Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Drink) Recipe
A dark, smoky-sour infusion of dried plums and hawthorn, sweetened with rock sugar and scented with osmanthus, served ice cold.
- Category: Mocktail
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 0%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Alcohol-free: ✓
Ingredients
- Smoke-dried sour plums (wumei)6 piece
- Dried hawthorn slices12 piece
- Liquorice root2 piece
- Dried osmanthus flowers1 tsp
- Rock sugar6 piece
- Water1000 ml
How to Make It
- Rinse the plums, hawthorn and liquorice root, then soak them in the water for about half an hour.
- Bring the pot to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about forty minutes.
- Add the rock sugar and the osmanthus and simmer for another five minutes, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Strain out the solids, let the liquid cool and then chill it thoroughly.
- Serve over plenty of ice with a pinch of osmanthus on top.
Garnish
A pinch of dried osmanthus floated on top
The Story
Sour plum drink has been a Chinese summer staple for centuries, sold from street carts and now bottled across the country. Its backbone is wumei, a plum smoke-dried until almost black, which gives the drink both its colour and its tang.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.