By the time September rolls around, I’m completely ready for apple season, but I’m not necessarily ready for every drink I consume to be hot, creamy, and covered in cinnamon. Sometimes you want something that tastes like fall while still acknowledging that it is probably warm enough outside to wear sandals.
This Pear & Ginger Green Tea Caramel Apple Sparkler is that drink. It starts with cold-brewed Pear & Ginger Green Tea, then adds fresh apple cider, sparkling water, and a simple homemade caramel apple syrup. The result is bright and bubbly with plenty of pear and apple flavor, a little warmth from the ginger, and just enough caramel to make the whole thing feel distinctly fall.
It’s also a nice break from chai. I love chai season as much as anyone, but fall has more than one flavor.
Why Pear and Apple Work So Well Together
Pear and apple are close enough in flavor that they naturally make sense together, but they bring different things to a drink. Apples tend to be brighter and more tart, while ripe pears have a softer, almost floral sweetness.
Our Pear & Ginger Green Tea combines organic sencha with real pear, ginger, and lemongrass. The green tea keeps everything fresh, ginger adds a little warmth, and lemongrass brings enough citrus to keep the pear from becoming too sweet.
Adding apple cider gives the drink a deeper fall flavor without completely taking over the pear. Then we add a little caramel, because once September arrives, I am apparently incapable of leaving an apple alone.
Why Cold Brew the Green Tea?
You can absolutely brew the tea hot and let it cool, but cold brewing works particularly well with green tea because it creates such a smooth, gentle cup.
Hot water extracts flavor from tea quickly, including some of the compounds responsible for bitterness and astringency. Cold water works much more slowly. That slower extraction tends to give green tea a softer flavor with less of the bitterness that can happen when it's brewed too hot or too long.
For Pear & Ginger Green Tea, I recommend cold brewing for about 3 to 5 hours in the refrigerator. That gives the sencha enough time to develop while keeping the pear, ginger, and lemongrass bright and refreshing.
It's also convenient for a recipe like this because your tea is already cold when you're ready to make the drink.
What Is Caramel Apple Syrup?
I don't want this to taste like a caramel apple candy, so we're using caramel as an accent rather than turning the entire drink into dessert.
The homemade syrup starts with a little brown sugar, apple cider, and water. As it cooks down, the brown sugar gives it a deeper caramel-like flavor while the cider concentrates the apple. You end up with a syrup that's apple-forward, slightly caramelized, and easy to mix into a cold drink.
It's also much easier than making actual caramel, which means we're not standing over a saucepan with a candy thermometer at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday just because we wanted a nice tea.
Make a small batch and keep the extra in the refrigerator. It's also very good in hot tea, iced tea, oatmeal, or anywhere else you might use a fall-flavored syrup.
Use Apple Cider, Not Apple-Flavored Syrup
Fresh apple cider does a lot of the work in this recipe. It gives us real apple flavor and enough sweetness that we don't need much additional syrup.
If possible, look for fresh refrigerated apple cider rather than sparkling cider or an apple-flavored drink. Apple juice will work in a pinch, but cider tends to have a fuller flavor that stands up better to the green tea and ginger.
And because both the cider and caramel apple syrup are sweet, start with a relatively small amount of syrup. You can always add more.
The finished drink should still taste like tea.
Why Add Sparkling Water?
Bubbles lighten everything up.
Without sparkling water, green tea, cider, and caramel can start moving into heavier fall punch territory. Adding sparkling water gives the drink a cleaner finish and lets the pear, lemongrass, and ginger come back through.
It also makes this a great non-alcoholic fall drink for parties, dinners, or afternoons when you want something more interesting than another glass of water but don't necessarily want a cocktail.
If you're serving it for a gathering, you can cold brew the tea and make the caramel apple syrup ahead of time. Keep everything chilled and add the sparkling water immediately before serving so you don't lose the bubbles.
Can I Make This Less Sweet?
Absolutely, and I actually recommend adjusting this one to your own apple cider.
Some ciders are extremely sweet, while others are much more tart. Start with one teaspoon of caramel apple syrup, taste the finished drink, and decide whether it needs another.
You can also increase the amount of sparkling water if you want something lighter.
The pear and apple should be the first things you notice, followed by ginger and green tea. The caramel belongs in the background.
