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. 

Limited Edition Valentines Day Chocolate Teas

It is that time of the year again when we blend our Chocolate based teas. These teas are the most requested of all our teas but we only make a limited amount each year so that they stay special. For our Chocolate Covered Strawberry Tea we use roasted cocoa bean nibs and high quality black tea base that compliments the flavor of the chocolate as well as natural strawberry flavoring. The combination of these ingredients makes for a memorable tea that you will crave year round. 


If you would like to sample all our wonderful chocolate teas I would suggest our Chocolate Valentines Day Sampler which includes 8 of our best chocolate teas.


This week we are giving away a free 4 ounce bag of our Chocolate Covered Strawberry Tea. Just leave a comment about your favorite chocolate treat and you will be entered for the giveaway.

Giveaway Ends: 2011-02-14
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. 

Assam Tarajulie

Tarajulie is a beautiful estate that lies in the shadows of the Himalayan mountains on the Bramaputra River plain. On a clear day the majestic mountains are visible on the northern horizon. The estate was purchased by the George Williamson Group of companies in the mid 1980’s and they have maintained the high standards that this estate was known for. The estate produces only orthodox manufactured tea. From time to time on the estate they contend with wild elephants and the occasional tiger. Not too many years ago intrusions by wild animals were not welcomed. Today however, these ‘visits’ are not seen in the same light. In fact Tarajulie has maintained some of the forested areas on the estate to provide cover for these endangered animals. 

You might ask - What gives Assam tea its special characteristics? The Assam valley is dominated by the Brahmaputra River - a large slowly meandering river which over millennia of spring and fall flooding has deposited a rich loam over the valley. The soil is a deep and sandy and the region suffers a very hot and steamy monsoon season, but equally important a relatively dry and cool winter. Perfect conditions for the Assam tea bush. This area is also susceptible to earthquakes which can make the ground swallow up whole tea bushes but this does not affect the unmistakable rich taste of Tarajulie FBOP.


This week Assam Tarajulie is our featured tea and is discounted 20%. Leave your comment about the tea and get a free 4 oz bag! Expires: 1/25/2011

Tea of the Week: Irish Breakfast

No winner last week. We have a big new batch of Irish Breakfast tea in this week, please leave a comment to win your 4 ounce bag!

I found a recipe for a typical Irish Breakfast to go with your tea, yummy!

Per capita, Irish consumption of tea is amongst the highest in the world. The Irish prefer a full bodied cup of tea that if brewed long enough one could almost stand their spoon upright. The strength is achieved by buying the best teas available from seasonal production periods in Assam and Kenya. This means that the Assam teas are from the second flush period during June, and the Kenyas are from February and August growth. 2nd flush Assams give a deep malty astringency and the best make your mouth feel dry they are so astringent. This astringency leads to a malty character that is almost so thick you feel like you could chew it. The seasonal Kenyas have a golden coppery color with an almost floral note that give a complex depth to the tea. Furthermore, you will see that the grade is CTC - cut, torn curled. The green leaf whilst it is being processed passes through a machine the cuts, tears and then curls the leaves into tiny balls. This ‘mash’ ferments very quickly after which firing takes place to ‘lock-in’ the flavor. These tiny tea balls when infused release their full flavor, more so than whole leaf tea. The reason is that there is more surface area on the tiny balls which can infuse as compared to the whole leaf tea. This is how the Irish like their tea!

I have some inventory updates. Back in stock, Keemun Three Monkey (it's actually here this time!), Chocolate Mint teabags, Maple Foil teabags and at last Sugar Cubes.

Looks like Holiday sales are almost in full swing here, have a great week!

Tea of the Week English Breakfast

We have a winner for 4 ounces of Assam Tarajulie and it's Kevin! Sending you off an email to get your snail mail addy tomorrow. This week we have one of the all time favorites English Breakfast Tea. Leave a comment to win 4 ounces! Don't forget it's also 20% off at the store. We also have a 10% off coupon on everything!

English Breakfast Tea was actually invented in Edinburgh, Scotland. A tea master (Drysdale) came up with the idea of marketing his blend as "Breakfast Tea". The concept soon spread to England where tea was very popular. Tea houses in London began adding "English" to the name and the tea became and remains one of the most popular teas in England. It is a robust, full-bodied beverage with light floral undertones (coppery). When blended with milk, it's aroma is similar to warm toast and honey.

Have a great week!

Tea of the week: Assam Tarajulie FBOP

No winners last week, not a real surprise since I've so neglected this blog. This weeks tea is Assam Tarajulie, a thick full bodied tea that is a great morning tea! Please comment below for a chance to win 4 ounces of this wonderful tea.

Tarajulie is a beautiful estate that lies in the shadows of the Himalayan mountains on the Bramaputra River plain. On a clear day the majestic mountains are visible on the northern horizon. The estate was purchased by the George Williamson Group of companies in the mid 1980’s and they have maintained the high standards that this estate was known for. The estate produces only orthodox manufactured tea. You might ask - What gives Assam tea its special characteristics? The Assam valley is dominated by the Brahmaputra River - a large slowly meandering river which over millennia of spring and fall flooding has deposited a rich loam over the valley. The soil is a deep and sandy and the region suffers a very hot and steamy monsoon season, but equally important a relatively dry and cool winter. Perfect conditions for the Assam tea bush.

Back in stock this week is Decaf English Breakfast, Decaf Peach Apricot and Keemun 3 Monkey. I hear from my supplier that Chinese black teas will probably be going up in price soon, so stock up.

Fall sales have definitely kicked in and our Fall Sampler is as popular as ever...go check it out! Last weekend hubby and grandson went camping with the Boy Scout den and they were gone all weekend, boy was it quiet ... just me and the dogs! The leaves are starting to come down like crazy, I think we will be raking this weekend. The fall colors are beautiful this year. How is it in your neck of the woods? Have a great week!

Tea of the Week: Cream Earl Grey

Wow, I have been so bad about posting here. All I can say is life is sometimes not gentle. We will have a drawing for Tea of the Week. And I have an inventory update and reviews from The Tea Review Blog.

Our Cream Earl Grey tea is 20% off this week and boy do we have plenty, just got a big shipment in last week. Earl Grey is one of the most popular English teas in the world. Cream Earl Grey has a taste that is smooth with vanilla overtones which compliments the bergamot flavor of our premium Earl Grey. I adore Earl Grey, but the addition of vanilla really takes it to the top of my list of favorites. Don't forget to leave a comment to be included in the drawing for a free 4 ounce bag!

The good people over at the Tea Review Blog have been reviewing our teas again. Look for their review button on Angels Dream, Blackberry Green, Chai Rooibos, Cream Earl Grey and Maple Cream.

One inventory update, Superior Gunpowder is back in stock after being gone almost 2 months.

Hope you all have a great week!

New Crate of Earl Grey Tea

This week we received a new crate of Earl Grey tea. If you are a Earl Grey lover than you should place your order now because you can't buy it any fresher than it is right now. That powerful bergamot is just bursting from this tea. It is also the tea of the week which means you can save 20% when buying Earl Grey this week! So don't miss out on the incredible opportunity.

Tea Ice Cream

Last week I re-discovered my Ice Cream Maker. My children found boxes of homemade ice cream mix while raiding my cupboards and asked how we could make it. It had been so long since I had used the ice cream maker that they didn't even know I had it. After double checking I had all the ingredients and that we could find all the parts to the machine we gave it a try. For something that required no cooking I must say it was mighty tasty but it left me wondering wanting to give real homemade ice cream another try. It had slipped my mind again this week while nursing myself and a couple kids through the latest greatest flu bug when I got a call from my mother. She is always finding interesting recipes and calling me to tell me about them and this time it was about a recipe for ice cream made with tea as the flavor base. Owning a tea company has its advantages because I have access to just about any flavor and type of tea you could imagine and suddenly my ice cream horizons seemed endless. What would I try first? Plain green tea would be to plain. How about using one of our wonderful flavored green teas like Blackberry, Raspberry or Passion Fruit? Then there are the black flavored teas that are just begging to be experimented with like Chocolate Mint, Earl Grey, and so many others. I am going to make it my goal this summer to make as many difference ice creams as I possible and rate them all here. I am starting this experiment with my odds and end of tea that I should clean up and what a wonderful way to use them. This ice cream can be made with any tea except herbals because they will likely cause your custard to curdle.

I browsed thru many recipes online and then referred to my personal library to see what I wanted to use as my base recipe. Eventually I found my "How to Make Ice Cream" book from Cook's Illustrated. I trust them implicitly to give me a recipe that will be full proof because that is what they do. As a side note if you don't have a subscription to Cook's Illustrated you are missing out on the best cooking magazine period. This recipe is adapted from their master ice cream recipe.

Tea Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

5-6 teabags or 5 teaspoons loose tea

Combine milk, cream, 1/2 cup of sugar in a heavy 21/2 quart saucepan. Heat on medium until mixture comes to 175 degrees stirring occasionally. Add tea, cover and remove from heat to allow to steep for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove tea leaves if you used loose tea, otherwise just remove teabags.

While milk/tea mixture is steeping beat 1/4 cup sugar with egg yolks in a medium bowl until mixture turns a pale yellow and thickens so that it falls from the spoon in ribbons.

After the milk mixture has steeped it needs to be warmed back to 175 degrees. Take 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and slowly trickle it into the yolk/sugar mix while stirring briskly with a whisk. Once the milk is incorporated into the yolks repeat the process this time whisking the yolk mixture in with the remaining milk mixture. Reduce heat to low and bring mixture to 180 degrees, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Custard should thicken but not be curdled or boiled.

Remove saucepan from heat and pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a nonreactive bowl or container. Place bowl in an ice bath to quickly chill to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate custard for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Pour custard into ice cream maker and churn until frozen but a still a bit soft. I personally like to eat it at this stage but you could place the ice cream in an non reactive container to seal and freeze until firm. Flavor will start to degrade after 2 days.

Note:

For green tea ice cream made with Matcha you will skip the steeping time and just stir in 2 tablespoons of Matcha into the sugar and yolk mixture before mixing it with the milk and cream mixture.

Tea of the Week: Papaya

No winner last week, I guess my inability to get to socializing on the net is showing. I did get into Twitter and FaceBook this week, I just need to get back in the habit of being there daily again! The new Tea of the Week is Papaya, as you can tell I'm thinking about spring! I am so done with winter. So please leave a comment to win a free 4 ounce bag.


Though the exact area of origin is unknown, the papaya is believed native to tropical America, perhaps in southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It is recorded that seeds were taken to Panama and then the Dominican Republic before 1525 and cultivation spread to warm elevations throughout South and Central America, southern Mexico, the West Indies and Bahamas, and to Bermuda in 1616. Spaniards carried seeds to the Philippines about 1550 and the papaya traveled from there to Malacca and India. Seeds were sent from India to Naples in 1626. Now the papaya is familiar in nearly all tropical regions of the Old World and the Pacific Islands and has become naturalized in many areas. Seeds were probably brought to Florida from the Bahamas. Up to about 1959, the papaya was commonly grown in southern and central Florida in home gardens and on a small commercial scale.

What's Happening at Culinary Teas

Things here are back to a more normal pace, I've been working on getting more teabags in stock. Teabag sales went up quite a bit last year, so I will be adding more in the next few months...look for new additions in our newsletter! Candie is working on reconciling last years accounts and getting ready taxes ready, so that means alot of rocking out orders by myself (Kid Rock and tea, what a combo!). The only important things I have out of stock are:
618B Amaretto due back on 3-28
Tibet Rhodiola due back on 4-5

Home Front

Little master Ethan got his Bear badge in Cub Scouts, he's so proud! Rascal (our Yorkie) got his first yearly adult shots and got very sick, but is better now. Hubby has actually been perch fishing for me it's a miracle! I try to get him to do it every year but he loves fishing for bluegill. Everyone have a great week!

Tea of the Week: Boysenberry

All I can say is wow...what an end of year we had! I want to thank all our customers (new and old) for your patronage. Candie and I are unbelievably lucky in this area. We are finally back to a more normal pace. As you know we take off the week between Christmas and New Years to be with our families. Then the next week I had the flu, so we were more behind than normal. I want to thank my wonderful customers that had patience with me those two weeks... you guys rock!!!

Getting in the groove again, we have a new Tea of the Week, Boysenberry. Please leave a comment to get a 4 oz bag free. We've just put up the Valentines Teas, these are teas we only blend this time of year. We have quite a few chocolate blends, but our Chocolate Covered Strawberry and Chocolate Rose are exceptional!

In the late 1920's, George M. Darrow of the USDA began tracking down reports of a large reddish-purple berry, he enlisted the help of berry expert Walter Knott. The inventor of the boysenberry is believed to be Rudolph Boysen, who experimented with various berry crosses in Napa, California in the 1920's. In 1923 his cross of a blackberry, loganberry and raspberry successfully grew and bore fruit. Darrow and Knott learned that Boysen had abondoned his experiments and sold his farm, they went and found several frail vines in a field choked with weeds. They transplanted the berries to knotts farm and he began selling them at his farm stand in 1932. When asked what kind of berries they were, knotts said 'boysenberries' after their originator.

I've been drinking a lot of Oolong lately, trying to get off those Holiday pounds. Also got a mini trampoline called a Rebounder for exercise, it's actually a lot of fun! Just trying to make it a habit...I forget how many days does that take? Hope everyone has an awesome week!

Tea of the Week: Cream Earl Grey

I want to apologize for my sporadic posting, with the Holidays coming I have a feeling it will be like this until the first of the year. We are dragging our husbands in for packing so that will help. I am glad to see that people can still afford a little luxury like tea! The winner for 4 ounces of Pecan Pie tea is Kevin....Congrats hope you enjoy! I've sent you an email to get your snail mail addy. This weeks tea is one of our best sellers, Cream Earl Grey. Please leave a comment to win 4 ounces.

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.

As you can tell, this is a quick post, things are going very well here and we are busy as can be. The Holidays seem to creep up and come really fast this time of year. I hope everyone is doing well!

Tea of the Week: Pecan Pie

Last weeks post just totally got away from me, sorry about that! By the time I realized I was late, it was too late. This weeks tea is perfect for Thanksgiving, it's Pecan Pie a flavored black tea. It's 20% off this week. To win a 4 ounce bag please comment and let me know what is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition.

How do you pronounce Pecan? Pee-can or pay-cahn? If you live in Louisiana, Texas or any of the Southern States the debate can get red hot as both sides of the verbal divide try to claim the nut as their own. But really, there’s no need to argue, there are enough of the nuts to go round! The annual Pecan crop of the United States is usually between 300 – 400 million pounds. Like we said, there are enough to go around. Still, if you are going to argue about them, perhaps we should refer to you as a Pecan, a term that in parts of Louisiana has come to replace the word “nut”, as in crazy person. Ok, but what of Pecan tarts? Well if you’re Canadian, or have ever been to Canada, you may have tried the butter tart, a small round pastry found in every coffee shop from Vancouver to St. John’s. They’re great eh! It’s believed that the recipe found it’s way back into Canada via the Cajuns, French Canadians who long ago settled in and around New Orleans. The Cajuns are believed to have been the first people to concoct the deliciously nutty and buttery Pecan tart by using local nuts and adapting a traditional French tart recipe. We decided to further adapt the wonderful sweet, buttery and nutty flavor of the Pecan Tart and have blended what is slowly becoming one of our office favorites. Brew a pot and taste the sweetness of the Deep South, er, the Great White North. Delicious eh!

The start of the Holiday season, is anyone ever ready for it? I know some years I'm more ready than others and I can see this is going to be a bad year for me. But you have to love all the craziness! This year Thanksgiving will be a little different, my grandson will be going to his other grandparents house. They don't see him often and since his mom is still in jail we decided to let him go. So what will hubby and I do? We are going out to eat with our lovely neighbors! I won't be cooking but if you are, Candie has a wonderful Pecan Pie recipe on her blog you might want to look at. We wish everyone a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tea of the Week: Black Current

Congrats to last weeks winner of 4 ounces of Holiday Winter tea polwanacracker! Please email your snail mail address to me at denise@culinaryteas.com. This weeks tea is Black Current and don't forget it's 20% off.

Black Currant is also known as Cassis. It is both a propagated and wild grown berry which some claim originated in France. Cassis is a very popular beverage throughout Europe, known for being aromatic in smell and in taste. This particular aspect of Black Currant is very evident on this tea. Black Currant gained notoriety in 1712 for its beneficial properties, which were published by the Abbot Bailly inferring that Black Currant was indeed an aphrodisiac and should be consumed with great care.

Black currants were once popular in the United States, but became extremely rare in the 20th century after currant farming was banned in the early 1900s when blackcurrants, as a vector of white pine blister rust, were considered a threat to the U.S. logging industry. The federal ban on growing currants was shifted to individual states' jurisdiction in 1966, and was lifted in New York State in 2003 through the efforts of horticulturist Greg Quinn. As a result, currant growing is making a comeback in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon. However, several statewide bans still exist including Maine,Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Since the federal ban ceased currant production anywhere in the U.S., the fruit is not well-known and has yet to reach the popularity that it had in 19th century United States or that it currently has in Europe. Since blackcurrants are a strong source of antioxidants and vitamins, awareness and popularity are once again growing, with a number of consumer products entering the market.

My supplier notes the bulk teabags are selling like hotcakes this year! I wanted to let you know the Cream Earl Grey, Elderberry and Wild Blackberry bulk teabags are back in stock. Also I've added Caramel Cream Rooibos and Chai Rooibos back to the website, they are from a different vendor but just as good as I had before.

Things are going great here at Culinary Teas! I'm starting to stock up on teas for the Holiday season and looking at new products to add. Speaking of that, check out the new Electric Travel Mug we added today. It has a USB and DC adapter great for the car and work! I know I'm grabbing one for my desk...now just to pick a color!

On the home front, leaves and more leaves! We've been raking all week, the trees are finally bare. Hubby says we will be winterizing and putting everything away this coming weekend. I actually had ice on my windshield this morning, I must remember to start the car and warm her up! Have a great week!!!