John:
Nettle ,the Urtica dioica "edible" species, is classified as a detox agent, which is kind of pointless to make a tonic of since you are toxifying yourself with alcohol for the sake of detoxification ;,
"Refreshing" is actually a very good start for classification. What I would do is make a potent tonic of it alone and see what it tastes like.
Grind up the dried leaves into a fine mulch or powder ,I use a coffee grinder,, pour that into a jar and fill the jar up with alcohol ,65-75%, to the point where it"s a 1/4 higher than the greens ,if it were non ground leaves you should usually submerge them just to the rim of the leaves,.
Grinding helps speed up the maceration by adding contact surface area.
Either macerate cold for a week or warm macerate for 24 hours ,generally it takes around a full 6 months for plant material to be fully withdrawn, though the vast majority will happen in this first stage,.
Then pot distill. Run the pot VERY gently and taste the drip frequently. The moment you detect a slight burnt or "rough" smell or taste stop collecting the mains ,you can collect your tails for reuse later on,.
Let this sit for a week ,generally distilled maceration takes 1-5 weeks to fully mature into its actual flavor and aroma, and have a taste!
If it has a refreshing flavor and effect, I would probably match it up with the mints, like Melisa ,Lemon Balm,, passion flower or peppermint.
Here is a fun experiment for you ,something I want to start playing with,. Back in Roman and Greek days, when distilled spirits were not really main stream, they used to macerate in wine.
As for the "chaser" idea, I"d try fortifying mead or full bodied red wine with this distillate. I have a feeling the results should be, Medicinally, pretty interesting ;,
As for the Tej, There are a few varieties of it. Some are very mild and remind me a lot of a slightly spiced mead. Others are thicker, closer to somewhere between a chardonnay and a port.
Depends what you get your kicks from!
