Someone is always firing up the old blowtorch at The Other Corner Charcuterie Bar in Hampden. Usually it's the charcuterie chefs applying a brulee to the amazing Green Hill camembert.

But the bartenders at The Other Corner are also pretty handy with the blowtorch, known in some circles as a kitchen torch or kitchen blowtorch.

And when we saw bartender Kara Schooley applying the torch to a rosemary sprig, which briefly rose into flames, we had to know what it was for.

Schooley told us she was sugaring the rosemary for a cocktail she created called the Spiced Tea. A bracing blend of sweet, sour and bitter liquors and elixirs, I thought it was the perfect refreshment on a mid-December night, when you can barely keep your eyes open. And the fresh rosemary was like having aromatherapy.

Probably because the sugared rosemary resembled snow on evergreen branches, I assumed that Schooley thought up the Spiced Tea as a winter cocktail.

I assumed wrong, as Schooley explained in an email.

"I developed this cocktail in the late summer," she said, "and honestly it came to me easily. I was looking to make an enjoyable cocktail with an exciting garnish. I have been familiar with the Art in the Age rhubarb and was looking to pair it with some new elements. We had just received the Damoiseau rum, and I was a huge fan, so I decided to combine the two."

Schooley said she added the ginger shrub to keep the drink from being just another sugary summer cocktail. "I was a fan of its ability to balance cocktails while also leaving a signature ginger bite at the end. I had to include it."

Schooley said she was inspired to set the rosemary aflame by a cooking documentary that showed a chef sending out flaming leaves on his dishes.

"It's to give the patron a total sensory experience," Schooley said.

How To Make the Spiced Tea

1 1/2 oz. Art in the Age rhubarb tea

1 oz. Damoiseau virgin cane rum

1/2 oz Shrub & Co. spicy ginger shrub

Lemon for juice and peel

Rosemary sprig

1/4 cup pure cane sugar

First, prepare lemon peel and pour a 1/4 cup of cane sugar on small square plate.

Then pour the rhubarb tea, rum and ginger shrub into a double rocks glass. Splash with fresh lemon juice, fill glass with ice and pour back into the rocks glass. Roll the lemon peel over the cocktail to release its essence, slide it along the rim of the glass and drop it in.

Quickly dip the rosemary sprig into the cocktail to wet it and then roll it on the plate of sugar. Next, using a kitchen blowtorch, heat the rosemary sprig for about 10 seconds or until you see the sugar bubble and harden. Lay the candied rosemary sprig upside along the rim of the glass and serve.

Where to Get the Spiced Tea

The Other Corner Charcuterie Bar

850 W. 36th St. Hampden

443-869-5075

cornercharcuteriebar.com

$10