So you want to add tea into your Saint Patrick's Day celebrations this year and you want to take it up a notch rather than just drinking tea? Then why not make a tea-infused milkshake and use the Irish Stout blend, which is a limited edition blend only available around Saint Patrick's Day.

This blend takes Assam and Ceylon and pairs them with indulgent chocolate notes, a creamy undertone & mouthfeel and to top it all off there's a touch of Saint Patrick's Day luck in the form of Shamrock sprinkles. It's flavor profile really lends itself to this recipe and how creamy the base of the milkshake is. If you love tea and you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you'll definitely love this recipe.

The tea was inspired by Guinness, which is a famous dark Irish dry stout flavour derived from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley. The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide. I personally really enjoy this tea, especially as a latte, and even though I have only ever tried Guinness once I do think that in terms of its flavor profile the blend captures some of its best qualities (without the alcoholic flavor of course), though the chicory does add a subtle hint of that into the background. I would say that if like me you don't drink alcohol and you want to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day authentically, then this blend is a perfect replacement.

The perfect thing about this recipe is that there is only a handful of ingredients involved and it doesn't take long to make at all, so if you're planning a party there's no need to make it beforehand, you can make this on the day!

If you just want to make this for yourself, however, you'll be done within 10-15 minutes. I find the recipe below is good for 1-2 people, depending on your chosen glass for serving and should you need to make more, you simply just need to modify the quantities listed depending on how many people you need to serve.

Ingredients

For the milkshake
- 2 Cups of milk or milk alternative (It works better with a thin milk alternative than whole milk)
- 1- 1 1/2 tbsp of the Irish Stoutloose leaf tea blend
- 3 scoops of your vanilla ice cream of choice (I use dairy-free as I prefer it and it works well with milk alternatives)

For the toppings
- An extra scoop of ice cream
- Saint Patrick's Day themed sprinkles
- Matcha (for dusting and adding that touch of green)
- White Chocolate Curls

Instructions

Combine the milk and the tea in a pan on a high heat. Being sure to stir the whole time to avoid the tea clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Heat the milk until bubbles start to appear around the edges. Once they appear, reduce the heat and let simmer for 10-12 minutes depending on how strong you want your milkshake to be.

Remove from the heat and strain the leaves out of the milk. Once you have done that, if you do want to add any sweetener you should add it in now and after doing that, place it in the fridge until cold.

Once it is cold, pour the mixture into a blender with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream (or your ice cream of choice - if you want the tea to be prominent I suggest not using a flavored ice cream. My favorite is clotted cream ice cream and I find that still works with this recipe so if you want a touch more indulgence you can use that) and blend on high for 10 - 12 seconds.

Pour into your glass of choice and add your toppings. I went for a small extra scoop of ice cream, Saint Patrick's day sprinkles, matcha to add an extra touch of green and for added indulgence, just a few white chocolate curls.

Sit back, relax and enjoy!

One of the best things about this recipe is that while the milkshake in this post is specifically themed around Saint Patrick's Day and uses an appropriately themed tea, you really can use any tea as long as it doesn't contain any ingredients that will curdle the milk, so should you be planning a party you can use a tea that will fit your theme or if you have a tea that you love and want to try prepare a different way you really can use anything.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to take a picture of your creations and share them with us on social media tagging @adagiotea and using the #MyAdagio so we can see them!