Rob wraps about the Tuffy Steeper

Rob Cooke explains why the Tuffy Steeper makes a great tea companion, especially on-the-go...

Anybody else wondering what else he has in his back pocket...???

Tea-soned Maté Limon Shrimp Stir-Fry

A quick, easy & tea-licious meal that takes 20 minutes to make...

Ingredients:

•  1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
  
•  1 1/2 TBS Maté Limon Chai* Tea-soning
  
•  4 TBS canola oil, divided
  
•  1 red onion, diced
  
•  1 clove garlic, minced
  
•  1 zucchini, chopped
  
•  1 yellow squash, chopped
  
•  1 red bell pepper, chopped
  
•  1 can corn, drained & washed
  
•  3 TBS teriyaki sauce
  
•  1/8 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
  
•  3/4 cup chicken broth
  
•  salt & pepper to taste
  

Preparation:

1. Combine shrimp and Tea-soning in a large plastic food storage bag and refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

2. Heat 2 TBS oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onion & garlic and sauté until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add Tea-soned shrimp and cook until opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp and reserve.

3. Heat 2 TBS oil in wok. Add zucchini, squash, red bell pepper and corn to wok and sauté until slightly soft, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the reserved shrimp and add teriyaki sauce.

4. In a bowl, whisk cornstarch and chicken broth together add to wok; cook, stirring until mixture boils. Reduce heat and serve.

Serving Suggested: Vintage Oolong Rice Pilaf. Visit teaspotchef.blogspot.com for recipe.

Westward Bound... to EXPO!

Feels like the night before Christmas - when all through the house, not a creature was stirring at The Tea Spot.

3 of our team of 7 are already in/on their way to Anaheim, CA for the largest Natural Food Show of the year, EXPO West.  EXPO's hosted by the Boulder media powerhouse, New Hope Media.  We'll be one of over 2000 exhibitors. From our town alone, about 40 companies are exhibiting - no small feat!  Our local paper ran an article, appropriately titled "Naturally Hopeful" in the biz section this week, stating (quite accurately, I might add) that this event is, for many companies, the largest annual marketing expenditure they'll choose to make.  So even from our 10x10 spot in the basement, we intend to wow many of the 53,000 anticipated "industry professional" passer-bys with our outstanding teas and innovative Steepware products, including some previews of exciting developments coming in 2010. Our newest development dovetails perfectly with the strong Going Green initiatives that New Hope has taken with CO2 emissions reductions initiatives at the show this year ;)

Our Natural Foods sets are growing, both in quality of products and number.  We're thrilled to be offering our teas in bulk to grocery shoppers in select stores like Whole Foods (Southglenn store set pictured at center) and Food Lion.  But the cornerstone of our brand and affinity for the natural and organic shopper comes from retailers like Lazy Acres in Santa Barbara, and Ellwood Thompson's (set pictured at the bottom) in Richmond Virginia.  This is our customer, and this year, we hope to be able to better represent our brand on their shelves, offer a wider variety of products in bulk, as well as new and innovative tea steeping tools for the consumer as well as foodservice.

The feeling of pending expectation has been building... now in our 5th year of exhibiting at the show, we're (thankfully!) at our most organized and well-mobilized, and looking forward to not only representing our own products and mission of fostering health and wellness through loose leaf tea, but taking in what others are doing in our industry. 

So please come by and visit us (and enjoy some tea!) at booth 5766 in Hall E - our hall opens at 9:30 AM - 30 minutes earlier than all the others (is this 'cus it's hard to get to, I wonder?!)

The Natural Products EXPO West show runs from March 12-14 at the Anaheim Convention Center. 

And I'll do my best to report here on our experience at the show :)

Steep up a little dust lately?

read on... odds are, if you're a US tea drinker, you probably have :(

I did a double take then I first saw this headline in the Financial Express: "Clean tea, dusts in strong demand" Who's demanding dust, I wondered... but of course - your best-known tea companies!

From Wikipedia: "Dust tea...Traditionally these were treated as the rejects of the manufacturing process in making high quality leaf tea... has however experienced a huge demand in the developing world in the last century as the practice of tea drinking became popular. Cheap tea stalls in India and the South Asian sub-continent, and Africa prefer dust tea because it is cheap and also produces a very strong brew - consequently more cups are obtained per measure of tea dust."
 
Terrific... We Americans and Brits established dust's popularity, and tea bags made it all possible.  I guess there's something to be said for the vertical integration and sustainability aspect to being able to use the whole leaf, even the rejects from the manufacturing process ;)

Even the "clean tea" that was in high demand was - fannings!  Fannings are barely a step up from dust. They're defined in the tea industry as: Dust or very small particles of tea left over after processing. This is the lowest grade of tea.  Some auctions, however, include "dust" as an actual grade of tea, namely the one being reported on in our subject article.

Take heart, however, in that you'll probably never find dust or fanning grade tea in any loose tea product.  From the seven main grades of tea auctioned off, we're the ones who buy up the top 3 grades. So you can drink up and feel good about it :)

Photo Credits:
* Teabag beauty shot from prwatch.org 
* New Moon Darjeeling leaf pile from theteaspot.com

Love for our retailer, Living the Sweet Life, this Valentine's!

Since I'll be talking about one retailer each week, I decided to focus my attention, this week and next, to retailers (and e-tailers) who have a particularly good shop for the Valentine's season.

My focus this week will be on a new bakery in Denver called Living the Sweet Life. This past fall, owner and baker Erika Cunha opened her shop in the Highlands of Denver and has been selling fantastic sweets to people all over the Denver metro area. Click on the website and you begin by seeing mouthwatering red velvet cupcakes (pictured here) that you know are completely moist and delicious.

Take a look at their downloadable menu and you'll see many other delicious treats ranging from Cinnamon Swirl Sweet Breads to Colorado Cherry Pie to my favorite, the Raspberry Linzer Bars (honestly who doesn't like raspberry bars). After less than 2 months, Erika's Huckleberry Pie was reviewed in 5280! This unfortunately is only a seasonal item because Erika goes all the way to Idaho to pick the huckleberries herself! Check out the article and don't miss all the comments which have great reviews as well!

Where does The Tea Spot fit in do you say? If you can force your finger to keep scrolling past all the scrumptious desserts on the menu, you'll find us listed at the bottom with the other drinks served at the shop. Six of our signature loose leaf teas are served at Living the Sweet Life. Since they have some cute sitting areas you can go to either sip a cup of tea while munching on one of their treats or take a cup to-go with your box of Valentine's desserts (we know there was one more cookie in that box before it got to your loved one :) ).

If you haven't already been there and are looking for a cute, quaint shop with unbelievable delicious (have I said their stuff is delicious yet?) treats to grab for Valentine's day, or ANY day, then you HAVE to check them out! Call ahead to place any special order you might have. Contact details and address listed below.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day and go enjoy some desserts with your sweet(tea) ;)


303.477.8088
1535 Central St., Denver, CO 80211
livingthesweetlifedenver.com

Coffeecakes.com- Retails The Tea Spot teas and Steepware!

Hello Tea Spot fans!

This year I would like to focus on all of the wonderful retailers, e-tailers and food service customers who sell and serve our teas. All of these shops have unique and wonderful traits with one thing in common, selling The Tea Spot products. Follow me each week to read about another one of our retailers.

I will start this series with Coffeecakes.com!

Coffeecakes.com and The Tea Spot became partners in what seemed to be a whirlwind of serendipidous connections. Literally a day after I had contacted Coffeecakes.com to see if they would be interested in trying our products, I received a contact form that someone from Coffeecakes had filled out on our website, requesting wholesale information! It couldn't be that easy right?

It was!!! Shortly after I sent samples out for them to try, we were in business and hit the ground running. Let me give you a bit of background on the company.

The incredible ladies who started Coffeecakes.com, have been running the business for 15 years. Not only are their products amazing, but the wonderful way they treat everyone, from customers to vendors, makes you want to keep in touch and keep coming back for more. Coffeecakes.com sells not only coffee cakes, but entire lines of mouthwatering desserts and sweets. Seriously, just check out their homepage http://www.coffeecakes.com/. Three words: To Die For. Fortunately their sales in the coffee and tea realm led them to us and I to them. Shortly after I sent samples out for them to try, we partnered up and it has been a blast working with them ever since. Our loose leaf teas compliment sweet desserts very well, and their customers seem LOVE our teaware.

If you're looking to find some amazing sweets to pair with tea this Valentine's Day, look no further than Coffeecakes.com . And if you're interested in putting together a gift basket that pairs their sweets with our teas, e.g. Bolder Breakfast with Chocolate Walnut Coffee Cake or Red Rocks with their Chocolate Surprise Squares, contact them here to and ask for their Personal Gift Basket Specialist!

It has been a pleasure working with Coffeecakes so far, and I'm looking forward to what we can do together in the future!

STEEPWARE by The Tea Spot: Essentials Steeping Tools

How do you choose what kind of device to buy to steep your tea; there are so many out there?

Hope this short little video helps you understand why STEEPWARE designs are essential.

What's your favorite steeping device? We'd love to hear from you...

Steeping in the New Year with TeaTinis...

Wishing everybody a happy, healthy & fun 2010...

Boulder Blues Martini

Yields: 4, 5 oz servings

Ingredients:

• 8 oz Vodka
• 2 TBS BOULDER BLUES, to make tea concentrate, chilled*
• 2 oz Lemon Juice
• ½ TBS agave
• Strawberry and/or lemon slice for garnish

Preparation:

*How to make BOULDER BLUES concentrate:

1. Place 2 TBS of BOULDER BLUES green tea leaves in a 4 ounce measuring cup. Bring 3 ounces of water to boil and cool water for 3 minutes, bringing water temperature down to about 175°. Pour hot water over tea leaves and steep for 3 minutes. Strain out tea leaves and add enough ice to yield 8 ounces of tea. Tea Tip: Reserve tea leaves for re-steeping.
2. Pour ½ of all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, shake to mix, strain into 2 martini glasses and garnish with strawberry and/or lemon. Repeat to yield 2 more servings.

Cheers...

Pan Roasted Duck Breasts with Red Rocks Cherry Sauce

Pan Roasted Duck Breasts with Red Rocks Cherry Sauce is an elegant dinner for two that is easy to make...

Ingredients: Duck

·      2 duck breast, scored

·      Salt & Pepper

Preparation - Duck

1.     Pat dry, score & season with salt & pepper.

2.     Heat skillet over medium heat until hot, 3 minutes.

3.     Lay breast, skin side down, and lower heat a little. Render fat for 15-20 minutes and until skin is golden brown.

4.     Flip breast and cook until brown and crispy.

5.     Place on baking sheet with rack & place in oven until instant thermometer reads 125-130°, 10 minutes.

Ingredients: Red Rocks Cherry Sauce

·      1 cup chicken stock

·      2 TBS Red Rocks tea

·      1 shallot, minced

·      ¼ cup red wine, dry

·      2 TBS dried cherries

·      1 TBS butter

·      1 tsp lemon juice

·      Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation - Red Rocks Cherry Sauce

1.     Steep 2 TBS of Red Rocks tea in 1 cup boiling chicken stock for 6 minutes. Strain tea leaves.

2.     Pour off all but 1 TBS fat from pan and heat.

3.     Add shallots and cook until soft.

4.     Add wine and cherries, scraping bottom of pan. Simmer until wine evaporates, 2-3 minutes.

5.     Stir in Red Rocks chicken stock concentrate and simmer occasionally, until sauce has reduced and is thickened, about 1/3 cup, 3-5 minutes.

6.     Off heat, stir in butter, lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste.

Holiday Tea Infused Turkey...

If your turkey turns out like this, you got a problem...

Photo by HaloHaloph

Don't worry, no kids were hurt taking this photo...

If you want a turkey infused with holiday spices and healthy red tea, follow this recipe...

Photo by Christina Perozzi 

Holiday Tea Infused Turkey

Ingredients:

• (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
  

For the brine:

• 1 gallon chicken stock, low sodium
  
• 4 tablespoon Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea (blend of red rooibos and aromatic holiday spices... cinnamon, clove, orange peel, apples, almonds, & rose petals!)
  
• 1 cup kosher salt
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

Preparation - 2 to 3 days before roasting:

1. Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator at 38 degrees F.
   
2. Tea-Infused Brine: Combine the vegetable stock, Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea, sugar, salt and in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
3. The night before you cook the turkey, combine the tea-brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. Ensure the turkey is fully immersed, cover and refrigerate 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
   

For the aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
  
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced
  
• 1/2 onion, sliced
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
  
• 2 TBS Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea
  
• 1 cup water
  
• 4 sprigs rosemary
  
• 6 leaves sage
  

For turkey coating:

• Tea-soning:
  

·      1 ½ TBS Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea

·      1 ½ tsp rosemary

·      1 tsp thyme

·      1 tsp sage

Salt & pepper to taste

Canola oil

Aromatics & Gravy Base:

• 1 lb onion, large dice
• ½ lb fennel, large dice
• ½ lb carrots, large dice
• ½ lb apple, large dice
• ½ cup almond, roughly chopped
• 1 TBS Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea
• Canola oil
• Salt & pepper
• 3 cup dry white wine
• 6 cup vegetable stock
• Corn Starch slurry, mix 1 TBS cornstarch & 1 cup water together
• 1 lemon, juice
• 3 TBS unsalted butter, chopped

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 525° F. Remove the turkey from brine and completely rinse it with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.
   
2. Combine the apple, orange, onion, Holiday Spice Rooibos Tea, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Truss the turkey and coat the skin liberally with canola oil and sprinkle tea-soning. (How to truss a turkey video by Alton Brown: www.foodnetwork.com/videos/how-to-truss-a-turkey/27751.html)
   
3. Mix onion, fennel, carrots, apples, almonds & tea together and coat with canola oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place mixture on bottom of roasting pan and place the turkey on roasting rack on top of aromatics to make gravy base.
   
4. Place the turkey on lowest level of the oven and roast at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350° and insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast. Roast until an instant thermometer reads 160° F, about a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil for 15-20 minutes before carving.
   
5. While the turkey in resting, place the roasting pan with gravy aromatics on top of stove and heat on high. Add wine and deglaze by scraping the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add 1/2 of the slurry and stir occasionally. Cook until thickens and remove from heat. Add more slurry, 1 tsp at a time, if you want gravy thicker. Strain gravy and place back on medium heated stove. Whisk in lemon juice and butter until combined. Season to taste with salt ad pepper. Serve with turkey.
   

Happy Thanksgiving...

Be Grateful & Eat Well...

Tea Seasoned Goat Cheese, an easy and delicious appetizer

Ingredients: Tea-Sonings

Tea + Seasonings = Tea-Sonings

Mix the following ingredients

• BOULDER BLUES Teasonings (Tea + Seasonings = Tea-sonings)

Note: Tea-soning yields about 8 TBS: Use 2-3 TBS for goat cheese and store the rest in an air-tight container

•2 TBS BOULDER BLUES, finely ground


•2 TBS Chipotle Chile Pepper


•1 TBS orange peel, dried

•1 TBS salt

•2 tsp back pepper

•2 tsp cilantro flakes

•1 tsp thyme, dried

•½ tsp cumin, ground

• 4 - 6 oz semi soft Cherve (goat cheese)

Note: I recommend Haystack Mountain Boulder Chevre. This classic fresh semi-soft cheese is rich and creamy and is Haystack’s flagship product. 

Serving Suggestions: Serve with crostinis, or cut into discs and warm in the oven as a salad topping, add to pasta dishes, spread on sandwiches and served as part of a cheese plate with any kind of salty olive or sweet dried fruit. 

Brasserie Ten Ten Steeps it Loose...

We are excited to announce that Brasserie Ten Ten is now serving our hand-crafted loose leaf tea in our artisan-made Steeping Mugs. Executive Chef Anthony (Tony) Hessel says 'Personally I enjoy giving our customers a wide range of choice in teas, the fact that it is local and the customers really enjoy it is an added plus. Karen's Knowledge of the teas have brought us to another level of service to the brasserie.'

Brasserie Ten Ten is located at 1011 Walnut St. in historic downtown Boulder, CO. Directly across the street from its sister restaurant, The Med. Brasserie Ten Ten seats about 88 customers and serves lunch, dinner and brunch on weekends. The restaurant is co-owned by Med owners Joe and Peggy Romano, Rob Kukura and executive chef Anthony (Tony) Hessel. Offering a French inspired cuisine since July 2003, Hessel uses French cooking techniques that include saucing, braising and sautéing as well as preserving meats. French classics include Bouillabaisse, Daube de Boeuf, Duck Confit and Bocuse.

Hessel, like many chefs’, learned how to cook by helping his mother. “My mom was an amazing chef and I would frequently help her out in the kitchen.” Growing up he always hated school but loved food. In high school he got a part time job at a big restaurant in Wilton, Connecticut where he fell in love with the restaurant industry. He starting washing dishes and worked his way up to busing tables, tending bar and eventually made his way into the kitchen where he worked with chef Steve Alwood who taught him how to keep his head down and ears in open.

During the early-80’s, after graduating highschool, Hessel moved to NY where he attended culinary school and worked with executive chef Patrick Clark at Tavern on The Green. Clark, an innovator of American Cuisine, taught Hessel how to combine flavors. Dropping out of culinary school right before his final exam, he decided to move to Paris. Like Julia Childs, his passion for cooking and food was ignited in Paris. Working illegally in kitchens for two years he learned how to see and taste the final dish before it was even made. He learned hands-on where the food came from. For example, he learned how to kill and pluck chickens in order to prepare it for the night’s dinner. After learning almost every aspect of the restaurant business, he moved to Denver and worked all over. He eventually made his way to San Francisco to work at Stars with executive chef/owner Jeremiah Towers. Towers, a crusader for ‘California Regional Cuisine’, worked with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse for many years until he opened Stars in 1984. At Stars, like in Paris, Hessel learned the importance of using locally grown ingredients to elevate simple dishes to fine delicacies. After 9 nine months he moved back to Denver. Working all over the place he eventually moved to Boulder where he worked at Pour de France and took trips to NY to work at their sister restaurant, Windows of World. Working himself to exhaustion and a divorce, he decided he wanted to step back from management to just work the line.

In 1995 he got a job in Boulder at the Med, where he kept his head down and his ears open. With a passion for food and a talent to control chaos, he was quickly promoted to executive chef. A few years later, Hessel began talking with Kukura and the Romanos about opening up another restaurant where Hessel could offer patrons dishes that would be more delicate to prepare. When the restaurant Dandelion closed across from the Med, the location and timing were perfect. The space fit the partners’ concept of a bustling European brasserie and the menu was already outlined in chef Anthony’s head.

BBocuse, another popular item on their menu is a spin on Paul Bocuse’s classic chicken dish that he created some 35 years ago. Hunger-style braised and pulled chicken thigh and leg, mushrooms, five lily (shallots, garlic, scallions, Bermuda onion, & sweet onion) served in a brandy cream sauce and nestled over seared spinach. The brandy  cream sauce is made of veal  stock, chicken stock, cream, butter, salt and pepper. I highly recommend pairing the Earl of Grey with the Bocuse because it complements the brandy cream sauce and five lily. Lunch $9.95 / Dinner $14.95

The most complicated, time consuming and popular item on the menu, the Duck Confit is served with Potato Gratin, glazed baby carrots & pommery mustard crémeis. I highly recommend pairing the Green Roasted Mint with the duck because it helps cleanse the pallet after every bite of the rich flavor.

For Duck: Make a green salt of equal parts, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives & marjoram with 3 cups of kosher salt, liberally cover duck legs (not breast) and cure for twenty-four hours. Wipe off excess salt and cover with clarified duck fat and cook for 12 hours at 175 degrees.      

Remove from oven and chill until needed. For gratin: thinly slice Kennebec on mandolin, julienne onions, fresh thyme, salt pepper, butter, cream & olive oil. Mix all ingredient together, let sit for 1 hour and then place in a buttered hotel pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until done, about 1.5 hours. The Pommery Mustard sauce is a two part sauce of fist brandy, Coleman’s mustard, bay leaf, shallots that is reduced by half and strained. Then take 2 tbsp of that reduction with a bottle of white wine, veal stock & thyme and reduce by half, add cream then reduce by half again. To finish, add Dijon mustard, brown mustards seeds and season with salt, pepper, cayenne and lemon juice. To Compose dish: heat grapeseed oil in sauté pan add duck leg and sear on both side then place in oven to crisp. Heat a portion of the potato gratin in the oven until ready. Sauté the carrots (organic is best from one of the local farms, regular carrots don’t have flavor) in butter until the natural sugar is released and they begin to caramelize slightly (be careful, too much heat will burn the carrots) To Plate: Place 2 oz of sauce in the center of the plate, place duck in on top place gratin to one side and carrots on other and serve immediately. Lunch $13.95 / Dinner $18.95

Aside from fabulous lunch and dinners, they probably have the best happy hour in town and brunch on the weekend.

What's your favorite meal at Brasserie Ten Ten?