H20 and Tea

Hi Chitlins!

Today's important lesson is about the importance of the water you use when making loose-leaf teas.

Since tea is 99.999999% water, it only makes sense that the water you use to make your tea is rather important. It can contain any number and combination of minerals and flavors that will affect the way your tea tastes. Now perhaps this is delving into the realm of "tea snobbery," but the truth of the matter is that ancient traditional tea ceremonies always call for high quality water, and anything ancient and traditional therefore cannot be deemed "snobbish." </sarcasm>.

In any case, I simply find that anything one can do to make an even more delicious cup of tea should certainly be taken into consideration.

Using very soft or distilled water can lead to a rather bland cup of tea. This is because these types of water lack certain minerals that can actually enhance your cuppa, so using fresh, local springwater is definitely your best option. I would recommend Eldorado spring water if you are in the Denver/Boulder area. But alack, we are not all in the same area and furthermore, we may not all have access to pristine springwater. Bottled water is another option, one that I would wholeheartedly support were I not anti-bottled water to begin with, since it creates excess pollution (via shipping) and waste (more plastic bottles in the trash/recycle can) when you most likely have perfectly drinkable tap water in your home...but that is another blog for another time.

If you want to be environmentally responsible yet enjoy great water at the same time, a small investment in a tap water filter is your best bet. These are relatively inexpensive these days, and easy to install. Hard water should be avoided when making tea (even if it's filtered), so you will have to make your own determination regarding the tap water you use. Hard water contains a lot of minerals, and you can tell if your water is hard by how much your soap or toothpaste froths...lots of lather action means your water is soft, and little-to-none means your water is hard.

Last but not least, always remember that water temperature is crucial to making the best cup of tea possible...never use boiling water on green or white teas! Take a look at one of my older blogs, I Know Why You Don't Like Green Tea, for more details on temperature.

The hardest water of all: bellyflops.
Image courtesy of http://keeneddie.spymac.com/goofy_stuff/bellyflop.jpg

Today's Match: Fresh Homemade Tea vs. Bottled Tea Drinks

Thanks to a blog posting on Steepology last week about the latest fad of green tea weight loss scams, I have decided to shed some light on another, less obvious "scam" going on in the tea world: bottled tea drinks.

Thanks to an increasing knowledge and awareness of the health issues going on in America (heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc.), it is becoming common knowledge that fast food and sugary, carbonated drinks are some of the worst things you can possibly put into your body. While moderation is always the key, avoiding these foods high in calories and low in nutritional value is definitely the best strategy for a longer, healthier life.

But what about the huge selection of bottled tea and fruit juice drinks that aren't soda? Many of these beverages are touted as healthy alternatives to the evil empire of high fructose corn syrup-laden carbonated beverages. But are they really better for you?

While many people are counting carbs or simply swearing them off for good, another major culprit that causes weight gain and a host of other health problems is refined sugar. Since I am not a scientist or doctor, I have borrowed this description of the impact sugar has on your health from the UK site, Macrobiotic Guide:


"...Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. What happens when you eat a refined carbohydrate like sugar? Your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of the sugar. Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the effects of sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to the withdrawn calcium. Refined sugar is void of all nutrients, consequently it causes the body to deplete its own stores of various vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If sugar consumption is continued, an over-acid condition results, and more minerals are needed from deep in the body to correct the imbalance. If the body is lacking the nutrients used to metabolize sugar, it will not be able to properly handle and rid itself of the poisonous residues. "

Yo fatty! Lay off the sugar! Image courtesy of http://www.northwestah.com/.

So, too much sugar creates an acidic environment inside your body. Too much acid in your tissues allows harmful toxins to build up, as well as harmful bacteria and fungi (such as the yeast, Candida). With that being said, I think it is important that everyone understand how to read labels on not only the beverages you drink, but the foods you eat! After a little bit of research, I was pretty shocked at how much sugar is contained in all the allegedly "healthy" bottled tea drinks you see on the shelves.

For example, the following drinks contain:

Arizona Green Tea: 8 ounces contains 17 grams of sugar, or 3 and 1/2 teaspoons.
Sobe Green Tea: a 20 ounce bottle contains 62.5 grams of sugar, or 12.5 teaspoons! That is 12.5 sugar cubes, people!
Snapple Green Tea: 1 17.5 ounce bottle contains 33 grams of sugar, or 6.6 teaspoons of sugar.

What's more, bottled tea drinks claim to be packed with disease-fighting antioxidants. While it's certainly true that tea contains them, a little known facts is that after about 24-48 hours, antioxidants disappear from tea. The heat in water is what releases a flood of these healthy chemicals, but time and temperature will cause them to dissipate. So a chilled, bottled tea drink that has been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long really is not going to be chock full of antioxidants at all.

The bottom line is that chances are when you make your own tea at home (preferably using one of our awesome Steepin' Mugs!), you either drink it as it is: fresh, full of antioxidants, and without added sweeteners. But if you must, add one or two teaspoons of sugar (Agave is best!); which is less than most bottled tea drinks you will find.

If you must reach for some pre-bottled beverage action, wrap your mitts around one of these brands that have lower levels of sugar: Honestea (about 10 grams of sugar per 16 oz bottle), or ItoEn unsweetened Teas' Tea.

Optimus Prime says stay away from too much sugar. Or else.

World Tea Expo, in Vegas Baby!

Having just returned from the World Tea Expo in Vegas last weekend, I finally feel like I'm back in the groove of things again. It took a few days to recover from the work/learn all day & play all night mode of Vegas. There is so much to share, so I snagged personal commentaries from the whole TeaSpot team to share with everyone...


Maria Uspenski - Co-founder, Director of Product Development
In wandering the show floor of the World Tea Expo, I was struck with how unique our product line and concept are to the modern tea industry. To all of us at the TeaSpot, it seems the most natural thing to provide our customers with what Rob has dubbed the “total tea solution”: the freshest, tastiest and healthiest loose leaf teas paired with Steeping tools that extract the maximum flavor and health benefits from those leaves “with elegance and ease”. Yet, even with all the thousands of teas and tea accessories in the marketplace, ours differentiate themselves in their presentation, freshness and functionality.

Rob Cooke - Director of Customer Relations
This year’s World Tea Expo in Las Vegas showcased more science being implemented into the tea industry than ever before. Many of the studies presented at WTE 2008 are challenging and in some cases debunking myths that have been widely accepted in the tea industry for years. These scientific studies are starting to challenge topics such as the varying levels of caffeine in tea, antioxidant/ polyphenol content, and even the “30 second” decaffeinating technique. So what does all of this mean? Well, in my view it means that the tea industry is thriving and that there continues to be a growing interest in the functional health and wellness benefits associated with tea. I can only hope that this proliferation of science will bring concrete and factual information to the table while also bolstering the industry as a whole.

Jared Kochik- Director of Shipping & Operations
Attending the 2008 World Tea Expo proved what we all know to be true: the awareness of specialty, loose leaf tea is growing at an astonishing rate and the proliferation of fun, easy to use Steepware and accessories are helping to break down the barriers to reaching new demographics. It was also easy to notice the amount of amazing and dedicated people who work diligently to educate the masses to the wonderful benefits of whole leaf tea. The 2008 World Tea Expo was a great event not only for importers and vendors, but also for new and soon-to-be tea retailers around the globe.

Jessica Burtenshaw - Director of Tea Sourcing & E-Commerce
As my first time attending the World Tea Expo, I have no gauges to compare it to previous ones - but this one was phenomenal! It was great to be surrounded by other tea geeks and get to revel in tea & tea leaves all day. I met people from all ranges of the industry, from growers & importers, to other tea & steepware vendors, to people looking to open teahouses & retail stores in the coming year. I was lucky enough to try fresh roasted hojicha that was re-roasted on the spot, first flush Darjeelings from this spring, and an array of Japanese teas at a personal tasting with one of the most revered Japanese importers. Basically... I was in heaven. I also finally got to meet all of our tea importers in person, after having wonderful email & phone relationships with them throughout this past year. It's great to now have faces to go along with the people I already adored. I even discovered that our Taiwanese Oolong supplier also studied Marine Ecology in his previous career, like me. And at the end of the day, our whole TeaSpot team became like family sharing a single huge suite at the Luxor - kinda like summer camp for adults.

Ice-T, Sucka

G'day!
This steamy, 80-degree Thursday has me feeling it quite necessary to write an instructional on making delicious iced tea.

Thirsty? Don't try this, just make iced tea!

Image courtesy of http://www.funnyjunk.com/.

The most important thing about making iced tea that good old 6th grade (or was it earlier?!) mathematical trick: proportions!

The best way to make iced tea at home requires several tools. You will need an infuser basket or Steepin' Cup to brew your tea in, and I suggest using a standard martini shaker for the icing of the tea; no fancy-pants "Iced Tea Makers" needed; you are the iced tea maker!

Step 1: Choose the tea you prefer to ice, I highly recommend our Red Rocks and Green Roasted Mint as the most refreshing and delicious iced teas.

Step 2: Use double the amount of tea leaves. For example, an 8 ounce cup usually requires 1-2 tsp of tea. In this case, you will double that amount; so use 2-4 tsp of tea, depending on how strong you like you iced tea.

Step 3: Steep your tea for its recommended amount of time and water temperature in an 8 ounce Steepin' Cup.

Step 4: While tea is steeping, fill your martini shaker with ice.

Step 5: When tea has steeped, remove the infuser basket and pour your tea into the martini shaker.

Step 6: Shake it like a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest and ta-da! After you pour your martini shaker contents into a glass, you now have a delicious 16 ounce glass of iced tea!

Who knew it could be so simple? Well, I did, which is why I am sharing it with you all.

Big hugs and kisses!

Love,

Foolong Choo

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

There's always something cooking in the TeaSpot kitchen, so in accompaniment to our blog about tea-riffic cocktails, I thought I would go ahead and add the piece de résistance: a few mouth-watering recipes for cooking with tea. So put on your aprons, collect your spatulas, and get in the kitchen and make me some dinner!

Image courtesy of www.cocktail.uk.com

Tea has long been consumed at all times of the day and with all types of food, and also as an after-dinner digestif. Tea's wide range of subtle and poignant flavors make it perfect for added flavors in food. So it only makes sense that at some point during the human experience, our big-'ole brains would combine the two in the kitchen for some new culinary experiences.

So, without further ado, I give you the following recipes, courtesy of TeaSpot founders Maria Uspenski and Karen Harbour:

Green Tea Chicken Noodle Soup
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken, cut into1/2 inch pieces
2 teaspoons GREEN ROASTED MINT leaves steeped in one half-cup (4 oz) water
5 ounces dry bean thread noodles
4 cups chicken stock
2 (1/2 inch thick) slices ginger root, lightly mashed
1/2 cup oyster mushrooms, cubed
3 cups packed spinach leaves, large stems removed
Salt and white pepper, as desired

PREPARATION: Place the chicken in a large bowl and add the green tea. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to marinate. Cover the bean thread noodles with warm water. Soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain. In a big pot bring the stock, ginger and mushrooms to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add the chicken, including the GREEN ROASTED MINT marinade, and noodles. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Add the spinach and boil for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Red Rocks Roasted Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs Red Potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
3 teaspoons agave or honey
3 tablespoons TeaSpot’s Red Rocks tea, finely ground
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon white pepper

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 425°. In a large roasting pan or baking sheet, spread cubes potatoes evenly. In a bowl, mix oil, vinegar, Red Rocks tea, agave, salt & pepper. Drizzle mixture over potatoes and toss together. Cover with foil and place in oven. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes. Uncover and stir. Broil for an additional 5 - 10 minutes to brown top. Serves 6 – 8.

Orange-Mango Tango Duck
INGREDIENTS:
2 Boneless duck breast halves
¾ cup chopped shallots
2 ¼ cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups fresh or non-concentrated orange juice
4 teaspoons MANGO TANGO leaves
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons diced butter
salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 450F. Pierce skin of duck all over with fork and sprinkle duck with salt and pepper. Place duck, skin side down, in a heated skillet to brown (about 4 minutes). Turn duck breasts over and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove and place in a roasting pan, then continue to cook in 450F oven to desired doneness, about 20 minutes for medium-rare. Meanwhile, heat the drippings left in the skillet over medium. Add shallots and sauté until golden. Remove discarded drippings. Add broth, orange juice and MANGO TANGO leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce to about 1 cup and strain. Return liquid to same skillet and add honey; simmer 2 minutes. Whisk in butter and add salt and pepper to taste. Slice thin and serve with sauce.

Fragrant Rice

VINTAGE OOLONG will give your ordinary rice a sweet and subtle aroma. Perfect with any mustard sauce or cream-based entree.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups water
2 teaspoons VINTAGE OOLONG
2 cups rice
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt, 1/2 teaspoon, or to taste

PREPARATION: Boil water. Add rice, salt and olive oil and reduce heat to simmer. After 5 minutes add vintage oolong leaves. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is ready. Remove vintage oolong leaves – they will all be at the surface of the rice. Serves: 4 - 6

Earl of Grey Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
2 tsp Earl of Grey (dry leaves, ground)
2 c flour
2 eggs
4 oz. (1/2 c) butter, melted
1/2 c cane sugar
1 TBS decorative sugar crystals
a few loose Earl of Grey tea leaves

PREPARATION: Beat the melted butter with the sugar. Add 1 egg, then flour and powdered tea, until you get a homogeneous dough. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. Grease a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400F. Beat 2nd egg with 1 TBS water in a small bowl. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 in thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies into desired shapes, and place on cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg mixture. Decorate with loose sugar crystals and tea leaves. Bake about 10 mins or until just golden. Cool on rack and let come to room temperature before serving.

Boulder Blues Fruit Salad
INGREDIENTS:
6 teaspoons TeaSpot’s Boulder Blues steeped in 4 oz hot water
1/4 cup agave or 1/3 cup honey or sugar
Assorted Fruit (Strawberry, blueberry, mango, pineapple, apple, raspberry, melon, grapes)

PREPARATION: Steep Boulder Blues tea in 4 ounces water at 175° for 2 minutes (Note to bring water to 175° - boil and let cool for 3 minutes). Add hot tea to agave and whisk. Mix fruit in a big bowl. Drizzle Boulder Blues syrup over fruit. Mix gently and let sit for 20 - 30 minutes before serving.

Voilá!

Delicious Tea Drinks

This week finds me appreciating tasty tea concoctions made with various distilled spirits.

The art of concocting deliciously balanced booze drinks really needs no justification or introduction. That being said, allow me to provide some interesting drink recipes for you to try in the comfort and privacy of your own home, and afterwards, you can score bragging rights for sharing these amazing concoctions with your buddies.

They might not look like these, but trust me, they will be delicious!

Image courtesy of http://www.vanillafrap.com/

The Irish Earl:

This hot tea toddy is perfect for cooler weather. Which is perfect since we are still getting random snowstorms here in Colorado in the middle of May.

*Steep 1 tsp of TeaSpot's Earl of Grey for 4-5 minutes in 7 ounces of boiling water.

*Remove tea leaves, then add 1 ounce (that's a shot glass worth for you novices) of Bailey's Irish Cream.

*Enjoy.

*I said, Enjoy!

Tango Tea:

*Steep 3 tsp of TeaSpot's Mango Tango for 3-4 minutes in 8 ounces of boiling water.

*Pour over ice into a martini shaker to chill

*Blend 1/4 cup mango slices (or mango juice/puree) with a sprig of mint and a squeeze of honey

*Add tea and 2 oz fruit brandy or cognac

*Add ice to preference

The Anne Grenade:

*Steep 4 tsp of TeaSpot's Red Rocks in 8 ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes (or more, if you have time)

*Fill a martini shaker 3/4 full with ice, pour tea over ice and shake to chill

*In a 16 ounce pint glass, pour 1 ounce vodka and 1 oz Chambord over ice

*Fill remaining volume with iced Red Rocks tea

*Consume with relish. The verb relish, not the condiment.

Green Roasted Mint Mojito:

*Steep 3 tsp TeaSpot's Green Roasted Mint in 8 ounces of 175 degree water for 3 minutes.

*Fill a martini shaker 3/4 full with ice, pour tea over ice and shake to chill

*Muddle 2-4 sprigs fresh mint, 1-2 lime wedges, and cane sugar or agave in a 16 ounce pint glass

*add ice to glass

*Fill remaining volume with iced Green Roasted Mint tea

Boulder Blues Marteani:

*Steep 1-2 tsp TeaSpot's Boulder Blues in 8 ounces of 175 degree water for 2 1/2 minutes.

*Fill a martini shaker halfway with ice and add half of the steeped tea (4 ounces)

*Add 8 ounces lemon vodka and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice

*Shake, shake, shake!

*Pour into frozen martini glass

If you aren't loaded by now, you must be passed out on the couch! If anyone else has any delicious drink recipes to share, shoot!

Easy, killer! Image courtesy of www.waytoomany.com

What is this "Pu-erh" You Speak Of?

Pu-erh trees. Image courtesy of rishi.com .

You may or may not have already heard about "Puerh" tea, an ancient form of Chinese tea that is carefully aged and fermented over time. "Puerh" is the name for the tea in Mandarin, and "Bolay" or "Polay" is it's name in Cantonese. The tea itself is named after the Pu'er province in Yunnan, China. The best and true Puerh teas come from extremely old, wild tea trees. These teas are highly sought after and valuable, due to the increasing scarcity of these trees as well as an increase of faux puerh production utilizing other types of tea leaves. The tea plant itself, if left to its own devices, will indeed grow into a large tree. However, since plucking tea leaves off of anything that is higher than your own body is extremely difficult, the tea plants are kept pruned to a more managable height.

Puerh has long been considered a healthy tea by the Chinese, and medicinally, is believed to invigorate the spleen, relieve dampness, counteract alcohol toxins (ie, hangover cure), release stomach heat, and descend stomach qi (or chi). Puerh has also been considered a weight loss supplement due to its ability to aid in fat metabolism. So next time you roll through the line at McD's, do yourself a favor and wash it down with some puerh!

There are two types of processed Puerhs: Raw (aka green), and ripened or (aka cooked). Raw puerh is converted into "maocha," which means "rough tea." This is done by spreading the leaves in the sun to remove some of the water content and to wilt the leaves a bit. After that, the leaves are pan-fried in a wok to arrest all enzymatic activity and stop further fermentation. The leaves can then be rolled and shaped, and are given another sun bath. Once it is dry then voilá, you've got your green puerh.

Ripened puerhs undergo an additional process that imitates bacterial and fungal fermentation by controlling humidity, temperature, and the aging process. The process itself is very similar to composting. (Think hot, humid foodstuffs churning in the sun. Yum!) This takes 6 months to a year (and up, sort of like wine), and if it isn't carefully overseen, then you could end up with a not-so-pleasant tasting tea. The older the puerh, generally the more revered it is.

After the fermentation, some puerhs go on to be compressed into small cakes or bricks called "touchas," typically using a hydraulic or lever press.

Hey Beavis, this looks like a cow-pie, but really it's a Puerh brick.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Puerh is certainly an adventure for your taste buds if you have never tried it before. The first time I tasted Puerh, I thought it tasted like garden dirt in hot water, and I vowed never to drink it again. However, after continuing to hear about its many health benefits (mostly when I would explain them to customers) I figured I would give it another go. While traditional puerh certainly has an extremely earthy flavor, it is a flavor that grows on you, much like beer and mustard do after the age of 12. ish.

MA! This dirt tastes like puerh!
Image courtesy of onlysometimesclever.wordpress.com.

Green puerh, according to TeaSpot founder Maria Uspenski, tastes like "bacon and eggs."
"Most green puerhs are smoky," she says, in comparison to black puerhs. And I will have to take her word for it because I am certainly green myself when it comes to tasting these teas.

Green Puerh. So, so good. And good for you!

Whether you are new to puerh or not, the best way to learn what you like most is to get out there and try them. Our downtown store carries two varieties: a black, 7-8 year Aged Puerh that is very lovely and smooth, as well as a Green Puerh Chrysanthemum Toucha, which is, now that I think about it, rather smoky. Another great thing about puerh is you can re-steep it many times and still have a great cuppa. Our Bolder Breakfast Blend also incorporates pu'erh in the mix - inspiring its "Bolder" name!

So get thee out there and drink puerh! Immediately!