You may have seen our new tea and wine infusion kit, featuring our Mist iced tea jug designed for cold-steeping, and three single-serve packs of Love Struck Rooibos herbal tea. Essentially, we took the two best things to flow from a pitcher, mixed them together, and they were both better for it. The right tea really can enhance an inexpensive bottle of wine. Think of it as a kind of sangria, using a spiced, slightly sweet herbal tea instead of fruit and brandy. The kit eliminates guesswork (and mess). Just empty one pre-measured pack of tea into the jug, fill with wine (we recommend Pinot Grigio), and chill overnight. The Mist jug has a screen in the spout that strains the tea for you. When it’s ready, pour the infusion into a glass and enjoy. We really hope you appreciate the amount of office drinking that went into getting this recipe just right.

Delicious as it is used as prescribed, you can have some fun experimenting with this kit too, and we have. We were  interested in a more traditional fruit sangria variation and after trying different wine-tea-fruit combinations, these two were declared the winners. For both recipes, we started with the chilled tea-infused wine. After pouring the infusion out and returning it to the pitcher to strain the tea leaves, we added fruit and let things sit overnight before serving.

Sangria #1: Peach and Mango Lovestruck Rooibos

Lovestruck Rooibos is the tea we include with the infusion kit. An herbal tea blend with hibiscus, ginger, and citrus peel, the Lovestruck pairs well with many wines and adds a beautiful red color. This time around we tried it with a dry Riesling. The fruity sweetness of the Riesling and ginger-y spice from the tea worked great for this fruit combination. Peach liquor might be a nice addition for a little added sweetness.

Sangria #2: Blueberry Basil Lavender Lemonade

Lavender Lemonade is one of new spring teas flavored without anything artificial, just lavender, lemon myrtle, hibiscus, and marigold petals. It’s spectacularly flavorful.  For our second sangria experiment we infused a bottle of Gruner Veltliner with seven teaspoons of tea. We added basil leaves and frozen blueberries, which turned the infusion a lovely purplish red. The lemon-basil-lavender flavor combination was dangerously delicious and refreshing. Try it with your favorite dry white wine or add fresh mint and blueberries for a variation on the theme.

Pairing teas and wines with fruit is a fun game we plan on playing all summer long. Have an idea for a combination? Share it — we’d be happy to give it a try and report back!

In celebration of our April birthdays, staff member and culinary wizard Lori generously baked this gorgeous hummingbird cake which we devoured in a typical five minutes flat. A spring-y twist on carrot cake, hummingbird cake substitutes crushed pineapple for shredded carrot. It is fabulous with coffee or tea. The dried pineapple flowers ore optional, but impressive as heck and really pretty easy (tutorial here).

Recipe:

• 3 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 3 large) mashed ripe banana
• 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans (more for decorating, if desired)
• 1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
• Dried pineapple flowers, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of pans with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust pans with flour, tapping out any excess; set pans aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

Place butter, vanilla, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow.

In a medium bowl, stir together banana, pineapple, nuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture, stir until well combined. Add flour mixture; blend well.

Divide mixture between prepared pans. Bake until golden brown, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking.

Transfer pans to a baking rack to cool. Let pans cool 15 minutes before unmolding. Loosen sides with a small metal spatula or a paring knife, and invert onto greased wire racks. To prevent layers form splitting, invert again, so tops are up. Cool completely before assembling cake or wrapping airtight to freeze cake for later.

Using a serrated knife, trim the top of one layer (it is okay if the second layer is a bit rounded, for it becomes the top of the cake).

To assemble, place trimmed layer on serving platter. Spread the top with a 1/4-inch layer of frosting. Top with the untrimmed top layer. Lightly coat the assembled cake with a thin layer of frosting to protect against crumbs in the frosting. Finish with remaining frosting. Decorate with chopped pecans if desired and dried pineapple flowers, if desired. Serve immediately, or keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Source: Martha Stewart Living, June 2003

Tea drinking has been linked to a multitude of benefits, from weight loss and improved digestion, to mental clarity and sparkling charisma (I made up that last one but looking around at our staff, it might be true). While we make no specific health claims about our teas, we are certainly encouraged to keep drinking. Our consumption levels around the office are completely out of hand, so I have our customers to thank for having some idea of how much tea the average consumer enjoys on a daily basis. And the answer is usually multiple cups. You all might not drink as much as we do, but you drink a lot. With anything you’re consuming a lot of (especially for health reasons,) it’s generally a good idea to know the ingredients involved and how they’re grown. So, here are some answers to your frequently asked tea questions, and a few new teas (with no artificial ingredients) to try!

How safe are your teas?
Teas cannot be imported without meeting the FDA’s standards. All of our teas are tested for pesticides, allergens, biological contamination, mold and moisture and we keep certificates of analysis on file for each tea. This certification does not provide the specific amount of residue that may or may not have been found in the tea, it simply states that the tea meets the federal government’s requirements for safe consumption. As mentioned earlier, we drink MANY cups a day and stand by the quality and safety of our teas.

Are any of your teas organically grown?
Our facility is in the process of receiving organic certification from the NJDA. Once this process is complete we will be able to label our organically grown products as such and look forward to expanding our line-up of organic teas. Below is a list of the teas we currently offer that are grown organically:

Assam Tonganagaon GFBOP Black Tea
Golden Nepal Black Tea
Pu-Erh Tea
CO2 Decaf Green Tea
Mao Jian Green Tea
Sencha Zhejiang Green Tea
West Lake Dragonwell Lung Ching Green Tea
Bai Mu Dan White Tea
Honeybush Herbal Tea
Hibiscus C/S
Yerba Mate Select Herbal Tea

Do you carry any teas with no artificial flavor or additives?
Yes! The ingredients list for most of our teas is quite simple – one ingredient each. For example, Assam black tea is simply Assam tea from India and Young Hyson green tea is Young Hyson green tea from China. There are no chemicals, flavors, preservatives or other additives. What about our flavored teas? Many of our teas are flavored with natural and artificial ingredients, all of which are FDA approved. While all are considered safe for consumption, we understand that some people choose to avoid these ingredients and so we make it a point to always offer a wide selection of teas with no additives as well. And while we have a good time concocting mad-scientist worthy flavor combinations like Maple Bacon Chai or Blueberry Lemon Cake Rooibos, we know tea purists like to have some fun too. That’s why we have some new teas for spring creatively flavored with herbs, spices, fruit pieces, and no artificial anything. We’re very proud of the results! Here they are with their ingredients:

Barefoot in the Woods: Sencha, Green Rooibos, elderberry, lemongrass, cardamom pods, cracked star anise

Lavender Lemonade: lemon myrtle, hibiscus, lavender, marigold petals

Spring Blossom: Mao Jian Green Tea, blackberry leaves, freeze-dried cherry pieces, dried cherry whole, barberry fruit, hibiscus, rose hips, rose petals

Peppermint Rose: peppermint, rose petals, rose hips, lemon verbena, hibiscus, orange pekoe

We’ve been getting a lot of these questions lately in response to a recent “Food Babe” article about toxins found in popular brands of tea. You can read it here. In the interest of fairness, you might also want to check out this chemistry-heavy (for the average liberal arts type, anyway) response to Food Babe’s blog. These posts might further answer your questions or they might spark a few more. We’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject, so please share your comments below!

Some of the most common questions we get here from customers concern decaf: how our coffee is decaffeinated, how much caffeine is in our decaf, why would a person drink decaf, and the like. We hear from a lot of newly caffeine-free coffee lovers who want a little guidance in navigating this new world and maybe a shoulder to cry on.

There is so much more to love about coffee than caffeine alone, and we certainly do not share the “why bother” attitude about decaf of some coffee enthusiasts. As glorious as caffeine is, there are plenty of sound reasons why you might want to limit your intake. Starting with high-quality beans decaffeinated to preserve flavor, our decafs are given the same fresh roasted treatment as our regular coffees. If you’ve steered clear of decaf since the grim instant-only days, you’re in for a surprise.

Back to those questions.

How much caffeine is in our decaf?

It is impossible to remove all of the caffeine from coffee, but according to the industry standard, 97% or more of the original caffeine has been removed from all of our decaf coffee. Caffeine levels vary not only with the variety of coffee and roast level, but also with the grind level and brewing method. Generally speaking, Arabica coffees are lower in caffeine in Robusta. You’ll find some Robusta in many of our blends, including espressos. All of our single-origin coffees are 100% Arabica. Another general rule of thumb: the lighter the roast, the higher the caffeine content. Dark roast coffees have been exposed to more heat, which breaks down the caffeine molecule. Finally, preparation matters too. With a fine grind, more of the coffee comes in contact with the water during the brewing process (it’s a surface area thing), and more caffeine winds up in your cup. The longer the water is in contact with the grounds, the more caffeine you are getting. Sound complicated? That’s why we can’t answer that question in milligrams per cup, unfortunately. Once you know a little bit about the factors affecting caffeine content however, you might find that you have more options and more control over your caffeine consumption than you thought.

How is your coffee decaffeinated?

We currently offer coffees decaffeinated by three different methods: methylene chloride, carbon dioxide, and Swiss Water Process. Unless otherwise specified, our decafs are decaffeinated using the methylene chloride method. Methylene Chloride is a solvent that targets and removes caffeine more precisely than other methods, leaving more of the bean and more of the flavor behind. The FDA considers a residual amount of 10 parts Methylene Chloride per million safe for consumption, but far less remains prior to roasting, which removes the remaining traces. CO2 Decaffeination employs a similar technique, using carbon dioxide as the caffeine-extracting solvent. Water alone is the solvent in the Swiss Water Process method, which returns water-soluble flavor components to the beans (minus the caffeine) after extraction. SWP Decaf boasts the highest levels of caffeine removal and is a popular chemical-free alternative. Why do we offer all three? Methylene Chloride is considered by many to yield the most flavorful results, while CO2 and Swiss Water Decafs have many fans of their own as more natural alternatives.

Does all decaf coffee have no soul?

As a part of the pregnancy tidal wave that swept CBD in the last year, I had ample opportunity to explore our decaf options and overcome my bad attitude about decaf. Kind of. I still prefer caffeine, but it’s not about flavor. It’s about 1AM, 3AM, and 6AM feedings. For all you reluctant converts out there, it is possible to find a decaf you will look forward to drinking. To get started, try something similar in roast level and origin to what you already love. If you’re not sure what that is, our customer favorites include Decaf Colombian, Decaf Dark Sumatra, Decaf French Roast, and Decaf House Blend. Or try one of our pregnant staff favorites: Decaf Ethiopian on the lighter end, Decaf Dark Costa Rican for the dark drinkers. Still not sure? Give us a call, and we’re happy to point you in the right direction!

We all love to binge on our favorites this time of year; the same movies, songs, and recipes, over and over again until we can’t stand it anymore. I decided to try an update on a very old favorite this year: holiday sugar cookies.  You know the kind — you cut them out and decorate them like Santa or snowmen or dreidels or gelt. I found the simple recipe (below) in my mother’s battered copy of the Joy of Cooking. The vibrant color of our Yame Matcha green tea powder seemed full of festive possibilities, so I decided to throw some in and this happy-looking dough was the result:

Just in case my experiment was a total flop, I made a batch the old-fashioned way. I couldn’t leave that alone either though, and I whipped up a batch of Matcha icing. My “recipe” was basically a cup of confectioner’s sugar, a few tablespoons of milk and Matcha powder until a screaming green color was achieved. I glazed both versions. The green icing on green cookies version was my favorite. The Matcha lends the cookies a delicate, slightly sweet green tea flavor. Next time I would nix or reduce the vanilla extract in the original recipe — the Matcha alone is flavor enough. I’m itching to make some witch fingers out of this stuff, or maybe some shamrocks in a few months. Here’s the recipe:

Cream Together: 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 C butter.

Beat in: 2 1/2 C sifted flour, 2 t baking powder, and 1/2 t salt.

Chill the dough 3-4 hours. Preheat the oven to 375 degree. Roll out and cut the dough, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 7-12 minutes.

Once the cookies have cooled, add icing, sprinkles, etc.