SPARKLING TEA QUINCE–VERBENA

Quince doesn't travel well in the imagination. People hear the word and picture something obscure. But in Latvia, it's a flavour that carries memory — golden, fragrant, autumnal. Abavas sits on the banks of the river Abava in Tukuma county, and they've been making drinks from what grows around them long before it was fashionable. This sparkling tea combines quince juice with verbena tea and dealcoholised Chardonnay — light, crisp, and finely sparkling, with a clean finish and subtle wine-like complexity. Elegant. Alcohol-free. The kind of drink that makes guests ask what it is before they've finished their first sip.