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.

Who doesn’t know how to make coffee? Whether you’re interested in brewing the best tasting cup or you just need a stimulant in your system as soon as possible in the morning, most of us figure out how to make drinkable coffee at home. Most of us have also wondered at some point why the same coffee we make at home tastes better when we eat out or at a friend’s house. Or we wonder why whatever we’ve been doing for the last few years suddenly doesn’t do it for us anymore.

Many of us at Coffee Bean Direct are foodies and pretty talented cooks — if you ask any of us we’d be happy to tell you just how talented. That’s why potlucks turn into cook-offs which turn into marathons of indigestion. Today’s chili cook-off is an especially happy occasion since Sandy put last year’s event on hold indefinitely and we all had to suffer through the storm bloat-free. The chili was delicious, of course.

Also noteworthy was the collection crockpots, some museum-worthy.

The winning chili belonged to this beauty.

The talent behind the winning dish is chef John, was kind enough to share his recipe using our Dark Sulawesi coffee. Here’s the quick and dirty version:

Cook 2lbs of chopped onions in bacon fat over low heat until translucent, remove from heat.

Brown 2lbs of meat (the winning batch was a ground pork and bison mix) and deglaze the pan with 1/2 pot of brewed Dark Sulawesi Kalossi.

Throw everything in a crock pot, add 2lbs of Anasazi beans (soaked overnight), 4 pints of dark beer, chili powder, molasses, salt, and sliced Szechuan chili peppers (feel free to get creative with the quantities).

Cook on high 4-6 hours.