Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Drink) Mocktail 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
- Prep time: ~4 min
- Alcohol-free: ✓
Ingredients
- Smoke-dried sour plums (wumei)6 piece
- Dried hawthorn slices12 piece
- Liquorice root2 piece
- Dried osmanthus flowers1 tsp
- Rock sugar6 piece
- Cold water1000 ml (33.8 oz)
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
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, fruit notes come forward and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Cold water
- Seeing it in a recipe is not a mistake: in spirit-forward drinks, measuring the dilution instead of leaving it to the ice is what makes the result repeatable.
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.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Drink) mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- Does a Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Drink) contain alcohol?
- No. It is safe to serve to children, to anyone pregnant, and to whoever is driving.
- Is a Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Drink) hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.