Greetings, readers.
It seems there have been an unusually high number of entries to this in the past month or so. I hope this makes up for the long periods of inactivity that this blog has sometimes seen. :) You might also notice that the contributor list of this blog is growing. There is a specific purpose for this. More on that later.
First of all, I must make a note to thank the Mellow Monk for his very enlightening entry about green tea and caffeine. It was great to have him write for us here, and he was oh-so-willing and eager to do that for us, so thanks to him for that.
I now have a fascinating topic to tell you about, which I was quite thrilled to learn about, and which I feel deserves a great mention here. People sometimes wonder about the legacies or history behind the things they enjoy. Very few people, however, go to such great lengths to unearth this history as the group of seven students who have launched an international project called "Tracing Tea."
Tracing Tea (tracingtea.org) is a large-scale project involving a 15,000 km journey in small open vehicles known as "Tuk Tuks" or "autorickshaws." The journey traces many of the old trading routes, and also tracing the history of tea in a semi-academic fashion from Calcutta, India to London, England and everywhere in between.
The end product of this massive journey by seven ambitious college students will be a book detailing their research findings and travel adventures, which promises to be a very fascinating reading experience.
The primary motivation for this journey of discover is nothing more than a deep and lasting love of tea - one which inspires them to do great and marvelous things. To paraphrase a comment from their website, they really love a good cup of tea, and find it appropriate to travel thousands of miles to get one.
So, I encourage you to take a look at the website, and follow the team's progress. I also encourage you to take a look at the finished book once it is published. I am sure you will find this a very interesting tangent from your everyday dealings.
Have a Marvelous Monday,
R 0 R
Monday, March 19, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Mellow Monk Talks About Green Tea and Caffeine.
Hello!
First of all, I’d like to thank Relznuk for the opportunity to post here. This is a great venue to talk about green tea—and put in a plug for my own tea, which of course is the finest in the land. (Who says monks have to be modest?)
One topic I’m asked about a lot is green tea and caffeine. Java junkies are worried it doesn’t have enough, and caffeine-sensitive folks are worried it has too much. But the fact is that green tea, magical drink that it is, is in the Goldilocks Zone when it comes to caffeine: not too much, and not too little, but just the right amount. Not only that, but you can adjust the amount of caffeine to suit your own personal tastes—to feed your need for speed, or to let you sleep soundly at night.
First of all, a cup of brewed green tea contains roughly one-third the caffeine as the same amount of brewed coffee. Some people say they’ve heard that green tea contains more caffeine than coffee does, but that’s true only if you’re talking about dried tea leaves versus coffee beans. By weight, dried green tea contains more caffeine than coffee, but tea goes a lot longer than coffee does: A pound of dried green tea leaves would brew enough liquid tea to fill a hot tub, whereas a pound of coffee wouldn’t come close. In other words, you use a lot less green tea by weight to brew a cup of tea, which is why an infusion of green tea ends up containing roughly a third of the caffeine.
If you really need a caffeine fix, you can always brew your tea on the strong side. Simply use more tea leaves—say, two teaspoons per 8-ounce mug instead of one. One of the many nice things about green tea is that it’s not acidic like coffee is, so a strong infusion won’t upset your stomach the way coffee can.
Green tea, mellow beverage that it is, is also a gentler way to get your caffeine fix. That’s because green tea’s oh-so-healthy polyphenols regulate the body’s uptake of caffeine. Consequently, the caffeine load is spread out more evenly and over a longer period. That means no jump-out-of-your-chair jolt, but it also means no crash-and-burn, either. Like a gentle lover, green tea lets you down easy.
But let’s say you’ve been restless lately and are worried about getting a good night’s sleep for a big interview tomorrow. What you can do is decaffeinate your green tea yourself. That’s right: There’s no need to buy industrially decaffeinated green tea, which can contain trace amounts of ethyl acetate, and who wants any of that in their body?
All you need to do is let your green tea steep for about 30 seconds, throw out that infusion, and then re-steep the tea as you normally would. Since caffeine seeps out into hot water much more quickly than the tea's "good stuff," the second infusion will contain 80 percent less caffeine than normal. Since green tea already contains about 66 percent less caffeine than coffee, that comes out to less than 7 percent the caffeine in a cup of coffee, if my math is correct.
(And if you let that first infusion steep for a full minute, you will have removed essentially all of the caffeine from the tea leaves.)
Also, instead of throwing away that caffeine-rich first infusion, you could save it to drink later, or water your houseplants with it, or even store up a pitcher full in the refrigerator and then give it to someone whose body runs on caffeine (we all know a couple of those).
If your tolerance for caffeine is very low, you could also try hojicha, which is simply green tea that has been roasted briefly. The roasting not only imparts a smoky aroma but also eliminates a lot of the caffeine. Oh, and Mellow Monk happens to sell some, too.
Well, I think I’ve written enough, so I’d like to wrap this up by thanking Relznuk again for time in his forum, and by inviting you all to try our authentic Japanese green tea. Mellow Monk buys directly from small, family-owned and -operated tea farms located in the foothills of Mt. Aso—an ideal tea-growing environment, with its volcanic soil, clean air, and natural spring water. Our growers are also certified environmentally responsible under the local “Eco Farmer” program, and they vacuum-seal their tea on site for freshness. For more info, please visit us online at MellowMonk.com.
Sincerely,
Mellow Monk
First of all, I’d like to thank Relznuk for the opportunity to post here. This is a great venue to talk about green tea—and put in a plug for my own tea, which of course is the finest in the land. (Who says monks have to be modest?)
One topic I’m asked about a lot is green tea and caffeine. Java junkies are worried it doesn’t have enough, and caffeine-sensitive folks are worried it has too much. But the fact is that green tea, magical drink that it is, is in the Goldilocks Zone when it comes to caffeine: not too much, and not too little, but just the right amount. Not only that, but you can adjust the amount of caffeine to suit your own personal tastes—to feed your need for speed, or to let you sleep soundly at night.
First of all, a cup of brewed green tea contains roughly one-third the caffeine as the same amount of brewed coffee. Some people say they’ve heard that green tea contains more caffeine than coffee does, but that’s true only if you’re talking about dried tea leaves versus coffee beans. By weight, dried green tea contains more caffeine than coffee, but tea goes a lot longer than coffee does: A pound of dried green tea leaves would brew enough liquid tea to fill a hot tub, whereas a pound of coffee wouldn’t come close. In other words, you use a lot less green tea by weight to brew a cup of tea, which is why an infusion of green tea ends up containing roughly a third of the caffeine.
If you really need a caffeine fix, you can always brew your tea on the strong side. Simply use more tea leaves—say, two teaspoons per 8-ounce mug instead of one. One of the many nice things about green tea is that it’s not acidic like coffee is, so a strong infusion won’t upset your stomach the way coffee can.
Green tea, mellow beverage that it is, is also a gentler way to get your caffeine fix. That’s because green tea’s oh-so-healthy polyphenols regulate the body’s uptake of caffeine. Consequently, the caffeine load is spread out more evenly and over a longer period. That means no jump-out-of-your-chair jolt, but it also means no crash-and-burn, either. Like a gentle lover, green tea lets you down easy.
But let’s say you’ve been restless lately and are worried about getting a good night’s sleep for a big interview tomorrow. What you can do is decaffeinate your green tea yourself. That’s right: There’s no need to buy industrially decaffeinated green tea, which can contain trace amounts of ethyl acetate, and who wants any of that in their body?
All you need to do is let your green tea steep for about 30 seconds, throw out that infusion, and then re-steep the tea as you normally would. Since caffeine seeps out into hot water much more quickly than the tea's "good stuff," the second infusion will contain 80 percent less caffeine than normal. Since green tea already contains about 66 percent less caffeine than coffee, that comes out to less than 7 percent the caffeine in a cup of coffee, if my math is correct.
(And if you let that first infusion steep for a full minute, you will have removed essentially all of the caffeine from the tea leaves.)
Also, instead of throwing away that caffeine-rich first infusion, you could save it to drink later, or water your houseplants with it, or even store up a pitcher full in the refrigerator and then give it to someone whose body runs on caffeine (we all know a couple of those).
If your tolerance for caffeine is very low, you could also try hojicha, which is simply green tea that has been roasted briefly. The roasting not only imparts a smoky aroma but also eliminates a lot of the caffeine. Oh, and Mellow Monk happens to sell some, too.
Well, I think I’ve written enough, so I’d like to wrap this up by thanking Relznuk again for time in his forum, and by inviting you all to try our authentic Japanese green tea. Mellow Monk buys directly from small, family-owned and -operated tea farms located in the foothills of Mt. Aso—an ideal tea-growing environment, with its volcanic soil, clean air, and natural spring water. Our growers are also certified environmentally responsible under the local “Eco Farmer” program, and they vacuum-seal their tea on site for freshness. For more info, please visit us online at MellowMonk.com.
Sincerely,
Mellow Monk
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Brewing the Perfect Pot of Tea
The following is a guest post written by Veralicious, a new contributor to the blog who lists the steps required to make a perfect cup of tea. I find this to be quite informative. As you'll note, it supports my long-held notion that loose-leaf is the way to brew the best possible cup of tea. So, a big thanks to Veralicious for this fantastic entry, and on that note, please enjoy the entry.
- Relznuk
Brewing the Perfect Pot of Tea
note - quality tea can be steeped more than once, save the leaves and re-steep, adding one minute for each additional brew.
black tea and herbals:
- bring your water to a full boil and remove from heat.
- allow tea to steep approximately 3-5 minutes and strain.
green teas:
- bring your water to a pre boil.
- when little bubbles start to form on the bottom of the kettle, remove from heat.
- allow tea to steep 1 1/2 - 3 minutes and strain.
oolongs and white teas:
- bring your water to a pre boil.
- when little bubbles are coming to the surface (a bit hotter then you would need for green tea) remove from heat.
- allow to steep 4-6 minutes and strain.
* when using a tea ball, fill only half way to allow the leaves room to expand *
- Relznuk
Brewing the Perfect Pot of Tea
- begin with your favorite loose tea.
- add cold water to your kettle and bring to a boil.
- fill your teapot with hot tap water to warm it.
- before pouring in the boiling water empty the hot tap water from the pre warmed teapot.
- add 1-2 teaspoons of tea leaves to your infuser, for every eight ounces of hot water
- pour the boiling water directly onto the leaves and steep the tea according to the directions below.
note - quality tea can be steeped more than once, save the leaves and re-steep, adding one minute for each additional brew.
black tea and herbals:
- bring your water to a full boil and remove from heat.
- allow tea to steep approximately 3-5 minutes and strain.
green teas:
- bring your water to a pre boil.
- when little bubbles start to form on the bottom of the kettle, remove from heat.
- allow tea to steep 1 1/2 - 3 minutes and strain.
oolongs and white teas:
- bring your water to a pre boil.
- when little bubbles are coming to the surface (a bit hotter then you would need for green tea) remove from heat.
- allow to steep 4-6 minutes and strain.
* when using a tea ball, fill only half way to allow the leaves room to expand *
Thursday, February 1, 2007
The Origins of Mr. T(ea).
Most of you have probably noticed that I have not posted in a while. I could give you excuses, but I think that you're probably ultimately not interested in excuses, and besides, they aren't even all exciting. So, I pretty much blew that new years resolution all to hell, didn't I? Oh well. Those are just creative ways to lie to yourself anyway. But, for all your waiting, you're going to get something interesting at worthwhile to read. At least I think so. And if you don't, feel free to print it off and use it as toilet paper or cat box liner or something. Whatever you wish. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to my latest article, "The Origins of Mr. T(ea).
Tea. What is it? Where does it come from? And how the hell did it get such a funny name? Today I will try to answer those questions, using a mixture of things which I am absolutely not qualified to talk about, including mythology, tradition, linguistics, and some other stuff that may or may not be really cool. By the way, if you think my title is terrible, you'll just have to deal with it. I'm just that way.
Question one. What is tea?
Tea is defined as the usable portion of the plant Camilla Sinensis, and the liquid made from those portions. As a beverage, it is aromatic and slightly bitter, and highly entrenched in Asian and English customs and lifestyle. As a plant, it is a short shrub with medium sized leaves that differ in appearance at different levels of maturity. As a dried herb (leaves), it takes a needle-like shape and has a fragile and brittle texture. Goddamn. I really hate defining things. I never do it justice.
Question two. Where does it come from?
Well, you see, first you get a seed, which is a whole bunch of genetic information in a tiny little package, and then you plant it, and then providing that it gets an adequate amount of nutrition, water, and sunlight, and remains within the proper temperature range, it will eventually develop into a mature plant. If you have the right type of seed, it would form into a tea plant, and if you picked the leaves of at just the right amount of time, dried them, and brewed them in water, then you would have some tea. That's where tea comes from.
JUST KIDDING.
What you want to see here is how tea was discovered as a beverage, and that is exactly what I am going to attempt to give you. That's how nice I am.
The discovery is supposed to have occurred in ancient China more than five thousand years ago. As the story goes, Emperor Shen Nung, an early emperor, creative scientist, and appreciator of the arts, had many ideas that were ahead of his time, one of those being the requirement that all drinking water be boiled for antiseptic and hygienic purposes. One day while visiting a distant part of his domain, he and his court stopped for a rest. He ordered some servants to boil some water for the court to drink. As the water was boiling, some dried leaves from a neighboring bush fell into the water, and a brown liquid resulted. Being a scientist, the emperor found the liquid interesting, drank a bit of it, and found that it had a very refreshing and pleasant flavor. So, according to legend, tea was created.
To this day, this myth remains so practical and reasonable of an explanation that a good number of mythologists believe that it might be very close to the way the events actually took place, which events are now long lost in the vortex of the past.
Question three. How the hell did it get such a funny name?
The actual word "tea" has it's origins in China, in the Minnan dialect, which was spoken by the people living in the area around the port of Amoy in southern China. Around AD 350, both the plant and the beverage were called "tu." This was adopted and altered a bit to become "tea" or "te" by such languages as Danish, French, German, Spanish, Polish, and others.
Another very popular word for it is "cha," which appears in languages such as Japanese, Portugese, Korean, Thai, Swahili, Hindi, and others. This originates in China as well, but mainly in the southern and the norther regions where Mandarin and Cantonese dialects are spoken. It is thought by some that "cha" was coined around 780 AD in the T'ang Dynasty, when Lu Yu published the book Cha Ching regarding the beverage. "Cha" is also sometimes used in English as a slang term.
So there you have it. Now you know what tea is, where it came from, and how the hell it got it's funny name. I could have written a great deal more regarding the history of tea, but then what the hell would I write about later?
So, I hope you enjoy this bit of information. I know I enjoyed writing it. And if you didn't enjoy it, please don't complain. The world already has too many complainers.
Over and Out,
Relznuk 0 Relznuk
Tea. What is it? Where does it come from? And how the hell did it get such a funny name? Today I will try to answer those questions, using a mixture of things which I am absolutely not qualified to talk about, including mythology, tradition, linguistics, and some other stuff that may or may not be really cool. By the way, if you think my title is terrible, you'll just have to deal with it. I'm just that way.
Question one. What is tea?
Tea is defined as the usable portion of the plant Camilla Sinensis, and the liquid made from those portions. As a beverage, it is aromatic and slightly bitter, and highly entrenched in Asian and English customs and lifestyle. As a plant, it is a short shrub with medium sized leaves that differ in appearance at different levels of maturity. As a dried herb (leaves), it takes a needle-like shape and has a fragile and brittle texture. Goddamn. I really hate defining things. I never do it justice.
Question two. Where does it come from?
Well, you see, first you get a seed, which is a whole bunch of genetic information in a tiny little package, and then you plant it, and then providing that it gets an adequate amount of nutrition, water, and sunlight, and remains within the proper temperature range, it will eventually develop into a mature plant. If you have the right type of seed, it would form into a tea plant, and if you picked the leaves of at just the right amount of time, dried them, and brewed them in water, then you would have some tea. That's where tea comes from.
JUST KIDDING.
What you want to see here is how tea was discovered as a beverage, and that is exactly what I am going to attempt to give you. That's how nice I am.
The discovery is supposed to have occurred in ancient China more than five thousand years ago. As the story goes, Emperor Shen Nung, an early emperor, creative scientist, and appreciator of the arts, had many ideas that were ahead of his time, one of those being the requirement that all drinking water be boiled for antiseptic and hygienic purposes. One day while visiting a distant part of his domain, he and his court stopped for a rest. He ordered some servants to boil some water for the court to drink. As the water was boiling, some dried leaves from a neighboring bush fell into the water, and a brown liquid resulted. Being a scientist, the emperor found the liquid interesting, drank a bit of it, and found that it had a very refreshing and pleasant flavor. So, according to legend, tea was created.
To this day, this myth remains so practical and reasonable of an explanation that a good number of mythologists believe that it might be very close to the way the events actually took place, which events are now long lost in the vortex of the past.
Question three. How the hell did it get such a funny name?
The actual word "tea" has it's origins in China, in the Minnan dialect, which was spoken by the people living in the area around the port of Amoy in southern China. Around AD 350, both the plant and the beverage were called "tu." This was adopted and altered a bit to become "tea" or "te" by such languages as Danish, French, German, Spanish, Polish, and others.
Another very popular word for it is "cha," which appears in languages such as Japanese, Portugese, Korean, Thai, Swahili, Hindi, and others. This originates in China as well, but mainly in the southern and the norther regions where Mandarin and Cantonese dialects are spoken. It is thought by some that "cha" was coined around 780 AD in the T'ang Dynasty, when Lu Yu published the book Cha Ching regarding the beverage. "Cha" is also sometimes used in English as a slang term.
So there you have it. Now you know what tea is, where it came from, and how the hell it got it's funny name. I could have written a great deal more regarding the history of tea, but then what the hell would I write about later?
So, I hope you enjoy this bit of information. I know I enjoyed writing it. And if you didn't enjoy it, please don't complain. The world already has too many complainers.
Over and Out,
Relznuk 0 Relznuk
Saturday, December 30, 2006
A Bloomin' Good Cup o' Tea.
Today's post is made possible by and done by the request of Mr. S. Kuperberg of FullBloomTea.com
It was absolutely beautiful. Scarlet flower petals uncurled and expanded, and as they did, they slowly released a stream of scarlet color into the water. As the pips on the flower head begun to stand up and get more color, they, too, released streams of scarlet into the water, slowly trickling down. The tea leaves themselves - silver needle white tea leaves - also began to expand outwards, appearing as if they were the base of this lovely flower which was blooming right before my eyes. Floral scent was wafting up from the mug, causing my mood to life. I allowed the tea to bloom for about 5 minutes before I 
drank it.
The tea itself was absolutely delicious. Perhaps some of the best tea I've ever had. This is, no doubt, because it is white tea, which is prized above all teas for it's rareness and delicate flavour.
The tea was almost as good after the second brewing (you can brew each bloom 2-3 times), but I opted not to chance it for a third.
After I had finished drinking the beverage, I took the bloom out of the mug, and was stumped at what to do next. The idea of throwing such a beautiful flower away was painful, but the idea of not being able to use the mug for the next time I wanted a bloom was even worse. I should have placed it in a clear glass and put it on display (yes, they really are that remarkable), but instead, I tenderly placed it in its final resting place.
So, to review the entire experience here, I'd have to say that the most common element here is theatre and show. Everything through the whole process is show. The shipping box, the product packaging, the brewing of the beverage, and even the drinking of the beverage are all very visual experiences, and necessarily have a certain theatrical element to them. Everything about this is carefully planned out. IN fact, even the packaging took months to decide on - They wanted packaging that would brighten your day. And they got it.
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Mr. Kuperberg which stated that he'd come across this blog, had recently launched a new specialty tea company, and would like to send me some of his products to review complimentary if I'd like.
If any of you know me very well (and I'm not sure that you do), you'd know that I very rarely turn down the opportunity to try something new, very rarely turn down something that doesn't 
cost me, and very rarely turn down the good-natured invitations of other people. Since Mr. Kuperberg's email offered all three of these, it was a no-brainer for me, and I told him that I be oh-so-happy to write a review of his products.
I promptly sent him my mailing information and awaited the arrival of what I thought perhaps two or three, but certainly no more than a half dozen samples of his products.
Several days later, the postlady knocked my door and handed me a rather large package with nice sticker on it that said "FullBloomTea.com" I almost didn't know what to think. I certainly hadn't expected such a large box. Perhaps two or three samples, I had thought. However, when I opened the box, I found a nice card written in fancy emerald green handwriting stating the contents of the box and perhaps some of the cheeriest packaging I'd seen in a long time (see picture.) Also included was his full line of 12 blooming teas, a clear travel mug, and a beautiful glass teapot. I was thrilled. It was like Christmas come a
few days early!
I then set out, over the next few days, to sample some of these teas. In this review, you'll be hearing about the 14 ounce travel mug, although I assure you that a review covering the lovely class teapot will be up within the next couple of weeks. The very first bloom (which is called the friendship bloom) was utterly breathtaking - as if something magical were occurring right there in the mug. I set the water to boil, dropped the bloom in the travel mug, and when the water was boiling, poured it over the bloom.
It was absolutely beautiful. Scarlet flower petals uncurled and expanded, and as they did, they slowly released a stream of scarlet color into the water. As the pips on the flower head begun to stand up and get more color, they, too, released streams of scarlet into the water, slowly trickling down. The tea leaves themselves - silver needle white tea leaves - also began to expand outwards, appearing as if they were the base of this lovely flower which was blooming right before my eyes. Floral scent was wafting up from the mug, causing my mood to life. I allowed the tea to bloom for about 5 minutes before I 
drank it.The tea itself was absolutely delicious. Perhaps some of the best tea I've ever had. This is, no doubt, because it is white tea, which is prized above all teas for it's rareness and delicate flavour.
The tea was almost as good after the second brewing (you can brew each bloom 2-3 times), but I opted not to chance it for a third.
After I had finished drinking the beverage, I took the bloom out of the mug, and was stumped at what to do next. The idea of throwing such a beautiful flower away was painful, but the idea of not being able to use the mug for the next time I wanted a bloom was even worse. I should have placed it in a clear glass and put it on display (yes, they really are that remarkable), but instead, I tenderly placed it in its final resting place.
So, to review the entire experience here, I'd have to say that the most common element here is theatre and show. Everything through the whole process is show. The shipping box, the product packaging, the brewing of the beverage, and even the drinking of the beverage are all very visual experiences, and necessarily have a certain theatrical element to them. Everything about this is carefully planned out. IN fact, even the packaging took months to decide on - They wanted packaging that would brighten your day. And they got it. 
This is the most artful tea I've consumed – and I must say it's been the most artfully presented as well.
Now, that being said, I think that most people would not find this an everyday tea. This is the sort of beverage that one might drink when entertaining company, or when celebrating something, or perhaps to give as a gift. Each bloom retails for about $3 a piece, and for the commuter teacup pictured here, the cost is $12. Not a huge cost, but not something most people could afford everyday. It also may be a bit over-elegant for the everyday, unless you're like me, and live on elegance whenever possible.
FullBloomTea.com now has a special offer available, in which you can obtain a free sample for just the cost of shipping ($2.) The sample includes one tea bloom. You can find the link at the top of their home page.
Also, new to their website is a list of all locations that retail their teas. If you are fortunate enough to have one of these in your area, you can skirt the shipping charges on their products by purchasing them at a retail store.
If you're a radio person, you might soon be hearing an advertisement for this company come over the air. These will be valentine-related advertisements. Tea blooms, much like roses, can be used to incite wonderful feelings on a special occasion, and can be used to let someone know that you love them and are thinking about them. Since these blooms have flowers as an integral part of them, what more appropriate gift might one give for valentine's day? "A flower to warm them from the inside out."
Well, that's a wrap for this entry. That's it for the year, and I look forward to having you all read my entries next year as well. I wish you a happy and prosperous 2007, and bid you adieu.
-Relznuk
Monday, December 18, 2006
A Bit of Warmth for the Holidays.
Hello again, readers. It has been almost two months since my last entry to this blog, and I feel a bit bad about that. I felt that I must at least make some sort of post for the holiday season, as this is a special and important time of year for so many people. The traditions of the holiday season carry treasured memories, and many of those memories lie within the tastes and smells that fill kitchens and cups (and the efforts that went into producing those tastes and smells of course!)
Psychologically, smell, more properly referred to as olfaction, is the strongest form of memory. And since taste is so strongly linked to smell, it is not difficult to see why our holiday memories involving food and drink are some of the last to ever be forgotten, if ever they are at all.
I would like to share a couple of ideas for making your teas a little more reminiscent of the holiday season, so that perhaps you might weave some long-lasting memories and traditions of your own.
One of these suggestions involves brewing your tea in fruit juice. I normally would not suggest this, as the very best way to create tea is from pure filtered water, and brewing it in juice could affect the way that flavors and nutrients are extracted from the tea (and result in less tea flavor), but since this has a nice festive sort of flavor, I'll go ahead and throw it out there.
For this recipe, heat some cranberry juice to near-boiling. If you reach boiling, you're a tad too hot, and will need to let your water cool for 30 seconds or so. While the cranberry juice is heating, assemble your tea. This recipe will work best with a black tea, or a green tea if you brew it a little stronger. To your usual tea (of which you ought to have about 1 heaping teaspoon per 6-8 ounces of water, depending on how strong you like it), add some freshly grated orange zest (about half as much orange zest as you have tea, or a bit less. You'll not want to overpower your beverage with orange). This will add a very nice flavor note which I think you will surely appreciate. Also add a bit of whole clove (not ground, or you'll never be able to filter it all out), and some cinnamon bark (but not ground cinnamon... you'll regret it. *shudders at memories of gritty tea*).
Once your cranberry juice is at the proper temperature, pour it over your assembled tea. Brew for 2-3 minutes (no more) in your preferred brewing device (once again, I prefer the french press), and then remove the solid tea from the teapot (or in the case of a french press, press down the plunge lever) and enjoy your finished tea. Most people tend to enjoy this tea with a bit of sugar, even if your generally not the sugar-and-tea sort.
The second holiday tea recipe introduces chestnuts to your tea making arsenal. Chestnuts have a delicious, mildly sweet flavor that makes a wonderful compliment to any tea.
For this tea, you'll need some freshly grated or coarsely ground ginger (anything but powdered), some chestnuts chopped semi-fine (Use either roasted or raw. I prefer roasted.), some cinnamon bark, some cloves, a small amount of orange zest, and of course, the black tea. With this recipe, a 1:1 substitution with green tea would work great as well.
For each cup (6-8 ounces) of tea, assembly 1 heaping teaspoon of tea, a collective teaspoon of equal proportions of ginger and orange zest, one or two cloves (three if you particularly like them), a small piece of cinnamon bark, and about 1/2 teaspoon of chestnuts. If you are making 32 ounces or more, using an entire cinnamon stick broken into smaller peices would be permissable.
Add some water just before the boiling point, and steep for 3-4 minutes. Remove solid tea from teapot (or in the case of a french press, press down the plunge lever), and enjoy the tea.
For those of you interested, here's a link to a poem called "A Cup of Christmas Tea."
I hope that you enjoy these festive tea recipes, and hope that you have a wonderful holiday season, and a happy and prosperous new year. May all of your celebrations be a damn lot of fun.
Cheers (of the holiday sort),
Relznuk
P.S.: I hope you find some consolation in the fact that writing to this blog more often is one of my New Year's Resolutions.
Psychologically, smell, more properly referred to as olfaction, is the strongest form of memory. And since taste is so strongly linked to smell, it is not difficult to see why our holiday memories involving food and drink are some of the last to ever be forgotten, if ever they are at all.
I would like to share a couple of ideas for making your teas a little more reminiscent of the holiday season, so that perhaps you might weave some long-lasting memories and traditions of your own.
One of these suggestions involves brewing your tea in fruit juice. I normally would not suggest this, as the very best way to create tea is from pure filtered water, and brewing it in juice could affect the way that flavors and nutrients are extracted from the tea (and result in less tea flavor), but since this has a nice festive sort of flavor, I'll go ahead and throw it out there.
For this recipe, heat some cranberry juice to near-boiling. If you reach boiling, you're a tad too hot, and will need to let your water cool for 30 seconds or so. While the cranberry juice is heating, assemble your tea. This recipe will work best with a black tea, or a green tea if you brew it a little stronger. To your usual tea (of which you ought to have about 1 heaping teaspoon per 6-8 ounces of water, depending on how strong you like it), add some freshly grated orange zest (about half as much orange zest as you have tea, or a bit less. You'll not want to overpower your beverage with orange). This will add a very nice flavor note which I think you will surely appreciate. Also add a bit of whole clove (not ground, or you'll never be able to filter it all out), and some cinnamon bark (but not ground cinnamon... you'll regret it. *shudders at memories of gritty tea*).
Once your cranberry juice is at the proper temperature, pour it over your assembled tea. Brew for 2-3 minutes (no more) in your preferred brewing device (once again, I prefer the french press), and then remove the solid tea from the teapot (or in the case of a french press, press down the plunge lever) and enjoy your finished tea. Most people tend to enjoy this tea with a bit of sugar, even if your generally not the sugar-and-tea sort.
The second holiday tea recipe introduces chestnuts to your tea making arsenal. Chestnuts have a delicious, mildly sweet flavor that makes a wonderful compliment to any tea.
For this tea, you'll need some freshly grated or coarsely ground ginger (anything but powdered), some chestnuts chopped semi-fine (Use either roasted or raw. I prefer roasted.), some cinnamon bark, some cloves, a small amount of orange zest, and of course, the black tea. With this recipe, a 1:1 substitution with green tea would work great as well.
For each cup (6-8 ounces) of tea, assembly 1 heaping teaspoon of tea, a collective teaspoon of equal proportions of ginger and orange zest, one or two cloves (three if you particularly like them), a small piece of cinnamon bark, and about 1/2 teaspoon of chestnuts. If you are making 32 ounces or more, using an entire cinnamon stick broken into smaller peices would be permissable.
Add some water just before the boiling point, and steep for 3-4 minutes. Remove solid tea from teapot (or in the case of a french press, press down the plunge lever), and enjoy the tea.
For those of you interested, here's a link to a poem called "A Cup of Christmas Tea."
I hope that you enjoy these festive tea recipes, and hope that you have a wonderful holiday season, and a happy and prosperous new year. May all of your celebrations be a damn lot of fun.
Cheers (of the holiday sort),
Relznuk
P.S.: I hope you find some consolation in the fact that writing to this blog more often is one of my New Year's Resolutions.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
I Heart Green Tea - And it Hearts Me!
Yeah. I know what you're thinking. I'm thinking it too... The title sucks. But the title is easily the least important part of any article I write (at least that it what I say to make myself feel better. lol.)
Before I get started on the bulk of the post, I would like to make a couple of announcements. The first, and most exciting of these announcements, is that this blog now displays perfectly in Internet Explorer, whereas before it would only work in FireFox. That 's a fine bit of news, I'd dare say. The second announcement is that I have entered an interesting tea recipe contest. More on that after I recieve the results (depending on how well the recipe does, I may just have to post that here as well!) Now, on to the real article. The one you've been waiting for. The one you've been dying (not really) to read.
Today's posting will be about some interesting benefits of green tea.
According to a recent Japanese study, folks who drink at least a pint of green tea a day have a much lower risk of death. This is good news! This is due to the decrease in the risk of heart disease that can be obtained from drinking green tea. This effect is more potent in women than men, but men can experience the positive benefits of tea also!
The reason that women seem to get more benefit from green tea then men has puzzled many people over the years, although it appears to be related to estrogen (as well as smoking, which mend tend to do more of than women.)
With the benefits of green tea, a couple of caveats were mentioned. One of these being that people one blood thinners should not take it, as green tea contains Vitamin K (the body's cheif blood clotting agent), and it should not be drunk at too high of temperatures.
For more information on the relationship between green tea and heart health, visit:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=64083
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Relznuk
Before I get started on the bulk of the post, I would like to make a couple of announcements. The first, and most exciting of these announcements, is that this blog now displays perfectly in Internet Explorer, whereas before it would only work in FireFox. That 's a fine bit of news, I'd dare say. The second announcement is that I have entered an interesting tea recipe contest. More on that after I recieve the results (depending on how well the recipe does, I may just have to post that here as well!) Now, on to the real article. The one you've been waiting for. The one you've been dying (not really) to read.
Today's posting will be about some interesting benefits of green tea.
According to a recent Japanese study, folks who drink at least a pint of green tea a day have a much lower risk of death. This is good news! This is due to the decrease in the risk of heart disease that can be obtained from drinking green tea. This effect is more potent in women than men, but men can experience the positive benefits of tea also!
The reason that women seem to get more benefit from green tea then men has puzzled many people over the years, although it appears to be related to estrogen (as well as smoking, which mend tend to do more of than women.)
With the benefits of green tea, a couple of caveats were mentioned. One of these being that people one blood thinners should not take it, as green tea contains Vitamin K (the body's cheif blood clotting agent), and it should not be drunk at too high of temperatures.
For more information on the relationship between green tea and heart health, visit:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=64083
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Relznuk
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