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!

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.

Rocky Mountain Tea Festival

What a great festival this past weekend!! We're so fortunate the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival is held locally in Boulder every year. We had a great spot in the shade down by the creek where we set up a booth with lots of free tea to sample and products to sell. People seemed to go crazy for all the deals we had going on and so many people went gaagaa for our iced Red Rocks, a rooibos tea blended with vanilla & almonds. One little girl in particular, probably around 8 years old, really freaked out after tasting a sample, "Oh my god! This is the best tea I've ever tasted!!" And this tea had no sugar, just the natural sweetness of the rooibos! So of course her mom bought her some - a healthy drink without sugar that her kid loved?! No brainer... Another group of friends in their early 20's who were waiting to eat at the restaurant bought us clean out of the rest of our Red Rocks tea after trying samples.

We had fun chatting with the tea festival participants as well as the people waiting for a table to eat at the Dushanbe Teahouse and random passerbys from Boulder's Farmer's Market on Saturday. We also got the chance to talk to other vendors and reconnect with friends in the tea industry. The hosts of the festival, the Dushanbe Teahouse, were so helpful and generously fed us from their delicious brunch menu each day. Such great hosts! and a gorgeous building... if you've never been, it's a Boulder must-see and good eats!

At the close of the festival on Sunday, I got a chance to attend a pu'erh tea class taught by David Lee Hoffman... pu'erh tea connoisseur and star of Les Blank's documentary All in This Tea (a great flick for tea geeks). My favorite tea we sampled was a phoenix dragon oolong - so complex with fragrant floral notes in the beginning with a roasted finish. I sat with great company during the class, and got to chat some more with Elise of Pearl Fine Teas - such a sweet gal! I snagged this photo from her Twitter account. Check out her other photos from the festival, like this Tibetan pu'erh mushroom tea. We tried roughly 10 different teas in all, steeping them each multiple times, gung fu style. So... I drank waaaay too much tea within a 2 hour window, after not eating for a few hours, and left the seminar amped up and spinning (even though this photo looks like I'm about to fall asleep while sipping tea.)

In any case, I highly recommend attending the festival next year to any one remotely interested in tea. There's so much to learn and so many good teas to try!

A Simply Perfect Mother's Day Gift- Make your mom fall in love with tea this Mother's Day.

I have to tell you, once I started working for a loose leaf tea company my mother was excited but skeptical. My entire life, and her entire life for that matter, we had grown up drinking Lipton, Tetley or Salada tea bags or some other tea bag that was most likely found in a plastic bag, in a Tupperware container, behind the bag of flour, at the back of the lazy susan. Despite the fact that we didn't know much about tea, tea was a part of a somewhat daily ritual, definitely a Saturday or Sunday afternoon ritual complete with biscotti, ricotta pie and friends. Still the idea of loose leaf tea seemed to evade my mother.

She wanted to learn about it, had heard from myself that it was so much better than what we had grown up with, and much better for you, but she wasn't sure that she could handle the process. So around February I sent her and my father their first loose leaf tea package, complete with STEEPING mugs,(my mom got the red one, red is her favorite color, dad got the blue) and the Tuffy Steeper. The tea arrived on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I get a call while I'm doing a demo of our tea at a local Gourmet Housewares store. I don't pick up. By the time I can get a second to take a look at my phone, my mom has called three times in a half an hour. Now just to note, my parents live in Vermont and I am 2000 miles away, so when she called three times in a short span of time, I get nervous.

I call her back and all I hear when I pick up the phone is "I LOVE this tea!!!" My mom repeated herself, "Oh my God Andrea, I LOVE this tea. I can't believe how good it is and it was so easy to make! I would be happy if I never had another tea bag again!" The tea she was referring to was Red Rocks, our Rooibos tea with vanilla and almonds. "And your father LOVES his Earl Grey," she said. She was so excited that the tea was amazing and that it was easy to make, but was also saddened that she had been missing out on this her whole life! Every day after their tea arrived, I received one or two phone calls a day describing how much she loves her tea and how cozy the mug is. When my mom took a trip down to Boston to see our relatives she had to call me from the car "Do you know how hard my life is right now? The worst thing in my life is that I am going to your grandmother's house, and I know the only tea she is going to have there is Lipton, and all I want is a cup of Red Rocks!!! ". I quickly explained to her that she should have taken her Tuffy Steeper with her and some tea so she could have it on the road. She poo-pooed that idea saying that the Tuffy Steeper was for her office and that she would have to get another one to travel with. You can change some things with my mother, but once she has an idea in her head, its normally not all that easy to change.

So why am I telling you all of this? I am letting you know that I grew up in a family who only drank pretty bland Lipton tea and now my mom is thrilled to have a cup of amazing loose leaf tea every day. Loose leaf tea and a STEEPING cup or mug is a fantastic gift for Mother's Day. For the mom's who are more on-the-go or traveling types, the Tuffy Steeper paired with a tin of tea is a great idea. No more searching or wondering how to get a cost effective and useful gift this Mother's Day! And if your mom or grandmother is anything like my Italian mother who is set in her ways, convince her that making a cup of loose leaf tea can be an everyday luxury and they will be very grateful to you!

Simply Sweet - Kick your sweet tooth craving with a cup of tea!

Sweets are my vice. I like pretty much most things sweet: ice cream, chocolate, cookies, strawberries, and if it's not sweet, I make it so: sugar in coffee, honey in tea, vanilla soy with my cereal, sugar on grapefruit, kettle corn popcorn... you get the idea. So since my sweet tooth is around pretty much 24/7 and I can't always be eating the sugar that I want.

A perfect way to stave off that sweet tooth is by having a cup of tea! Not only is tea used as a medicinal appetite suppressant but many blended teas, or tisanes to be exact, are already naturally sweet and have practically zero calories, unless you use your own sweetener. Therefore tea works as a perfect calorie free substitute.

Some of my favorites include Boulder Blues, which is a fantastic blend of two green teas with a strawberry rhubarb flavoring and is great brewed hot or cold. The first time I had this tea I was floored. I had always thought of green tea as something to choke down because I knew it was good for me. Having Boulder Blues was my first entree into the blended tea world. Since Boulder Blues is a green tea blend it is very high in anti-oxidants and so I'm not only getting my sweet fix but drinking something that is 100x healthier than soda, a coffee latte, or even juice.

Another one of my favorite teas to satisfy my sweet tooth is Creme Caramel. Creme Caramel is a black tea blended with caramel bits. If you're in the mood for a foamy coffee drink, instead, make a concentrate of this amazing black tea and add your own steamed milk and all that you're giving up of the calories are what's in the milk!

Lastly I think every single person in this country should own a tin of Red Rocks. Red Rocks is made with the Rooibos herb, which is from a South African bush, and is blended with vanilla and almond to give it a sweet kick right from the start. Rooibos is incredibly healthy for you and if you're in the mood for a late night snack but don't want to sacrifice the calories, substitute a cup of Red Rocks with a bit of honey and you're in for a treat! (pun intended)

(chocolate cake photo from http://knol.google.com)

mmmmm..... Ice Cream!

Jennifer Armentrout, contributor with Fine Cooking, is testing tea ice creams. So I have decided to post my favorite ice cream you scream we all scream for tea cream...Even Obama!!!

Red Rocks Tea Cream

This is a creamy, rich and delicious red tea ice cream.

Serving Size: 10

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 quart milk
• 6 TBS RED ROCKS loose leaves, pulverized to powder consistency
• 15 egg yolks
• 1 pound sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half & half

PREPARATION:
1. Bring milk to a boil. Remove from heat and add powdered tea leaves. Mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar together until they form a ribbon.
3. Combine egg mixture and milk, then strain into a saucepan.
4. Cook over medium–high heat until just before the mixture reaches a boil.
5. Remove from heat and cool completely over ice water.
6. Beat heavy cream and half & half until frothy.
7. Pour into egg mixture and mix well.
8. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
9. Optional Sundae: Serve with chocolate chips, almond slivers, hot fudge & whip cream.

Do you have a favorite tea cream?

Daily Rituals

Everybody seems to have some kind of daily ritual. Whether it is working out, eating dinner with the family, kissing a loved one goodnight or taking a bath; a daily ritual is something you do everyday that is a part of you. I know I have few daily rituals and when I don’t do them I feel incomplete that day. My favorite daily ritual is more of luxury then a routine and I do it every morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon and night. A luxury done at least 5 times a day everyday, your probably asking yourself how could I afford to that, especially in these economical times…Well, on my journey for a healthy living I began to incorporate tea in my daily lifestyle. After awhile I began to recognize how taking time to enjoy a simple and flavorful cup of tea is not only not only healthy but affordable.

Every morning I wake up and steep a big cup of Bolder Breakfast. It has a generous amount of caffeine, about 1/3 the amount of a cup of coffee without the mood swings, jitters and stomach cramps. After teaching an aerobics class, another one of my daily routines, I drink an oolong tea because it helps to increase the metabolic rate and has a little let caffeine then black tea. After lunch I usually make myself a cup of the Green Roasted Mint because the peppermint helps with digestion and the green tea has a little less caffeine then oolong and is a good source of anti-oxidants. My happy hour tea is usually the Meditative Mind, a white with jasmine pearls and rosebuds, this tea not only helps me to unwind but also gives me just a little boost caffeine to help me get through the rest of day. My sleepy-time tea is usually the Red Rocks, a herbal tea blended with vanilla and almonds, this tea not only helps hydrate by body but also quenches my sweet tooth, especially if I add a little soy milk and a touch of agave.

Needless to say, although I drink tea all day long I usually only drink about 120 milligrams of caffeine, which is the equivalent to 1-8oz cup of coffee. And more importantly, I feel so much better. Are you trying to replace your daily cup of coffee with a daily cup of tea? If so, I would like to hear about it and help you with your transition…

Simple Steps to Improving your Rooibos Tea

If you're new to loose leaf tea, seeing particles of your tea floating around in your cup isn't necessarily appealing to look at let alone drink. We're a culture that is used to bag tea, no muss, no fuss, nothing floating around in your drink.

The tea, or rather teasane, that is the worst culprit of this problem is Rooibos tea. Rooibos is not actually from the tea leaf, but rather is an South African herb that is very flavorful, has tons of nutrients, is caffeine free, but is VERY difficult to filter when making a cup of tea. It seems that no matter what strainer you use, a metal ball, mesh plastic, a Tuffy Steeper, etc. little bits of Rooibos get out and not only settle at the bottom of the cup, but many of the bits of tea feel the need to float right at the surface, ready to enter your mouth upon first sip. I no longer mind having the tea leaves or herbs floating in my tea, but for those of you who do, I am going to explain to you a fantastic and very simple way of steeping your Rooibos, like our Red Rocks, so that you can have your cup of tea without choking on any tea bits.

Step 1) Boil your water.

Step 2) While the water boils, put your Rooibos tea in an infuser/steeper, like the Tuffy Steeper pictured here.

Step 3) Leave the infuser off to the side, aka. do not put inside the cup, mug or teapot.

Step 4) Once the water comes to a boil, pour the water 2/3-4/5 of the way up the mug.

Step 5) With the water already in the mug, take your infuser with the tea in it, and slowly lower it into the mug.

Step 6) Wait at least 6 minutes for the Rooibos to steep.

Step 7) Pull the infuser out and you have a practically Rooibos free cup of tea!

The important step in this process is #5. Typically with loose leaf tea, our infuser with the tea is already in the mug and we pour the water over it. Normally this is the best way to steep. However, by doing this with Rooibos we're forcing the already fine tea bits right out of the holes of the infuser. Instead what we're demonstrating is that when you slowly lower the infuser into a cup or mug mostly filled with water, the water comes rushing into the holes and pushes the tea into the middle of the infuser. What you end with is a cup of tea with hardly anything floating it in.

I must give credit where credit is due, it was not me, but rather my coworker who came up with this idea and described this simple change in procedure and therefore we can all thank him for a better cup of Rooibos tea!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

There's always something cooking in the TeaSpot kitchen, so in accompaniment to our blog about tea-riffic cocktails, I thought I would go ahead and add the piece de résistance: a few mouth-watering recipes for cooking with tea. So put on your aprons, collect your spatulas, and get in the kitchen and make me some dinner!

Image courtesy of www.cocktail.uk.com

Tea has long been consumed at all times of the day and with all types of food, and also as an after-dinner digestif. Tea's wide range of subtle and poignant flavors make it perfect for added flavors in food. So it only makes sense that at some point during the human experience, our big-'ole brains would combine the two in the kitchen for some new culinary experiences.

So, without further ado, I give you the following recipes, courtesy of TeaSpot founders Maria Uspenski and Karen Harbour:

Green Tea Chicken Noodle Soup
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken, cut into1/2 inch pieces
2 teaspoons GREEN ROASTED MINT leaves steeped in one half-cup (4 oz) water
5 ounces dry bean thread noodles
4 cups chicken stock
2 (1/2 inch thick) slices ginger root, lightly mashed
1/2 cup oyster mushrooms, cubed
3 cups packed spinach leaves, large stems removed
Salt and white pepper, as desired

PREPARATION: Place the chicken in a large bowl and add the green tea. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to marinate. Cover the bean thread noodles with warm water. Soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain. In a big pot bring the stock, ginger and mushrooms to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add the chicken, including the GREEN ROASTED MINT marinade, and noodles. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Add the spinach and boil for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Red Rocks Roasted Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs Red Potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
3 teaspoons agave or honey
3 tablespoons TeaSpot’s Red Rocks tea, finely ground
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon white pepper

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 425°. In a large roasting pan or baking sheet, spread cubes potatoes evenly. In a bowl, mix oil, vinegar, Red Rocks tea, agave, salt & pepper. Drizzle mixture over potatoes and toss together. Cover with foil and place in oven. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes. Uncover and stir. Broil for an additional 5 - 10 minutes to brown top. Serves 6 – 8.

Orange-Mango Tango Duck
INGREDIENTS:
2 Boneless duck breast halves
¾ cup chopped shallots
2 ¼ cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups fresh or non-concentrated orange juice
4 teaspoons MANGO TANGO leaves
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons diced butter
salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 450F. Pierce skin of duck all over with fork and sprinkle duck with salt and pepper. Place duck, skin side down, in a heated skillet to brown (about 4 minutes). Turn duck breasts over and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove and place in a roasting pan, then continue to cook in 450F oven to desired doneness, about 20 minutes for medium-rare. Meanwhile, heat the drippings left in the skillet over medium. Add shallots and sauté until golden. Remove discarded drippings. Add broth, orange juice and MANGO TANGO leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce to about 1 cup and strain. Return liquid to same skillet and add honey; simmer 2 minutes. Whisk in butter and add salt and pepper to taste. Slice thin and serve with sauce.

Fragrant Rice

VINTAGE OOLONG will give your ordinary rice a sweet and subtle aroma. Perfect with any mustard sauce or cream-based entree.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups water
2 teaspoons VINTAGE OOLONG
2 cups rice
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt, 1/2 teaspoon, or to taste

PREPARATION: Boil water. Add rice, salt and olive oil and reduce heat to simmer. After 5 minutes add vintage oolong leaves. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is ready. Remove vintage oolong leaves – they will all be at the surface of the rice. Serves: 4 - 6

Earl of Grey Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
2 tsp Earl of Grey (dry leaves, ground)
2 c flour
2 eggs
4 oz. (1/2 c) butter, melted
1/2 c cane sugar
1 TBS decorative sugar crystals
a few loose Earl of Grey tea leaves

PREPARATION: Beat the melted butter with the sugar. Add 1 egg, then flour and powdered tea, until you get a homogeneous dough. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. Grease a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400F. Beat 2nd egg with 1 TBS water in a small bowl. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 in thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies into desired shapes, and place on cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg mixture. Decorate with loose sugar crystals and tea leaves. Bake about 10 mins or until just golden. Cool on rack and let come to room temperature before serving.

Boulder Blues Fruit Salad
INGREDIENTS:
6 teaspoons TeaSpot’s Boulder Blues steeped in 4 oz hot water
1/4 cup agave or 1/3 cup honey or sugar
Assorted Fruit (Strawberry, blueberry, mango, pineapple, apple, raspberry, melon, grapes)

PREPARATION: Steep Boulder Blues tea in 4 ounces water at 175° for 2 minutes (Note to bring water to 175° - boil and let cool for 3 minutes). Add hot tea to agave and whisk. Mix fruit in a big bowl. Drizzle Boulder Blues syrup over fruit. Mix gently and let sit for 20 - 30 minutes before serving.

Voilá!