Tea Production Struggles, New Rooibos And Bigger Sizes

It seems like our tea supplies are under attack all over the world. The tea estates in Shizuoka Japan are readying them selves for their spring harvest and they are having to battle with power outages and food shortages. Luckily the radioactivity is far enough away to not have to worry about but it certainly will have an impact as most of the Japanese production relies on electricity to run the machines used to pick, form and steam the tea. While this is going on in Japan all tea exports from Darjeeling, India has been stopped due to a labor dispute. The first flush harvest is underway but its production progress will certainly be impacted as well as its chance to be exported. Luckily none of this will impact our tea supplies for at least a year on most of our teas but there are some teas that we move in such high quantity like matcha that might possibly start having shortages. I hope we don’t have to worry about those issues I am much more worried about the plight the Japanese people are having to endure.

New Tea - Georgia Peach Rooibos
This week we have a brand new item for you, Georgia Peach Rooibos. One of our customers suggested we give this rooibos a try and I must say it was an immediate hit in our office. Rooibos is naturally slightly sweet with a smooth mouth feel with pairs so well with the juicy sweet flavor of peaches. This herbal is naturally caffeine free and are equally tasty served hot or iced. This week it is discounted by 20%. Comment on this post including your email address so we can contact you and we will enter you in a giveaway for a 4 ounce bag of Georgia Peach Rooibos.

New Larger Sizes Available
This week we completed added the bulk size of all our teas. For most teas this size is 4.4 pounds and the best price per pound we can offer. If you drink a considerable amount of one tea this may be a good option for you to save some money.

Giveaway Ends: 2011-04-05
Number of Prizes Available: 1
Max Entries Per Week: 1

OFFICIAL RULES: Your email will not be shown and will be kept private. Giveaways open to readers 18 years or older with U.S. or Canada shipping addresses only, unless otherwise stated. For my international friends, you may enter and if you win, I am happy to send the prize to person of your choice with U.S. or Canada shipping address.

Matcha Something Old Is New Again

I am sure by now you have heard all the news about how good for you green tea and how it can do everything from keep your heart healthy to helping to prevent or fight cancers. I know a lot of people who really want to increase how much green tea they consume each day to the suggested 10 cups of tea per day. With today's busy life styles it can make it very hard to have time to drink those 10 cups of tea. I suggest using Matcha as an easy way to sneak more green tea into your diet. Matcha is finely ground green tea that lets you consume the entire tea leaf therefore helping you to digest more of the polyphenols(antioxidants) and other beneficial parts of the tea. Matcha is so conveinent that you can add a quarter teaspoon to your regular cup of tea to double the amount of green tea your consuming per cup. It is also versatile and can be added to everything from your morning yogurt or smoothie to the brownies you made for dessert. A quarter teaspoon of matcha is the equivalent of a normal cup of green tea. Matcha is not any higher in caffeine than normal green tea but you may find that you have much more energy when consuming it and this is from the poly-phenols and other anti-oxidants that you would normally not get in such high quantities from simply drinking green tea.

The people who grow and process tea have been looking for ways to change and improve their teas and it has brought us some new and unique teas. The newest tea that I have been introduced to is Kenyan White Rhino Matcha. What is a white Matcha? White Matcha is basically white tea leaves that are ground to the fine matcha consistency. White teas have been shown to have more anti-oxidants than green teas mostly due to the fact that the leaves are simply dand do not go through the heating process or either steaming or frying. This specific new matcha also has more anti-oxidants because it is grown at much higher elevations than those grown in Japan. White Rhino Matcha has been shown to have almost double the amount of polyphenols than that found in normal types of matcha. Beyond the health benefits the White Rhino has a milder slightly toasted flavor that pairs well with almost any applications.

With so many healthy benefits I hope you will try Matcha to add a healthy punch to everything you eat or drink. Whether your blending it with salt to season your food or adding it to your smoothie in the morning you can be sure this tea brighten your day!

Save 15% This Week
Use coupon code MR13F11
Expires: 3/28/2011

Featured Tea This weeks tea is our White Rhino Matcha has twice the amount of polyphenols(antioxidants) than any other matcha teas. White Rhino has a smooth, mild and slightly toasted flavor. Comment on this post including your email address so we can contact you and we will enter you in a giveaway for a 4 ounce bag of White Rhino Matcha.

Giveaway Ends: 2011-03-28
Number of Prizes Available: 1
Max Entries Per Week: 1

OFFICIAL RULES: Your email will not be shown and will be kept private. Giveaways open to readers 18 years or older with U.S. or Canada shipping addresses only, unless otherwise stated. For my international friends, you may enter and if you win, I am happy to send the prize to person of your choice with U.S. or Canada shipping address.

Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes with Matcha Buttercream Frosting

Beautiful green cupcakes that are so perfect for Spring parties or St Patrick's Day.

Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes

24 cupcake papers
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tbsp Matcha tea
4 recipes Matcha Buttercream Frosting

For Cupcakes:

Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs plus egg yolks one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to batter and mix to combine. Mix matcha in with the milk. Add to the batter and mix until combine. Scoop batter into prepared into cupcake papers. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

For Sheetcake:

Prepare sheet pan by rubbing with butter, covering with parchment, rubbing with more butter, and dusting with flour. Continue with cupcake recipe. Pour into prepared 1/2 sheet pan and smooth flat. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Matcha Buttercream Frosting

A brilliant green frosting with something healthy to hide.

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp Matcha
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Mix matcha in with the cream to make a paste. Beat butter briefly, scrap bowl. Add the sifted powdered sugar and matcha paste. Beat until smooth.

Matcha Green Tea Giveaway & Coupon

Congrats Padraic! You win the Matcha!


This week don't miss out on our 15% off coupon good for your entire order. Coupon Code "MR13F11" Expires 3/29.11


The tea leaves for Matcha are shaded from the sun for about one month before being picked, resulting in a brighter green color and stronger taste. The processed leaves are ground into a fine powder. Japanese Matcha has a desirable sweetness not found in any other tea. 

Comment on this post and we will enter you in a giveaway for a 4 ounce bag of Matcha Green  tea. 

Giveaway Ends: 2011-03-22

Number of Prizes Available: 1

Max Entries Per Week: 1

OFFICIAL RULES: Your email will not be shown and will be kept private. Giveaways open to readers 18 years or older with U.S. or Canada shipping addresses only, unless otherwise stated. For my international friends, you may enter and if you win, I am happy to send the prize to person of your choice with U.S. or Canada shipping address.

Green Tea Smoothie

Matcha is a great way to get large quantities of green tea into your healthy diet. You can blend it into almost anything for flavor and health benefits.

Green Tea Smoothie

Serves 2

1 cup Yogurt
4 Tbsp Honey
1 cup ice cubes
2 Tsp Matcha or White Matcha

Blend ingredients together in a blender. Pour into a tall glass. Experiment with adding berries, bananas and fruit juice.


Enjoy Life!
Candie

Irish Breakfast Green Tea Giveaway

J You were our winner but you forgot to include your email address if you could please comment again including your email we will get this tea to you ASAP.


The timing for next weeks St Patrick’s Day couldn’t be better. All our snow has finally melted off and the weather is suppose to warm a bit so hopefully we will get a bit of green starting to show in the trees and grass. Our tea selection for you is one that I love dearly and I suggest to people constantly, Irish Breakfast Green. Irish Breakfast Green is made up of 3 wonderful teas a Kenyan green, Hoji-cha from Japan and a gunpowder from China. These teas as stand alone teas may not win you over but together they make an addictively good brew. The Kenyan tea brings rich body and the gunpowder provides a slight bite with smokiness and the Hoji-cha brings a roasted toasty nutty flavor that just ties it all together. I have always been a big fan of Hoji-cha which is a roasted green tea that has a smooth toasty flavor. Hopefully as your making your St Patrick’s day plans you will give this incredible tea a chance!

Comment on this post and we will enter you in a giveaway for a 4 ounce bag of Irish Breakfast Green  tea. 

Giveaway Ends: 2011-03-22

Number of Prizes Available: 1
Max Entries Per Week: 1

OFFICIAL RULES: Your email will not be shown and will be kept private. Giveaways open to readers 18 years or older with U.S. or Canada shipping addresses only, unless otherwise stated. For my international friends, you may enter and if you win, I am happy to send the prize to person of your choice with U.S. or Canada shipping address. 

St Patrick's Day Sales - Irish Breakfast Tea

This week we are featuring teas for St. Patrick's Day! We feel tea is a very important part of this day and should be drank far more than all that nasty green beer. Enjoy our Irish Breakfast,Irish Breakfast Green, Irish Breakfast Cream and Irish Cream tea. Not to mention our wonderful Matcha Green Tea which is great for coloring some of your food green while injecting all the green tea goodness. 
This week 10% off!


Comment on this post and we will enter you in a giveaway for a 4 ounce bag of Irish Breakfast tea. 

Giveaway Ends: 2011-03-08
Number of Prizes Available: 1
Max Entries Per Week: 1

OFFICIAL RULES: Your email will not be shown and will be kept private. Giveaways open to readers 18 years or older with U.S. or Canada shipping addresses only, unless otherwise stated. For my international friends, you may enter and if you win, I am happy to send the prize to person of your choice with U.S. or Canada shipping address.