Tea of the Week: Blackberry Green Tea

Congrats to karma_k who won last weeks Huckleberry Tea! I need you to get a hold of me so I can get your address. Karma_k found me on twitter and you can too, just twitter @culinaryteas. I want to thank Karen R. for her kind words about the blog. Kevin you can win the contest once a month. This weeks tea is Blackberry Green Tea.

Usually prickly, fruit-bearing bush of the genus Rubus, in the rose family, native chiefly to northern temperate regions. The blackberry is abundant in eastern North America and on the Pacific coast; in Europe it is common in thickets and hedges. Oregon is the leading blackberry producer in the world. Its usually biennial prickly, and erect, semierect, or trailing stems bear leaves with usually three or five oval, coarsely toothed, stalked leaflets; white, pink, or red flowers in terminal clusters; and black or red-purple aggregate fruits. Blackberries are a fairly good source of iron and vitamin C.

This tea has a Japanese Sencha base, most commercial green teas have a Chinese tea base. If you've never tried a Sencha tea this would be a great introduction. And lets not forget tea is a healthy alternative to some other summer time drinks. I'm still amazed how many people I talk to that don't know the right way to brew green tea. Do not boil your water! Heat your water to the point you see the tiny bubbles and you will have an excellent cuppa. For ice tea I use an ice tea maker I picked up from WalMart and it's perfect for making green tea, I get three quarts in about five minutes. And another method is refrigerator tea, put tea and leaves in pitcher leave in fridge overnight, strain leaves and it's ready to drink. Wow, I'm a little long-winded today.

Hubby is on vacation this week, so I'm home working today. Drinking a cuppa Queens Oolong at the computer with the dogs sleeping at my feet. Hubby and brother-in-law are putting a new roof on the part of the house the tree fell on a few weeks back. I get to take my smooshed car in to get fixed later today. Ethan is at his dads house until tomorrow, so I'm enjoying a couple of kid free days! Yippee!!! Everyone have a great week!

Tea of the Week: Huckleberry Tea Bags

Wow, I can't believe we don't have a winner for last weeks Jasmine with Flowers Tea! Looks like I need to try harder to tempt your taste buds. This week we are trying something different...tea bags! Our fruit teas are summer favorites, and Huckleberry Tea is a customer favorite and hard to find. Just leave a comment on this post to win 50 tea bags. If it goes well we will feature tea bags again soon.

First a bit of huckleberry history. When European settlers arrived in the New World, they found several plants that provided small, dark-colored sweet berries. The berries reminded them of the English bilberry and similar fruits and they gave them the dialect term, hurtleberry, whose origin is unknown (though some say it has something to do with hurt, from the bruised color of the berries; a related British dialect form is whortleberry). Very early on — at the latest 1670 — this was corrupted to huckleberry. The berries are small and round, usually less than 5 mm in diameter, and contain 10 relatively large seeds. Berries range in color according to species from bright red, through dark purple, and into the blues. In taste the berries range from tart to sweet, with a flavor similar to that of a blueberry especially in blue/purple colored varieties.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July this weekend! We will all be at the annual Yoder fish fry. Sat on the deck last evening watching the humming birds and knitting with a cuppa Segovia Muffin Rooibos, does not get any better than that. Have a great week!

Tea of the Week: Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea

I want to congratulate Tameka on winning 4 ounces of Raspberry Tea! To win 4 ounces of our wonderful Jasmine with Flowers Tea this week, leave a comment on this post. More about this tea. An extra added goodie this week, Candie has extended the 10% off coupon until 6/30/09. Use coupon code J16F09 for 10% off your order!

I don't usually care for floral teas, but any Jasmine green tea I love. Jasmine production is quite interesting. Spring fresh green tea is layered between early spring jasmine blossoms (these blossoms have the most aroma). Air that is slightly warmer than ambient temperature air is passed through the layers of blossoms and tea. The fragrance of the blossoms permeates the new fresh tea resulting in a concentrated heady bouquet of a garden in full bloom. Following this process, some of the jasmine flowers and petals are blended into the tea to enhance the flavor and visual appeal.

I hope everyone had a great Fathers Day weekend. We had a little excitement at my house on Friday and a weekend of cleaning up! About 5:30am Friday morning a storm came through and took down half of a maple tree in the yard. Nobody was hurt thank goodness! It did get the corner of the house, the garage roof and my car. Everyone thought the car was totaled, but it is just really dented up on top and has a cracked windshield. We spent the weekend raking leaves and sawing logs! Could have been worse, we were blessed no one was hurt. Everyone have a great week.

Coupon this Week

This week we have a coupon available to use that will save you 10% off your order. We don't post coupons that often so you should make sure you take advantage of it.

Coupon Code: J16F09
Expires: 6/22/09

Tea of the Week: Raspberry

I want to congratulate Kristin for winning 4 ounces of Mango Tea. I will be emailing you today to get your snail mail address. To win 4 ounces of Raspberry Tea leave a comment on this post! If you would like to learn more about this tea, click on the link.

When my son was young, we did not have a lot of money for extra activities. We spent a lot of time just walking down the country roads and exploring, one of the things we discovered was wild berries! Raspberries were my favorite. Sometimes there were not many left by the time we got home Shane ate so many. I love adding sparkling water to my tea, and I also came across a recipe for raspberry ice cubes that I think I will try. Sometimes we need to be reminded to try something different.

Recently there has been new research looking at raspberries as an antioxidant. Couple this with the known natural goodness of the antioxidants in tea and you have a healthy winner! This tea is particularly refreshing with ice – another reason to try raspberry tea. (Add a pinch of sugar as the sugar binds with the raspberry flavor molecules, intensifying the distinctive taste.) A favorite summer iced tea.

Everyone have a fantastic week!

Tea of the Week: Mango (naturally flavored black tea)

I want to congratulate Katrina for winning 4 ounces of Canadian Ice Wine Tea! I will be emailing you today to get your snail mail address. To win 4 ounces of Mango Tea leave a comment on this post! If you would like to learn more about this tea, click on the link.

Mangos originated in Southeast Asia and India, where references to the fruit are documented in Hindu writings dating back to 4000 B.C. Buddhist monks cultivated the fruit and in fact, the mango is considered to be a sacred fruit in the region because it is said that Buddha himself meditated under a mango tree. The mango belongs to the same family as the cashew and the pistachio nut.

Mango seeds traveled with humans from Asia to the Middle East, East Africa and South America beginning around 300 or 400 A.D. Mango trees need a tropical climate to thrive, and today a majority of the mangos sold in the U.S. are grown near the equator in countries like Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala and Haiti.

The fruitiness of the mango blends well with the black tea resulting in a cup that is refreshing iced or hot. Here is a great recipe to try! This has gone over great at some of our family gatherings.

Ingredients
1 1/2 quarts cold water
6 heaping teaspoons Mango Tea or 6 teabags
Sugar
1/4 cup mint leaves
Thinly sliced mango
Directions
Bring water to a boil, put tea leaves in an infuser or tea sac and steep until tea is dark, about 5 minutes. Remove tea. Add sugar to taste and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place in pitcher and add mint leaves. Pour over ice and garnish with mango slices.

Hope everyone had a great week! Our new babysitter is working out great, Kaitlyn is 12 and lives across the street...this is her first sitting job away from home. Ethan is thrilled she plays video games with him and is helping on his reading this summer. I don't know what the weather is like where you live but it's been a pretty cool summer here so far. There's been a black lab puppy mix running the neighborhood for a couple of days and Ethan found him yesterday, made for an interesting afternoon. He got along great with our dogs and you know what comes next....of course Ethan wants to keep him. We were very lucky though the neighbors son came and got him for their kids, they live in the country and the puppy will have a very good home. Have a great week!

Tea of the Week: Canadian Ice Wine

I want to congratulate Polly for winning 4 ounces of Strawberry Tingle Rooibos! I will be emailing you today to get your snail mail address. To win 4 ounces of Canadian Ice Wine Tea, leave a comment on this post!

This weeks tea is Canadian Ice Wine, I've been having a glass of wine after dinner lately and a cup of Ice Wine tea before bedtime. I encourage you to try this unique tea. Ice wine is produced when the grape is frozen solid on the vine and harvested at a maximum temperature of -10 deg Celsius. The frozen grapes that make up ice wine are then pressed and the resultant nectar exudes aromas of apricot and honey with a fine overall balance between fruit flavors, sweetness and acidity. Ice wine ends up a golden color, or deep rich amber and has a very sweet taste. The flavor is a combination of apricot, peach, mango, melon or other sweet fruits. The rules of true ice wine (governed by VQA) state that the grapes must be naturally frozen – no artificial freezing allowed. Ice Wine is typically made of Vidal (a cross between European and North American white grapes). Normally used to produce a table wine, Vidal yields well. It also has a relatively thick skin enabling the grape clusters to withstand the elements better. Ice wine is difficult to produce – not only do the grapes have to withstand the elements – but crows and other birds find Vidal grapes particularly tasty. After the ‘fight’ with the elements and birds, the grapes go through weeks of fermentation followed by a few months of barrel aging. More about this tea.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week! The kids get out of school on Thursday, then I think summer will officially begin for us. I started getting things ready for the yard sale this summer, time to make more room in the house....of course it's been 15 years since I did one, so there is quite a bit to do. My hubby is busy fishing for his annual Yoder fish fry on the 4th of July, so we're not seeing a lot of him these days. See you next week!

Tea of the Week: Strawberry Tingle Rooibos

First I want to announce last weeks winner of a 4 ounce bag of Orange Pekoe! Kevin (k3jane@excite.com), Kevin please email me at customerservice@culinaryteas.com with your snail mail address. I also want to thank Candie for filling in for me last week, I had an awful flu. I'm still sounding a little froggy but am great otherwise.

New Tea of the Week is Strawberry Tingle Rooibos. If you have kids that don't like regular tea this is a great one to try on them. Not only is it extremely fruity, it's naturally caffeine free. Makes an excellent iced tea also! For more information on the health benefits of this tea, click the 'More about this tea' link on the website or here.

If you would like to win a free 4 ounce bag of out Strawberry Tingle Rooibos Tea just leave a comment on this post.

Here is picture of the actual Rooibos bush.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We got the pool up, grandkids been in but I will be waiting until the water warms up! We spent most of the weekend just enjoying being out in the yard, the dogs were having fun barking at all the people walking down the road. And I actually got a little knitting in.

Tea of The Week - Lovers Leap Orange Pekoe

If there was ever a tea that was perfect for making good old fashioned Sweet Tea it would be our Orange Pekoe. This Orange Pekoe will not cloud when you ice it and it has brisk and crisp flavor that makes it perfect for a hot day.

Sweet Tea Recipe

6 teabags or 3 tablespoons of loose tea
1 cup of sugar
Ice

Brew tea in 1/2 gallon of boiling water. Let the tea infuse for 5 minutes than remove tea. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add enough ice to finish filling a one gallon pitcher and serve.

If you would like to win a free 4 ounce bag of our Lovers Leap Orange Pekoe Tea just leave a comment on this post.

Tea of the Week - Cream Earl Grey

Ok everyone time to enter (leave a comment with your email addy) for a 4 ounce bag of Cream Earl Grey this week! We want to thank Heidi for requesting it. I actually love all our earl grey blends and will be taking this one home this weekend. It will be a nice break from painting the house foundation! :)

Earl Grey is world reknown as a classic English tea – probably as famous as Tower Bridge or Big Ben, and if you are fan of Earl Grey and have not tried this, you are in for a treat. Cream Earl Grey has a taste that is smooth with vanilla overtones, which stand out above the premium bergamot flavor – the signature taste of Earl Grey. This is a tea that would complement a meal or any aristocratic occasion for that matter! One has to think that Charles Grey (1764-1845) would have approved of this delicacy. Contrary to popular belief, Earl Grey is not a kind of tea at all. It's actually plain black tea, infused with the citrus flavour of bergamot (similar to orange blossoms). This gives a bright, tart and refreshing tea that is unlike other black teas.

I hope everyone has a lovely Mothers Day weekend! I will be working on painting the foundation and putting in some flowers. I'm thinking petunias and pansies this year. Are you planting something special this year?

No winner this week :(

Our blog was down last week when the newsletter went out, so we had no entries this week. Heads up for this weeks tea, one of our best sellers Cream Earl Grey! The newsletter will go out tomorrow, then I will post here for the contest.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! The weather here could not have been better.

Tea of the Week - Blue Lady

Looks like the blog is up and running again, we will be having our drawing this week after all! To last weeks winner (Kelly) you need to call me, seems like my emails are not getting to you.

Since we're gearing up for Mothers Day, I thought Blue Lady would be an awesome Tea of the Week. Please leave your first name and email in the comments for Mondays drawing for the contest, a free 4 oz bag!

Of all the recorded ghost sightings in North America, more people report seeing a blue lady than any other apparition. Often appearing only for brief moments these spirits materialize, show their hauntingly beautiful forms, then disappear. We’ve named this blended tea in honor of this representative of the spirit world because of its hauntingly sweet flavor. Passion fruit, grapefruit, orange, and grenadine all mix together to create a citrus flavor that is almost as delicate as the ghostly shadows of the spirits. The sweetness of the citrus mélange blends perfectly with the astringency of our high grown Ceylon tea. Brew yourself a pot, pour it hot, or over a glass full of ice and prepare to be mesmerized.

I think this is the perfect blend for this wonderful spring weather we've been having! Pair this with our new Raffles Collection porcelain (20% off this week) for your special Mothers Day tea.

Do you have a special Mothers Day tradition? I will be out planting flowers and sprucing up the deck for summer. I've been looking at a solar fountain for the deck (hint, hint hubby).

Our first winner is Kelly!

Our first winner is Kelly! Kelly I will be emailing you for your snail mail address today. I want to thank bell-dragon, Beth, Lisa, Melissa, Polly and Kelly for entering. The kids had a day off school today, so Miss Morgan got the honors of picking the first winner.

It was such a beautiful weekend here, we got lots of yard work done! It was so nice relaxing on the deck with a glass of tea when it was all done.

Let's do a little teaser for tomorrows newsletter. Mothers Day is fast approaching and I found a set of Porcelain called Raffles to feature this week. Wanted to give you guys a sneak peak, it won't be online until sometime tomorrow. We will start another tea drawing tomorrow, Tea of the Week will be Blue Lady.

New Contest - Free Tea

Good morning fellow tea lovers! This week we will kick off a new weekly contest. I will be giving away a four ounce package of our Tea of the Week....every week! You need to comment here with your first name and email address. Drawings will be held on Mondays and I will contact winners via email.

The weekly newsletter comes out on Tuesdays. I will also post a write up on the new Tea of the Week here on Tuesdays. I love talking about tea, if you have any questions please contact me (Denise) at 866-799-4005. I'm in the office from 9:am to 2:30 pm EST.

This week we will be featuring Bourbon Street Vanilla Rooibos. Rooibos has been getting an amazing amount of press recently. As people begin searching for healthy alternatives to soft drinks; rooibos with its polyphenols, iron, zinc, fluoride, calcium and magnesium fits the bill. Enjoyed in South Africa for centuries, rooibos was first made available to Westerners by a Russian named Benjamin Ginsberg. He recognized that its benefical properties and wonderful taste made it an excellent caffeine free alternative to traditional caffeinated teas.

Our all natural flavored Rooibos is excellent on its own, but why not try making Red Lattes or Red Cappuccinos? These cutting edge options are the hippest new things in South Africa's coffee shops and cafes. For the kids try half Rooibos and half fruit juice, my grandson loves it. If you google Rooibos recipes you can find a lot of great ideas for this wonderful leaf!

Denise

Green Tea - The Springtime Cure All

Spring is officially here but it can't make up its mind if it wants to be spring or not. In the same week we had 60 degree temperatures and then had 3 inches of snow. Right now outside it is sunny and beautiful but it is only 49 chilly degrees. I have this urge to go out and enjoy the sun but the temperature and frigid breeze forces me back inside pretty quickly. I have brought a bit of the outside in by starting a bunch of my seeds for my garden. Watching those little sprout grow are just making crave some fresh spring greens. I think I will start some lettuce next. I am also thinking about the upcoming shorts weather. Time to trim off a few pounds. That goodness that is easy as brewing up my favorite green tea and replacing my soda and water with nothing but green tea. Sounds simple but it never fails to help me trim away the pounds. And the energy I get from it helps give me the nudge to spend some time with the Wii Fit. So far I have been able to trim off 2lbs a week with very little effort. Both green teas and oolongs give the same energy and metabolism boost. I am sure many of you heard of the Wu-long craze and there was some truth to it but they tried to fool you into thinking you had to buy their tea. The truth was any green or oolong tea would have done the trick but they can't make money off you if you can just run to the grocery store and buy it so they renamed it Wu-long. If you are looking even more results you can blend in some Matcha green tea powder and hope you can sleep that night.

Off to make more tea....

Back in Stock 1-16-09

We are finally getting things back in stock after the Holiday rush.

• 618B Indian Spiced Chai
• 618B Cinnamon
• TB500 Passion Fruit
• TB500 Cranberry Orange
• TB500 Cream Earl Grey
• TB500 Vanilla
• TB500 Green Tea
• TB500 Buckingham Palace
• TB500 Monks Blend

• Stevia Sweetener

I will say our tea bag sales have been great this year.

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season and is staying warm through this artic blast.

Tea to Soothe All Woes

I absolutely hate it when my kids go back to school because they bring home every sickness known to man and of course I catch it all. Today I have a scratchy throat and that weird warm feeling like your under a non-existent sun lamp. Time to pull out my favorite "feeling under-the-weather tea" Hojicha. I don't care if it is the flu or a hang-over this tea soothes my stomach and head better than all others. The best part maybe that I cannot make a mistake while brewing this tea and make it taste bad. You can brew it at any temp for any time period and still still tastes wonderful. What is Hojicha? It is Japanese tea made by roasting green tea. The flavor is very toasty and mellow. If you like green teas but would be willing to try something new I suggest giving this one a try.

Calm During the Storm

When things get really hectic a hot cup of tea is such a soothing balm for my nerves. The rocky economy effects us all in one way or another. Sitting there mulling over your budget is much less nerve racking when you have that cup of tea to sip and hold. At least it is for me. Sure it doesn't magically make everything better but for me it helps me keep a level head get through the ordeal. When I hear about deaths or sickness in my family the first thing I do is send tea and a card because I think the tea provides comfort. If someone you know is having a hard time right now, invite them over for a cup of tea and conversation. You will be amazed how much that person will appreciate it.

Morning Tea Rituals and Hello Again

I must not be the only person already longing for my morning tea ritual. Sure I could drink hot tea every morning year round but a cool dewy morning makes it so much more enjoyable. Our chat about my favorite hot teas last week, reminded a lot of you to check your stocks. It is funny how my tastes change so dramatically with the weather. In the summer I love fruity flavored teas, fall I like strong full bodied teas and smoky teas, in the winter I tend toward the spicy flavored black teas and in the spring I enjoy greens. You can imagine how cluttered my tea counter is at my house. I miss the days when we shipped the teas out of my garage because I never kept any tea in the house I just ran out and got what I wanted so I had access to all 400+ tea at all times. Now I have to limit myself a bit so my kitchen isn't one big tea storage cabinet. Picking the teas I will drink for he season can be a bit agonizing but then I come into the office and I can still drink any tea I want at any time. What am I drinking right now? I have a big cup of Jasmine Dragon Tears sitting beside me. I love this tea because some how it is calming yet energizing at the same time.

Chocolate Mint Tea

Tea of the week is Chocolate Mint, like dessert in a cup. Right after surgery there were lots of things I could not eat or drink. This tea made it possible for me to get my guilt free chocolate fix.

More clearance sale items are filtering in, some are not tea related and are from the tea room. Gone through about half the boxes, so there is still more to come.

Speaking of going through boxes, the girls found some Red Hat stuff and mugged for the camera before they took it home for the wee ones.

Amy is down in Florida this week and next to help her mother-in-law through knee replacement surgery. Jen is enjoying the extra hours on her paycheck.

School starts next Tuesday, which is a welcome change since we all have kids that age.

Picture of New Storefront

I actually have a window to look out of now. This was such a good move for us. We appreciate the patience of our great customers during the move.

Indian Mocha Chai and Clearance Sales

Clearance Sales

Wow, we're still unpacking boxes from moving. I found a lot of sachets and chests that were discontinued are and now in the Clearance section. I also have about 8 large boxes of clearance items to be unpacked yet, that will keep the deals coming.

Tea of the Week -Indian Mocha Chai

Country of Origin: Sri Lanka
Region: Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, and Uva
Shipping Port: Colombo
Grade: OP - Orange Pekoe
Altitude: 5600 - 6400 feet above sea level
Cup Characteristics: Good body with strong Indian spice notes.

Infusion: Coppery bright - especially enticing with milk

Ingredients: Premium Black Tea, Cardamom, Cloves, Coriander, Cumin Seed, Sweet cumin seeds, Curry leaves, Lemon Grass, Rampe leaves, Natural flavors - Cherry and Chocolate

Chai is so prevalent in India and Sri Lanka that it could be called the ‘National drink’. It is very common to see the ‘tea wadis’ serving their chai to the walk-by street traffic.

Chai is brewed with milk and a mixture of spices. Each recipe can be different depending upon the spices used. Indian spiced chai is often referred to as Masala Chai. The word ‘chai’ literally means tea (different languages use various forms of this word - for example Portuguese call it ‘cha’, Hindus call it chai, and in Chinese the sound of the symbol for tea sounds very much like cha.) and ‘masala’ is the word for the mixture of the various spices - hence Masala Chai.

I love iced Chai in the morning, here's a great recipe.

Iced Indian Mocha Chai

6 cups of water
8 teaspoons of Indian Mocha Chai
1 cup milk
4 tbsp sugar
Ice, crushed

Boil the water and steep tea for 5 minutes. Strain tea and let cool. Put ice into 4 glasses and add tea. Leave about a quarter of the glass empty. To each glass add, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 cup of milk.

Anyone else have good Chai recipes? I'm always looking to try new things!

A few things that are back in stock

Here are a few things that are back in stock.

• Amaretto softwood chests
• Artic Raspberry softwood chests
• Family size Henley Stainless Steel Teapots
• Large Green Tea Bricks
• Small Black Tea Bricks
• Caramel enveloped teabags
• Sunflower Mesh Ball Infusers

Well I'm going home, hopefully my grandson has been good for the sitter. Have a great night.

Moving in

What a weekend, I'm definitely too old for this. So lucky we had young strong people to help! We've got all the shelves set up in the new building, Amy and I have been unpacking boxes as fast as we can! By the way, Amy is taking some time off she's getting married Saturday. We hope you and Shaun have a great life!

I put in an order with our supplier today. I should be able to do the back orders Friday. So if your waiting, it's coming. I want to thank all our customers for being patient while we are relocating.

I'm jones-ing for tea, I need to find the kettles!

Good morning! After a couple of sleepless nights I finally got a good nights sleep. I sure can't take the lack of sleep like I used to, everyone thought I was cranky. Glad to be back to semi-normal. I'm sipping on a cuppa Brandied Apple this morning. I've been on a chocolate kick all week. Since I can no longer have the real thing it is a great substitute.

Things are finally started to come back in stock. The 25 teabag softwood chests should all be back in stock, if I missed any please let me know. All of the enveloped teabags are back except for the Caramel. Some of the ceramics are back (teapots, ect...) the rest should be back in stock by June 6th.

I did add a new tea this week, Bora Bora Mango Rooibos. If you're a rooibos fan, this one is a must try. I had it iced and loved it.

We started packing for our move this week. The girls made a lot of progress, but there are a lot of things that can't be packed until the last minute. Everything in the tea room is 50% off right now, so if you're close to Syracuse, Indiana please stop and see us.

Have a great weekend,
Denise

Busy day today. Stuff is flying off the clearance racks and I have more to put on next week. We have been very busy going through inventory and pulling stuff up to the tea room that we don't want to move. And any overstock I find will go on clearance. If you are anywhere near Syracuse in the next few weeks you should come check out the sales.

Miss Hailey came to work with mom this morning, so it's been 3 year old cuteness all morning. I need to go pick up the dog from the groomer, go to Goshen and get some more protein and pick up the kid from school yet today.

I'm also working on being available on the computer in the evenings. You can IM me at rooibos_lady on Yahoo Messenger right now. I'm working on a FaceBook and Twitter account. Love Twitter!

Have a great day!

Moving and discounts

Good morning,

Well it sure has cooled off here, so I have my hands wrapped around a cup of Cream Earl Grey White tea. Two big things going on here in the next couple of months. We will be moving to a new building June 20th...Yah! So I've been busy going through inventory seeing what we don't want to move and planning to update some things.

My supplier came out with a new catalog, so some things are going and new stuff will be coming in all summer. Keep an eye on the clearance section, you'll never know what will be there.

This weeks tea is Menage A Tea (formally Abundant Berry) and is 20% off. Since we had 70's and 80's here last week, we've kicked off the iced tea sale early. All Flavored Black teas in the 8 oz and 16 oz bags are now 10% off.

Personally, I've lost 50 pounds so far. So much more energy! I want to thank everyone for their support.

Have a great day,
Denise

No excuses

Wow! Long time ... no blog. So much to catch up on.

First let's get down to business. Some of you may have noticed all the out of stock items. The teas are mostly international shipping problems. The ceramics are only ordered once a year by my supplier (something I just learned too). All I have is tentative dates when these will be back in stock. Teas 3-15 and ceramics 4-15. As they come back in stock I will post them here.

We are very close to getting some of the decafs back in stock. Long story short, they were not up to our standards and new suppliers had to be found.

On a personal note, I had Bariatric (gastric bypass) surgery on the 20th of this month. I'm doing fine and back to work on a limited basis right now. I'm looking forward to getting back to my old thin, healthy self this year. Last year was full of a lot of soul searching and therapy to figure out why I let myself get so big. It will definitely be a year of changes for me and Culinary Teas. Stay tuned.....

Long Live Queen Mary Tea

When Twinings discontinued Queen Mary they left so many of you dis-heartened that they had just lost their favorite tea. Recently we have had so many people trying to find a replacement for dwindling stock. Luckily for us we carry our own Queen Mary blend and it is very close to the original from Twinnings. So far all the Queen Mary lovers have proclaimed it an almost seamless replacement for their old tea. I hope that all of you who have lost your old love will give us a try.

~Candie

Back To School

My children started school today. I have this image of Autumn in my mind when I think about going back to school but we still have a little more than a month until Autumn officially arrives. My tea choices change as dramatically as the weather when Autumn arrives. During the summer my favorites are the flavored greens because they make such refreshing iced teas but when Autumn arrives I crave a stronger brew to help me wake up on those dreary Autumn mornings. I must admit that Autumn is my favorite season of the year so I always look forward to it no matter how wet and dreary it gets. I am already planning which teas I need to restock so that I am ready for that first chilly morning. The tea I can't live without at this time of the year is our Scottish Breakfast Tea, a blend of many different blacks that's resulting brew is rich, malty and smooth. Lapsang Souchong or Russian Caravan are two teas that have a rich smoky aroma that can sometimes be a bit over powering but the flavor is much more smooth and refined. I left the best for last, Chai, a tea that warms you with its blend of aromatic spices. The chai I will be reaching for is our White Chocolate Spiced Chai. Oh my! All this talk about these teas has made me crave then even more. I guess I will just have to break down and get me a cup right now.

~Candie

Big Mark Down in Clearance!

I spent most of the day yesterday marking down prices in the clearance section. All loose teas are 30% off, everything else is 40% or more off. We have some really good deals on some higher end stuff, it would be a great time to do some early Christmas shopping. I know I did! Everyone have a great weekend.

Clearance, clearance, clearance!

Boy have we really cleaned house around here! I wish my house was this uncluttered. Keep your eye on the Clearance section, I will keep marking things down until they're gone! We did get a new tea in this week Strawberry Tingle Rooibos...yummy. You all have a great weekend!

Scones, tea and accessories

It's a nice hot summer day here. These are the kind of days I love to come home and work, thank goodness the internet makes that possible! Hubby and grandson are out in the pool, great music is playing and I'm here working and sipping tea.

Just wanted to let everyone know scones are back in stock. I'm still putting stuff in clearance and some of our soon to be discontinued teas are 20% off. The Matcha Frappe Mixes are flying out the door, but we have plenty. Melissa and I have been looking at some real pretty tea cup and saucers to add but we haven't decided yet...there are so many. If anyone has any ideas on what you would like let me know.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ran an article on us last week. It's always awesome to see your business in print.

Well time to take a break by the pool then I will be back putting stuff in clearance!

Cleaning House

We recently realized that we have let our product lines grow to much and we need to trim them down. That means there will be a lot of products put into our Clearance section. Over the next couple weeks watch our clearance section for deals on items as we discontinue them.

~Candie

Recovering from the Weekend with Pear Sencha

Have you noticed that Summer Weekends are not very relaxing? I sure have. Between the extra dirt the kids drag in the house, yard work and gardening I am exhausted by the end of the weekend. This weekend was no exception. I am recoving here at the tea shop sipping a big glass of Pear Sencha. This tea sometimes comes off as banana instead of pear on my taste buds. Strange I know but it is good no matter what fruit I think it tastes like today.

Candie

It's so Good to be Green - Recipe Contest

Matcha is an incredibly versatile green tea that has an unlimited number of uses. Matcha continues to be our best selling product and is being used in a multitude of ways. We want to know what you are doing with it all. Are you making healthy smoothies, decadent desserts or other creative dishes? You are invited to enter your favorite Matcha recipe in our “It’s so good to be Green” recipe contest.
Contest rules and entry procedures are available here.

Swamp Water

What is Swamp Water? It doesn’t sound like something you would want to drink does it. In fact it is a delicious creation of our ladies here at Culinary Teas. We have been trying to find new ways to get more green tea in our diets and this was a great creation. Just add a half teaspoon of matcha green tea powder to your next cup of green tea while you are brewing it and voila – Swamp Water. Sure it has a deep green haze and looks like something you got out of the pond out back but it will keep you awake and moving like nothing else that I have found (that isn’t full of caffeine and sugar). On days that I am fighting to stay awake this is my saving grace. The anti-oxidant packed matcha is great for boosting your metabolism and helps keep you moving. I only have one warning – don’t drink swamp later beyond early afternoon otherwise you could find it hard to sleep that night.

Today I am drinking our Blackberry Green Tea with a dollop of matcha added for that much needed Monday boost.

Candie

Spring and Matcha Recipes

Spring keeps teasing me with one day of warm weather and then two or three of cold. When I order my plants I always have them shipped at the end of May. This always seems extremely late at the time of the order but it never fails that the weather does not stabilize until then. Temperature swings are notorious her in Indiana. About a month a go we had a 60 degree temperature swing in a 24 hour period. I am pushing forward with spring even if the weather is unsure. Soon we will be introducing a new line of Green Tea Frappe mix that will have you enjoying them iced, in minutes. The girls here have been experimenting with matcha and creating all kinds of wonderful beverages and desserts. We have decided to run a Matcha Recipe Contest. Next week you will be able to submit your original recipes for matcha. There will be two categories beverage and other. The Winner in each category will receive a gift certificate and all submissions will receive a coupon code for discount on future orders. Next week we will outline the details and allow entries to begin.

Candie

Tea update

Just a little inventory update here. The Mulled Spice and Mulberry teas are finally back in stock! Also the bulk teabags of Passion Fruit and Earl Grey are back. Spring has finally kicked in here, my trees are finally throwing some shade. I'm looking forward to sitting outside and knitting tomorrow. Working on my second pair of socks. Everyone have a great weekend!

Spring and Iced Tea

Spring stuttered there for a week or two but it has finally established itself here in the Midwest. As the weather warms our taste buds change and it seems that we prefer fruitier teas that are more suited to being iced. Did you know that 80% of all tea consumed in the USA is consumed as iced tea? Those of use who insist on a hot cup of tea are a few but growing number and even rarer are those who insist on a daily cup all year round. I personally pull out the Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker as soon as the weather warms. I love that it brews loose tea with the help of a coffee filter and makes pitcher after pitcher of perfectly brewed iced tea.

I am currently enjoying our Bohemian Raspberry Green tea iced. I have been going thru pitchers of it a day.

Spring Break & Tea Cosy Update

I just got an email from my tea cozy supplier, seems this last batch of fabrics went quick. All of the cozies except the Burgundy Brocade, Burgundy Rosebuds and Evening Lilac now have counts on them. This is probably the last you'll see of these fabrics. I will call her the end of this week to see what we have coming and give you all an update.

It's spring vacation week here and people are coming and going. I took a long weekend and went up to Lake Michigan with my family. Candie is currently away at a water park hotel with hers. Melissa is taking her daughter (age 17) and some of her friends to Chicago shopping thursday...brave woman! Jen will be taking Friday off and hopefully going up to her parents cabin in Michigan for the weekend. Weather permitting her mom says five inches of snow and black ice are what they're calling for up there. Hope everyone else has a nice spring break.

Spring with Red Tea

Spring has sprung! Spring and fall are my two favorite times of the year. Something about the change makes everything more interesting. I love wandering my yard looking for signs of new life. Spring and fall are also when I go thru and refill and refresh my stock of tea at home. My tastes tend to tilt to the fruitier side this time of the year as we move into the iced tea season. With spring comes the resurgence of my spring allergies but luckily I have a new weapon in my arsenal, Red Tea. Lately you see red tea every where including bottled in your local grocery. Many of you know that red tea also goes by the African name of Rooibos. Rooibos has many wonderful health benefits and is naturally caffeine free. I must say that bottled anything just doesn’t appeal to me so I will be sticking to my freshly brewed rooibos. Our selection of Rooibos has grown to 24 flavors including both red and green versions of this wonderful herbal. The red may not appeal to everyone but the green is very similar in flavor to green tea. I will be making a refreshing pitcher of iced Summer Punch Green Rooibos tonight and trying Tuscany Pear Rooibos tomorrow.

Mid-week update

I'm drinking Apple Spice tea this morning! Feeling kind of off kilter today, went and got new glasses yesterday. My one eye has gotten a lot worse and she warned me I might be feeling nauseous for awhile.

OK some updates on inventory. I still don't have a date for the Mulled Spice tea. Two new things this week We now have Orange Spice tea and the Orange tea in the bulk teabags. These are a much more economical option for our tea bagging people.

Hope all is well in the world and look to see what's in your cup!

Denise

Update on inventory

We've had a hard time getting a few things in from our main supplier, well today I found out why. Seems their ships are now being re-routed to their third port. They have went from Vancouver to Seattle and now to somewhere in California. They say it's definitely weather related. Things affected so far are Irish Breakfast teabags, mulled spice loose tea and the perfect cup spoons.

The deep freeze is letting up some here it will actually be around 17 degrees today! My son's car would not start all week, so we had it towed here and put it inside the warehouse last night. Guess what....it started this morning! Cold blooded I guess.

Today I'm enjoying some Formosa Oolong, I love wrapping my hands around a warm cup of tea while I'm working.

Back in Stock!

Long time no post!

We really had a time of it on the Holidays, running out of teas that is. Almost everything is back in stock or will be by the end of the week. The only tea I'm still out of is Apple Spice with no ETA as of yet.

I'm already on the prowl for new products for this year. I found an excellent source for floral and chintz teapot sets. I would love to hear feedback on interest in this or anything else you would like to see us add to our store!

Actually it was a very good Christmas season for us and I want thank our customers!

Enjoy a cuppa,
Denise

Wishing for a White Christmas

I miss the snow. It makes the holidays so much cheerful. The ground was covered for about a day and it was so beautiful. Now it is all gone and it looks so dreary outside. So don’t mind me while I sit here and wish for a nice big pile of snow before Christmas.

I have been enjoying our new holiday teas. I am currently sipping a giant mug of Cherry Cordial Tea. I need to take a bag of Candy Cane Tea home because my children are all coming down with colds and I think they would enjoy this tea. The mix of peppermint and cherry blend makes this tea a yummy holiday treat.

There is a coupon available for the store so go and check it out.

Happy Holidays!
Candie

Monday Mistakes

I must have been in a Monday morning fog yesterday. Instead of featuring our brand new Cream Earl Grey White Tea I featured our old tried and true black Cream Earl Grey. Because I have teased all of you with it, I will leave the black Cream Earl Grey on sale this week along side the new Cream Earl Grey White Tea. This fabulous new white tea has a very light cream earl grey flavor to it that does not overpower the subtle white tea flavor.

Monday mornings can be a haze of calls and flurry notes. Yesterday was no exception so I am surprised it was my only mistake. I am going to go get another cup of hot tea and see if I can get caught up with my pile of work.

Candie

No Tea for Me but Specials for You

I am not allowed to drink tea for the next couple of days. I turned up with a bladder infection and of course the doctors want me to avoid caffeine. Worse yet he suggested I drink some cranberry juice. I hate cranberry juice – Ewww. I think I am going to take home some Rooibos so I can drink something hot and soothing without the irritating caffeine.  I wish I would have thought about Rooibos when the bladder was in high gear because it might have been able to help calm it down. Rooibos has anti-inflammatory properties that sure would have been welcome at about 3 am.

If you noticed that you didn’t receive your weekly specials letter this week it is because I was to tired and sick to get it done. Today I am feeling much better so I am changing the specials but I won’t put out a newsletter until next week. This week we have Peach Apricot White Tea and all our Ceramic Teapots on sale for 20% off.

Seasonal Tea Drinking

It amazes me every year that as soon as the temperatures cool even the littlest bit people suddenly start buying more tea. I know that tea drinkers don’t just stop drinking tea but usually switch to iced during the warmer months and we do see an increase in sales for the teas that makes great iced teas but not enough to make up for the lack of sales on the normal winter teas. Do we just not drink as much tea in the summer? Or do we fall back on our grocery store teas? I for one, drink as much if not more tea as iced tea in the summer than I do hot tea in the winter. I haven’t found a tea available on the store shelf that makes even a half decent cup so it makes me wonder if people really migrate from our teas to these in the summer. Can any of you tell me how your tea drinking habits change with the seasons?

Candie

New products

Wow...it's been quite a while since I posted. I'm always so involved in what I call "grunt work" to keep things going here. I know excuses, excuses!

Anyways I just put the new Tea Cozies online that came in today! I love the way they do the bottom of these, they are flat! I used to make the tea cozies we sold, mine did not have the flat bottom...so I know how much extra work goes into making these. Also I used to make a one size fits all, these fit our 3 and 6 cup teapots perfectly! The material is gorgeous, go take a peak.

We again have new tea and goodies for this week, but I'll let Candie tell you about them. I'm still working on price increases, so you still have time to order before I'm done.

What's in your cup.......Denise

UPS Faux Paux & Pricing Changes

Every year at this time we have what I like to call “pre-holiday shipping service” from UPS. About this time each year we have all kinds of lost and damaged packages. It always makes me worry about how smoothly the holiday season will go. So far the holidays always go much smoother than we expect. Well any way UPS just managed to loose a rather large shipment to us that was supposed to have arrived last week. So if you have been contacted about a backorder within the last week your order will not be able to be filled until the end of this week at the earliest. They just lost an out going order for us not more than 2 weeks ago so we will be crossing our fingers that UPS gets thing under control soon.  

I had planned to turn on all our fall specials and add our new fall teas this week but now we don’t have those teas ready to ship so look for those next week. The site theme will be changing to Autumn this week so look for the leaves to start falling.

Another big news item is that we just found out that we our biggest supplier has just implemented a price increase so we will be implementing a price increase of around 3% over next few days. I suggest you order right away to beat the rising prices.

Candie

A Delicious Mistake

Have you ever made a mistake and ended up glad that it happened? That is how we feel about the accidental creation of our Fruit Jumble Green Tea. Some of our supplier’s bags are not labeled the best and we thought we had a bag of Pear Sencha and instead had a bag of our new Watermelon Kiwi Green tea and about 2 lbs worth got mixed together. We immediately recognized the mistake by the wonderful new smell and decided to split the batch and take it home. I iced a pitcher of this new blend for some of my family and everyone was complimenting the flavor and asking what it was. Everyone who took the tea home had the same wonderful response so I decided we should name it and offer it to our customers. Fruit Jumble was born.

Candie

White Chocolate Rooibos & Red Vs. Green

Either I am finally learning to like rooibos or our new White Chocolate Rooibos is just that good. I have been struggling to like rooibos for a very long time but I think I may have finally turned the corner. Now there are two different types of rooibos red and green. Red was the first type of rooibos that become available here in the US so most of us just know it as regular rooibos. A couple of years back Green Rooibos became available and it can still be hard to find. The difference between the two is just like regular tea. The Red rooibos is left to sit and oxidize after it is chopped. The green is immediately heated and dried. I must admit that even the green has a good bit of red color to it and is not completely green colored. The red is a dark rust color. The flavor of the green rooibos is a bit like green tea but the red has a unique flavor.

Candie

Matcha & Pear Rooibos Musings

Can you believe that Matcha is our best selling tea? “What is matcha”, you say? Matcha is green tea powder. Our matcha is Gyokuro ground to a cornstarch consistency. When brewed it makes a bright green colored beverage, with a slightly sweet and tart flavor. The key is that it can be used in so many different ways. You can brew it hot or cold, add it to smoothies, desserts, baking and used in spice blends for cooking. And with all of this it is almost impossible to get accessories for it but we will introduce a matcha whisk and spoon, sometime next month.

I am drinking our new Pear Rooibos today. I am not a big red rooibos fan but this tea has grown on me. I wouldn’t call it a favorite but it is very good for a red rooibos based herbal tea. Rooibos is a great caffeine free alternative to regular tea and it has a whole set of its own beneficial properties. It has been known to help migraine, acid reflux and arthritis sufferers.

Candie

Autumn in the Air

Can you smell it? I can already smell that sweet smell of autumn in the air. The smell is like ripe fruit and ripe leaves. It has been unusually cool for the last week and it feels like the leaves are going to start changing color any day now. I sure hope it doesn’t because I don’t want the summer to end just yet. The weather is just perfect for having the windows open and enjoying the cool breezes and that wonderful aroma in the air.

I must say that some of the teas we have gotten in to sample have just been delightful. I was shocked to try Pecan Pie Green and find that I enjoyed it tremendously. I just didn’t think green tea and pecan pie would pair well. Eventually this fall we will be adding this wonderful flavor in green and black tea and also rooibos. All I can say it that I am 100% sure these will be our best selling teas this fall.

I must admit that I am also enjoying our new Raspberry Green Tea. I thought I had a new favorite last week when we added Blackberry Green Tea but I must say that the raspberry has won the battle for my affection. Even my husband who is not all that fond of flavored greens has been won over by this one.

Candie

Finally Good Tasting Decaf Tea

There is a real dilemma for those of you who need to avoid caffeine because unlike coffee, the decaffeination process drastically changes the flavor of tea. The gentle earthy and spicy tones are missing from blacks and greens become mottled and almost muddy flavored. Now we have gone out of our way to find the best flavored decaffeinated teas but they still just don’t compare to pure unadulterated tea. But I have found the light at end of the tasteless decaf tunnel. There is a company called Decaf Co. who is developing a stirring stick which will remove the caffeine from your already brewed tea without harming the flavor. What is funny is that they are already marketing toward coffee and I think they will have a much large following in the tea market. I am going to get in contact with these folks so I can get in on some tests and hopefully we can be one of the first companies to carry these wonderful devices.

Candie

Blackberry Green tea and Sampling Fall Teas

I had a pleasant surprise the other day while tasting the pecan pie green tea that I had doubts about last week. I really didn’t think it would pair well but it was yummy. All I can say is that this tea may be our next best seller. And it should be even better paired with black tea and it is also available as a flavored rooibos, which is fabulous.

We had to make a tough decision to drop the Morish Treat scones from our product line. The prices went up dramatically and we have had some issues with them so we have discontinued them. We are going to expand the Rabbit Creek line and I am also eyeing another company that has some wonderful scones to offer.

Autumn is already my favorite time of the year but I am so looking forward to the new fall products.

Today I am enjoying a glass of our new Blackberry Green Tea which has such a light fruity flavor that still manages to be a thirst quencher.

Candie

Finally Cooling Down

What a relief the heat has finally dissipated. Of course I had a lousy nights sleep with all the lightning and thunder as that cool air pushed in but it was well worth it. At least the heat helped me to drink more iced green tea and I found that I like Genmaicha Extra Green iced. I would have never thought that Genamicha would taste good iced because it has a nutty, toasted rice flavor to it but when it is iced that flavor fades and you taste much more of the fresh green flavor. I need to take more Pear Sencha and Blackberry Green Tea home because these two have been my iced teas of choice. My guests have made numerous comments on how much they enjoy these teas and now expect some samples to take home. ;)

Also on the new teas front, we recently tried a Raspberry Green Tea that was very good. I think we will be adding this tea to our selection in the next two week. I have some great prospects for the new fall selections which include a Pecan Pie rooibos and black tea, this flavor is also available in green tea but I personally don’t feel that the flavors would meld well. There are rooibos flavors I have my eyes on, Pear, Cinnamon, Licorice and Raspberry.

I would love to hear your comments on these new flavors.

Candie

Planning for fall and Christmas Season

It is almost absurd how far ahead a retailer is encouraged to plan for a season or holiday. For instance we received a spring catalog from one of our suppliers late last October of last year. Most store switch to the next season or holiday the day after the last. Then again it takes most retailers much longer to plan ahead for marketing and store placement of the products. With us we can get in a new product, have it up on the site and announced in a newsletter on the same day. That is the nice thing about handling the web site control and marketing your self.



So today I sit here considering what we will want to add for the fall and Christmas season. Our two best selling chintz teapot sets from last season have both been discontinued so I am on the hunt for sets to replace them. I have my eye on this Vintage Christmas Set which I think has a very romantic old Christmas feel to it. The set has matching teapot, tea cups, tea bag holders and Christmas ornaments.


What do you all think? We are waiting for a list of new teas and samples from our favorite supplier. When we get that I will give you all a glimpse at our choices.

Candie

Friday update

I've got a new batch of Yixings online; what a cute bunch this is! Samples below.



Well, here it is Friday again…YAH! Remember the computer problems? Had to end up wiping my hard drive, took a couple of days to get up and running right.

Things back in stock:
Victorian Teapot Warmers
Stevia

The Watermelon-Kiwi , Blackberry Green and small tea infuser baskets will be out of stock for another week, but you can still order them. Called to order some more infusers and they said they didn’t get my order from last week. I guess I should always call them in….instead of e-mailing or faxing.

One of these days I will get pictures of work on here. Have a great weekend!

Denise

Green Tea Musings

Green tea and more green tea…  I can’t seem to get my self to drink anything but green tea these days.  I do tend to stay on one trend for a season and summer is a good time to be hooked on green tea. Green Tea is refreshing and light and doesn’t weight you down in the heat. We now have so many wonderful flavors of green teas that I can just rotate thru them and never get bored.

I am still amazed that most companies are still resistant to tea and tea products. It is hard to find good tea products in the first place and then just when they are selling really well the company then discontinues the products. They don’t seem to believe that tea is an up and coming trend. We are seeing tea converts every day from soda or coffee. People taste good fresh tea and they realize that the grocery store tea they grew up on was stale and flavorless. I am always hearing from our customers that they just can’t go back to the tea, coffee, etc. that they had been drinking.

Candie
~ Sipping Vanilla Green Tea

Boy.... What a week!

Boy….What a week I’ve had here at Culinary Teas!  Last week my computer started acting up, and then went totally down to the blue screen of death. I called Dell and was connected with this guy from India (who I had a hard time understanding). He made me take the computer apart and look at things I’ve never seen before. Then after hours doing this and that, he had me run a diagnostic that ran two and a half hours and said he would call back. Well guess what…..he never called back arrgggg. I got two error codes from the diagnostic and being the resourceful one I went on the internet and looked them up. Segments in my hard drive were corrupted! Everything I read said the hard drive was fried, then I came upon a ladies site where she had fixed hers. I tried what she did and it worked, I’m jumping up and down with glee.

It worked fine when we came back to work this week….for a couple of hours. Then my Quick Books crashed it and guess what….blue screen again. I started to pull my hair out at this point. I called Dell again, this time I got to talk to a sweet lady from Alabama. After running some tests, she had me wipe my hard drive out. So the rest of the day was spent downloading programs and getting my computer useable again. So far it has worked fine today…fingers crossed!

On to better things…..things that are back in stock this week are:

• Stainless Steel Warmers


• Two Cup Dimbula Tea Presses


• Adams Peak Rare White Tea

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July.

Denise

Tea and Food Pairing

I have a background as a chef so I love pairing tea with my food. Tea accompanies food so much better than wine does. Wine has the tendency to over power the flavor of the food and you cannot drink much without feeling tipsy by the end of your meal. Teas flavor can delicately pair with the food without over powering it and allows you to drink as much as you want without needing a designated driver.

Green teas pair well with foods that are normally paired with white wines like seafood, salads, fruit, and surprisingly deep fried food because cuts thru the fat and lessens your chance of indigestion. Japanese teas like Sencha or Genmaicha go perfectly with seafood and rice dishes. Chinese greens like Dragonwell and Jasmines are a little stronger in flavor and have a stronger aroma which pairs well with Salads and Chicken dishes.  Very lightly oxidized Oolongs (Wu-long or green Oolongs) also go well with these foods.

Oolong teas that are medium to dark oxidized are a perfect pairing for Chinese, Thai and grilled foods. The flavors of these oolongs have a pronounced toastiness and are very full flavored.

Black teas pair well with foods that are normally paired with red wines like meat, curries, and desserts. Black teas are rich and full bodied teas with pronounced tannins which hold up well with richly flavored foods. Black teas pair especially well with chocolates and desserts with chocolate.

Candie

Green Tea and Weight Lose

I have more than a few pounds to lose but I have been working on it slowly. Over the last two years I have gone down 3 clothing sizes and am getting close to another. I credit a lot of this to green tea and a good diet. I can easily maintain my weight without the green tea because of my healthy diet. My family has a history of diabetes so I avoid extra sugar in my family’s diet. I should get plenty of exercise because I am chasing my 3 small children every where all day long but other than that I have a time exercising. I have arthritis in my knees and I can easily over do it and have myself hobbling around for days. When I drink Green tea all day long instead of other teas (like Wu-long), the pounds just melt away. I don’t even have to cut out the small amounts of treats I allow myself. The green tea is definitely what does it because I can cut out the treats and not drink the green tea and the weight doesn’t come off the same. For me it is just a matter of finding green teas that I like enough to drink all day long. Right now I am rotating thru our Flavored Green teas so I don’t get bored and stop drinking it. Right now I am very fond of our new Blackberry Green and a blend of our Pear Green and Watermelon Kiwi Green Teas.

I am currently wearing the smallest size of clothes I own. My goal is to have to buy a whole new wardrobe for the upcoming New Year. I will keep you posted if I make that goal. I am sure I can if I can just stay focused on drinking the green tea.

Candie

Fireworks and Iced Tea

I haven’t taken a break from tea but I sure have taken a break from the blog. Summer is just one of those times when there is so much you can go and do that you forget what you were suppose to be doing. Has anyone else felt like they have been run over by their train of thought? I am trying hard to stay ahead of mine today.

This weekend we celebrate our countries Independence Day and I will never get to old to enjoy fireworks. We get a special treat here in Syracuse we get two fireworks shows but one is my favorite. Lake Wawasee shoots their fireworks from a barge in the middle of the lake. We all come out in our boats and surround the barge and enjoy the reflection from the water and the fireworks in the sky. The lake also acts as a natural air conditioner which makes it hard to go home some nights.  

I am currently tasting samples for possible new products. Today I tried a rooibos based herbal with lemon myrtle which has a delightful lemon flavor and a hint of sweetness. Everyone else agreed that this herbal blend will be a big hit. I think this one is a keeper. Then I got myself a big glass of Strawberry Shortcake Iced tea. This tea is a dessert in a glass with it’s ripe strawberry and creamy shortcake finish.  I will be taking home some of our new Blackberry Green Tea for brewing over the long weekend.

Candie

New Yixings are coming!

Well key words for the web site are all redone, we should be much easier to find. Hubby took me out to eat to celebrate...Yah! The ordering is done for the week and we have a bunch of boxes that came in late today, so all back orders should be sent out tomorrow.

I'm ready to start on another batch of yixing teapots, they should be up after the holiday. This latest batch is the best yet! Some are simply elegant while others are extremely intricate. I have a couple of pictures to give you a peek at what's coming.



It's 6 pm, time to call it a day. My hubby has started working longer hours this week and the puppy is not appreciating us being gone that long, so it's off to play with him.

Denise

Cloudy Iced Tea

Summer is iced tea season and I often get questions about cloudy iced tea. Why does tea cloud when it is cooled? Black teas will sometimes cloud when cooled. The cloudiness is caused by tannins in the tea which are released into the hot brew but can bind together when the brew cools and cause cloudy tea. Higher quality teas like Darjeeling’s and Assams tend to have more tannins and are more likely to cloud. Hard water can also cause tea to become cloudy. The cloudiness does not affect flavor just the appearance of the tea. To remove the cloudiness add a half cup of boiling water per gallon of tea and stir.

Candie

Sipping Rooibos

I have to admit that I am not a big Rooibos fan but there are some things that it is good for. Now I am the anti-hype queen and have to do in-depth research and find the cold hard facts about everything so I have to inform you that Rooibos does not in fact have more anti-oxidants then green tea (actually about 1/3) even though most vendors claim it has far more. It does however have anti-inflammatory properties which are very helpful for those with arthritis (me), migraines, some skin conditions and acid reflux. I also help that it does wonders when topically applied to a sunburn. There are two types of Rooibos, regular or Red and Green which is much like green tea. The red has a flavor all of its own with takes flavoring very well and that is why you will find so many different flavored Rooibos on the market today. I like the green Rooibos paired with fruit because it has a sweet greenness that is complimented well by fruit flavors. Red Rooibos pairs better with flavors like vanilla and chocolate. I really enjoy our Bourbon St. Vanilla Rooibos and our Caramel Cream Rooibos as hot teas in the winter but the vanilla also ices well.

Today I am drinking Peachy Green Rooibos which has a light fruity flavor with a highlight of peach. The color is a beautiful peachy color when brewed and takes to icing very well. I must say that I enjoy our Summer Punch Peachy Green Rooibos more than this one with its tones of strawberry, peach and orange.

Candie

I'm in computer......

I'm so glad Candie posts everyday! I've been working on keywords to get them up to Googles new standards. So my nose has been in the computer nonstop for about a week now. Hopefully another week will do it!

Our new Watermelon Kiwi Green is excellent, I've been drinking it all week. Looks like the weather will be in the 90's this weekend...YUK. Looks like it will be weekend full of work, iced tea and grandkids coming over to go swimming. I'm so glad I bought a small laptop for home so I can be outside and not miss all the fun while I'm working.

I have some new catalogs to go through when I'm done with the keywords. Hopefully that will mean some new products for everyone. I just love shopping....even if it's out of catalogs!

Have a great and safe weekend.

Denise

Wu-long, Wulong or Oolong?

I am sorry to be the harbinger of bad news but the Wu-long hype is just that hype. First of all I am more than willing to bet that you have all had Wu-long tea before it is called Oolong. Oolong tea is available from every tea vendor and is the tea most often served at Chinese restaurants. Wu-long is made from the same plant as Black, Green and White teas and they share many of the same health benefits. I can guarantee you that no one is an exclusive source for Wu-long and that you can pretty much discount all the claims. Every single claim that I have heard is either flat out wrong or hold true for all types of teas not just Oolong tea. Please don’t be taken in by the latest marketing scheme. Tea is good for you so please find a tea you love and drink it often but don’t pay these scam artists a single penny.

Candie

Watermelon Kiwi Green Tea

The Watermelon Kiwi green tea is here and it is good. I brewed up a batch for customers on Saturday and even the non flavored tea drinkers were enjoying it. The Sencha tea base gives this tea a nice sweetness that makes it great iced. I got a special batch by accident that has pear with the watermelon kiwi and it is a fabulous mix. No we aren’t planning on making this batch available to the public but if it sounds good you can always mix our Watermelon Kiwi and Pear at home. If your family is like mine the tea won’t last very long.

I got a good laugh this weekend when my neighbor suggested that she come over and join me for Yoga out in the yard. I told her I wasn’t doing Yoga I was picking strawberries. I have a good sized strawberry patch that has grown into one solid mass of strawberry plants. When you pick it you must carefully find bare areas where it is safe to step and bend in all kinds of awkward positions to get all the strawberries without stepping on plants or berries. I told her she was more than welcome to come over and join me and she can have all the strawberries she encounters during our session.

Candie

Iced Tea Favorites

I used to think that black tea made the best iced tea but now I have to admit that I have become quite attached to iced green tea. Flavored blacks make some of the best iced teas I have ever drunk. There are some flavors that just want to be iced like Blueberry, Raspberry, Mango and my favorite Wild Blackberry. There is something for every one because there are just so many different flavors. I think at last count we had over 150 different flavored black teas.

Recently I have been drinking much more green tea. Not only because it will help me to loose the weight have I struggled with but also because I have come to really enjoy the flavor of green teas. Flavored green teas are quickly becoming my favorite teas for iced tea. My current favorite flavored green teas are Blueberry, Passion Fruit, Lemon and Long Island Strawberry.  I am looking forward to our new Watermelon Kiwi Sencha. We should have it available to ship late next week so look for it to be on special in two weeks.


Candie

Herbal Tea Sunburn Soother

I got my first sunburn of the season on Sunday. I am an avid gardener and I was very determined that I was going to get everything planted and fed and watered yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn’t as determined to get my sun block on and now my back looks like I lit my self on fire. I have a few tricks to take out much of the burn. One is a product by Kiss my Face, After Sun Aloe Soother with Jewelweed & Yucca. This stuff takes the sting out of even the nastiest sunburn and if you apply if before it gets really red it will keep it from getting any worse. But when things get really bad I pull out the Rooibos, Chamomile & Lavender. Rooibos has anti-inflammatory properties, chamomile takes out the heat and Lavender is a natural antiseptic for blistering.

I continued to drink gallons of Crime of Passion green tea iced this weekend. I am going to grab a bag of Pear Sencha for a change this week. The pear has a very sweet aroma and a juicy pear flavor that is very popular.

Denise and I decided that one of our new flavored green teas would be Watermelon Kiwi Sencha. We always put new teas on sale so watch for that in about a week.

Candie

Review: Black Tea with Pomegranate

I enjoy trying every new tea product that I can get my hands on but I must admit I am the tea worlds Simon Cowell. I pull no punches when it come to reviews. I will not sell of back a product that I don't like and feel has value. I have tried to many horrendous tea products and haven't yet found a bottle tea product that I could even stand to drink, let alone enjoy.

I found a new bottled tea product this weekend. Black Tea and pomegranate from POM. I enjoy fresh pomegranate so I have tried the POM juices before but have always been put off by the lingering bitterness. I have a sensitive palate and bitterness is something that some people are much more sensitive to than others. I know where the bitterness comes from, the seeds when the pulp the juice. If they could find some way to separate the juice quickly from the seeds and not grind them into the juice it would be a totally different product. Well anyway that it the same thing I found with this black tea product. It not only had a bitter after bite but it was overly sweet. I am not a sweet tea drinker but I do like just a hint of sweetness but I have only found one product that doesn't cross that line into sugar water like this product.

The line of Teaology products that we carry are just lightly sweet, caffeine free and packed with ECGC so you just feel like getting up and moving. They are pre-measured for a bottle of water so I carry them in my purse and am ready for a cold bottle of tea anywhere.

Yes I am a tea snob. I very rarely drink ice tea at restaurants because I can't stand to drink it half the time. Vendors send hundreds of samples a year and there are some companies that I just refuse to taste any more because the tea is so bad. One company who continues to contend they use natural flavoring and that their tea is extremely high quality has tea that tastes so bad to me that I end up spitting it out. I do not know how they can stay in business.

Candie
~The Tea Snob

Ice Tea Time

I've finally got into ice tea mode! Todays flavor is Strawberry Green. Our big order for the week came in late today, so if you're waiting for something...it will ship tomorrow. The girls will be busy with backorders in the morining!

I just ordered a couple of new green teas (watermelon and blood orange), I will have them online in the flavored Green Tea section tomorrow. Will also post links to them here. I'm sure Candie will feature at least one in next weeks sales.

I'm off to Downtown Grounds (coffee shop...eeek), they have great chai......for a Syracuse Days meeting. Then going home and making some Vanilla Green tea for my fridge.

Never Tired of Tea

Someone just recently asked me, “Don’t you ever get tired of tea?”. That was easy, No. I may get tired of one type of tea for a short period of time but then I just switch to another. I have access to almost 450 teas on a daily basis so I never run out of choices. I do tend to stick with one tea for a month or two but then my taste will change slightly and I will try several different teas before I settle in to a daily tea again. Last fall I drank Scottish Breakfast daily until around Christmas. Then I suddenly started craving green teas and have been rotating thru them every since. I am still drinking the Genmaicha Extra Green today. I have always enjoyed Genmaicha which is Sencha with popped rice. The popped rice gives the tea a toasty flavor on top of the clean, green flavor of Sencha. The addition of the Matcha just strengthens the green flavor.

I enjoy pairing tea and food. I think tea pairs better with most foods than wine does because wine is so strongly flavored that it can mute the flavor of your meal. Also not everyone wants alcohol with their meal, which makes tea a great beverage. Green teas pair very well with fish and vegetables as well as fried items because it can cut thru the fat and help digest it. Oolongs go so well with oriental food, especially spice food like Curry and Thai. Black teas go well with beef, lamb & strongly flavored sauces. Black teas also pair very well with desserts, like chocolate cake. Give me a dish and I can give you a specific pairing.

Candie

Yawning and reaching for my cup of tea