar, Lejay Cassis, cinnamon, lime, and berry tea.
Committee, 50 Northern Ave., Boston, 617.737.5051, committeeboston.com.
Boston Tea Party at Marliave
In the winter, we head to Marliave to warm up with bubbling cast-iron skillets of rarebit served in their cozy dining room—and maybe a drink or three. With 130 years of history behind the Downtown Crossing restaurant, Marliave’s cocktail list shows a fitting reverence for the past, with nods to everything from Napoleon to Grover Cleveland. And of course, there’s the Boston Tea Party, a concoction of tequila, Earl Grey tea, ginger beer, and lemon.
10 Bosworth St., Boston, 617-422-0004, marliave.com.
Tea Party at Outlook / Courtesy photo
Tea Party at Outlook Kitchen + Bar
The Envoy may be the youngest addition to the Seaport, but its Tea Party cocktail overfloweth with local history. It’s made with a base spirit of Privateer Amber rum, which is produced locally in Ipswich by an ancestor of Andrew Cabot—the famed merchant, rum distiller, and privateer. To complete the drink, Outlook adds local honey, Earl Grey tea and chamomile tea leaves, lemon zest, and cinnamon.
Outlook Kitchen + Bar, The Envoy, 70 Sleeper St., Boston, 617-338-3030,
Cold Tea for 2 at Shojo / Photo by Shaula Clark
Cold Tea for 2 at Shojo
If it’s tea drinks you’re after, don’t forget Shojo. One of our favorite Chinatown restaurants, Shojo also happens to be the only place we know of where you can scarf down eggplant bao and knock back craft cocktails while listening to old-school hip-hop and watching Bruce Lee movies. Taking its name from the notorious wink-wink-nudge-nudge Chinatown beverage, the Cold Tea for 2 is a potent mix of oolong-tea-infused vodka, Pêche de Vigne liqueur, and lemon.
Shojo, 9 Tyler St., Boston, 617-423-7888, shojoboston.com.
Churchill’s Tea at Taj Boston / Courtesy photo
Churchill’s Tea at Taj Boston
Sure, things got a little tense between us and the Brits, but by World War II, we were biffles again. In this spirit of kiss-and-make-up, the Taj celebrates the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party with a drink inspired by Winston Churchill, who reportedly loved lapsang souchong, a black tea traditionally smoked over pine fires. Churchill’s Tea is a concoction of Absolut Hibiscus, pomegranate liqueur, lapsang souchong, the Taj’s own rooftop honey, simple syrup, lemon, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Taj Boston, 15 Arlington St., Boston, 617.598.5255, tajhotels.com/boston.
Freedom Trail Grog at Tap Trailhouse / Photo provided
Freedom Trail Grog at the Tap Trailhouse
Around these parts, there’s only one red line we can trust to take us across Boston without breaking down—and that’s the Freedom Trail. And one of the stops along the way is the Tap Trailhouse, a Faneuil Hall spot serving for “vittles” cribbed from Colonial menus. If you’ve worked up a thirst from all that walking, avail yourself of their Freedom Trail Grog, a cocktail of rum, lemon juice, and black tea.
The Tap Trailhouse, 19 Union St., Boston, 617-367-0033, thetaptrailhouse.com.
Weatherly at Trade / Courtesy photo
Weatherly at Trade
At Jody Adams’s FiDi restaurant, you can feast on spicy lamb-sausage flatbreads while perched at the bar, knowing that just a stone’s throw away Colonial re-enactors huck tea off the Beaver on the regular—but we’d prefer to hold onto our tea when it comes in the form of the Westerly: a cocktail of Keel vodka, hibiscus tea syrup, lemon, and fresh mint, topped with a few dashes of Angostura Bitters.
Trade, 540 Atlantic Ave., Boston, 617-451-1234, trade-boston.com.
