Chaibecca

I’ve recently had the pleasure of sampling a new chai tea mix from Chaibecca.

This Indian style Masala Chai comes in four blends – Creator’s Blend, Rooibos Mountain Chai, Ginger Root Chai and Vanilla Bean Chai.

 The chai is quick and easy to prepare.  Since I love ginger, the Ginger Root Chai was the first blend I made. 

There was a lovely spicy fragrance as the mixture came to the boil.  I  prepared the mix without sugar and added honey after straining the chai into my teacup.

The flavor of the Assam tea mixed with ginger, cardamom, pepper and allspice is really delectable.  The Creator’s Blend was also yummy and I’m certain that the others will be tasty as well.

It’s nice to know that you can quickly prepare a cup of chai from a mix that doesn’t contain any artificial fillers, sweeteners or preservatives. 

As it states on the Chaibecca packaging “it’s TEAriffic”.

Happy New Year

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  For the first time in several years, all my children and grandchildren celebrated with us on Christmas Day.  We enjoyed turkey with all the fixins for dinner and an over abundance of desserts including pecan pie, pumpkin pie, red velvet cake, sugar cookies, chocolate fudge, and Belgium chocolates.  Whew – I’m going to need those Zumba classes next year.

Our computer went on the fritz on December 23 and we didn’t get it back up for six days – maybe it was a blessing in disguise.  It meant that I had more time to read several new tea theme books. 

Leftover turkey at my house is usually transformed into turkey tetrazzini the week after Christmas, but this year I decided to try something different.  I made Southwestern turkey soup from a recipe I found online.  It was delicious and a little unusual with the diced fresh avocado and cilantro.  It was well spiced, even though I cut the cayenne pepper from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/4.

The Traveling Tea Ladies book “Death in Dallas” has been an entertaining read so far.  One of the four main characters described the group as Steel Magnolias on steroids.  I like the many references to tea and the tea time recipes and tips.

I’ve had lots of Christmas teas to sample, like this Harney & Sons Holiday tea.  It is a citrus and spice flavor tea, similar to others available at this time of year.  I do like the little tins (5 sachets per tin) that were perfect for stocking stuffers and small gift bags.

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year.     

International Tea Farms Alliance

Some time ago I received a package from ITFA that included four teas from Taiwan.

The ITFA was started by farmers at Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantation with support from tea farmers in Japan, Indonesia, India, Hawaii and Korea.  The organization was launched at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas last June.  The main objective is to bring tea farmers and consumers closer together using the web, trade shows, conferences, etc.

The Global Tea Tasters Club is a remarkable resource for the tea enthusiast.  Not only do you have the opportunity to enjoy wonderful teas from several tea growing regions, but you obtain a wealth of knowledge about the tea farmers and their operations.

There were several pages of information with lots of interesting facts and photos about the history of Taiwanese tea, the farms and the growers.

The tea itself was well packaged, mostly using the vacuum pack method which really compacts the tea leaves.  The tea itself is very fresh and full of flavor.  One of my favorites is the Ruby Black Tea  from Yuan Shiang farm that I’ve been enjoying as my morning brew.  It’s a pleasure sampling the oolongs too and learning how the degree of fermentation or growing altitude affects the flavor of these teas.

Be sure to check out the interesting ITFA website and their Global Tea Tasters Club.

Christmas Tea Tree

I’ve been collecting ornaments for my tabletop tea tree for a number of years.  I love looking at it each Christmas and have it set up in my dining room.

This is last years tree.  I’m not sure if I’ll have time to put it up again before Christmas, but I did find one new ornament to add to my collection this year.

My tree already includes a couple of Spode teapots and a Spode cup with saucer in the “Christmas Tree” pattern, but this is the first time I’ve seen this little plate and spoon ornament. 

Won’t this make a pretty addition to my Christmas tea tree?

Cloud Tea Monkeys

There are a lot of tea books available for young girls and I’ve purchased several for my little granddaughter.  I’ve never found any that I thought my grandsons (10 and 8) might enjoy, until now.

This book is based on the centuries-old legend of tea picking monkeys.  Tea that is sold today as monkey picked hasn’t literally been picked by monkeys, but refers to the highest quality Tie Guan Yin tea.

Cloud Tea Monkeys is full of wonderful characters, like the little girl Tashi, her mother, the heartless tea plantation overseer, the Royal Tea Taster and Rajah the head male monkey.  The drawings of the Tea Tasters face as he samples the tea in Tashi’s basket are quite hilarious.

This is like a tea fairy tale.  The little girls mother becomes very ill and can’t pick tea and there is no money for a doctor.  The little girl is too small to pick the tea in her place. 

Tashi pours out her heartache to the monkeys that she has befriended on the plantation.  Then something happens that will change her life forever. 

This book has vivid descriptions of the huge tea plantation and colorful illustrations (by Juan Wijngaard).

I loved this book with its happy ending and I hope my grandsons will too.

Christmas Cards

Is it just me, or are the holidays getting more hectic each year?  Although hubby has been out of the country on business for a while, he did manage to leave me several of his cross-stitch Christmas cards.

He stitched a series of cards including Hope, Faith, Love, and  Joy.

The cross-stitch pieces just slide into the cards and can be removed for framing.

There was also a series of smaller round pieces with various subjects.  My favorite is this snowman that suits the card perfectly.

 

Now I just need to get busy and send them out.  How about you – do you still mail Christmas cards?  Some people are turning to online cards and I have received some gorgeous animated ones.

Teavivre - Tea For Life

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of sampling tea from a group of tea lovers from China, Australia, Canada and France (all living in China)who make up Teavivre.  This company has a terrific website with an impressive amount of tea information.  Be sure to check out all the great photos in the Tea Pictures section.  I especially enjoyed seeing the Tea Exhibition photos at three different locales.

The tea was very well packaged with individual bags of tea inside the foil pouch.  There is a great label on the back with a lot of really useful information including origin and manufacturer, production date, storage instructions, shelf life and a brew guide.

I have several types of tea to sample including Bailin Gonfu black, White Peony (Bai MuDan), Jasmine Dragon Pearls green, Yun Nan Dian Hong black, Dragon Well green and a Ripened Aged Pu-erh Mini Toucha.

Since I’m such a black tea lover, I first sampled the Bailin Gongfu. This brewed a satisfyingly smooth and slightly sweet cup of tea.  I really like this one.

I was tempted to try the Pu-erh next, since I was not feeling up to par and I’ve read that this tea (sometimes called a medicinal tea) is great for calming stomach upsets, but settled on White Peony instead.  I’m not fond of tea that is really flowery, but this Bai MuDan was delicate, sweet and not too flowery –  really delicious.

I’m very happy with the Teavivre tea that I’ve sampled thus far and will share more later.  Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn about the company and see the excellent variety of quality tea that is available, do visit their website.  They also have a reward program for discounts on future purchases and free shipping on orders over thirty dollars.