In celebration of their new organic Tea House Collection, we partnered with Pure Leaf Iced Tea to mix up an apple, ginger, and bourbon cocktail inspired by their Green Tea with a hint of Fuji Apple and Ginger.

If you're cooking up a quick tarte tatin or apple clafoutis for a summer dinner party, and you've peeled that beautiful speckled skin off your apples, do not dispose of it. I repeat: Do not toss it in the garbage, the compost, or to your pup! Instead, reserve it, stuff the strips into a pretty glass container, and pour some bourbon over them. You will not regret it.

Apple Peel Bourbon Ginger Shake-Up by Samantha Weiss Hills

Apple Peel Bourbon can be used in loads of ways—for drinking and cooking—and it's not just for fall or spiced beverages. (This infused bourbon is a tip Marian Bull turned us onto after she skimmed it from Tara Duggan's book Root to Stalk.) You might add a few ounces to your steak marinade, stir some into a summer soup, or even toss a little with the apples for your next tart.

But if I've got a stock of it, I'm making drinks. And if there's a whole bottle to be had, I'd make them for anyone who's coming over on a Saturday night.

You could easily enjoy a little over rocks or stir it up into an Old Fashioned, but summertime says chilled glasses and shaken cocktails to me. For this apple ginger shake-up, I plucked a few trusty companions off my bar cart to accompany the bourbon: high-quality triple sec (or Cointreau) and a couple dashes each citrus and aromatic bitters. Lemon juice comes next, and after a shake, into a sweet coupe it goes. It gets topped off with an ounce or so of strong ginger beer, and then garnished with a lemon peel that's been expressed over the top. Chin-chin!

Apple Peel Bourbon Ginger Shake-Up

By Samantha Weiss Hills

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Pure Leaf Tea House Collection is a trio of organic iced teas that each sport a fruit or herb companion, like Fuji Apple and Ginger green tea. See all three flavors here.