Today's Tea is.....

The Republic of Tea's brand called Earth Tea - Rainforest.
Technically, not a tea it is a tisane which we have spoken of before in this blog.
This brand from reading the ingredients list has roobios in it, but like I discussed in Rainbow of Tea down at the "Red Tea", Roobios is not a native to the Camillia Sinesis family that true tea is. It is a plant from the area of South Africa, called Capetown. It is a woody herb...sort of, but definitely not a tea.

The other ingredients are Allspice berries, birch bark, cinnamon, pau d' arco, star anise, natural vanilla, mace, anise seed and blackberry.
Pau d'arco is a tree that grows in South America, it has for centuries been known for its medicinal qualities.
There are a total of 36 Unbleached tea bags in a beautifully decorated tin. Unfortunately, I cannot drink the tin, because the price was HIGH!

The tea itself was a rather light brew with a definite spice scent. The problem was my own in that I didn't read the labelling BEFORE I purchased the item. I truly was expecting a true tea. Not one to let 10 dollars just slip through my hands, I took the next bag, broke it apart and put its contents inside my french press for one to which I added a tsp of black loose leaf tea.
MUCH better. This is what I was hoping for from the beginning. A nice color and scent to which a taste was like a spicy green tea.

Well, I started this as a critique of my newest tea, but ended with a new recipe! That's good right? I wonder what the folks at The Republic of Tea would think about my revamping of their tea...who cares, it is an improvement.
Well that is it for today, I am going to try really hard to make a post tomorrow although I have a full schedule of errands to run and a lunch date so I am going to say I will try very hard to supply another post before Saturday...This is for the benefit of my sibling and my close friends on the web who worry about me when I am not posting everyday, you bunch of worry warts, I love you too!

Brightest Tea Blessings.
Saphyre

Socially Responsible Tea Packaging.

Please visit my friend Rachel's blog for the her whole account of the "sachet" type tea bag trend hitting the stores.
The new wave it seems is a triangular bag for the tea or herbs to brewed giving them more room to fill and expand...GREAT!
However, this new material for the sachets is a type of plastic. Plastic netting or mesh bags are making a hit in the world of teas.
It is a real shame because as I have stated here many times I only use loose tea for full flavor, there are times that bags are handy. At those times, I always try to keep unbleached natural cotton or muslin bags for that purpose.

Remember if you buy these type of bags that they aren't good for the planet. They cannot go into your compost, they cannot be recycled. It is easier to just dump a muslin bags' cooled content into a compost pile OR a bag of potting soil and toss the empty bag into the wash that it is to pollute Mother Earth with more petroleum based products (plastic).
Try to be a social and ecological shopper when you are out purchasing your tea or anything for yourself.
Look for Free Trade Products and a items that have a high percentage of recycled products for containers or paper products, etc.

We need to pass on our planet to the next generation, please do not let it be an earth we are ashamed of.

Been away again..but have news!

This has been such a lazy weekend. My hubby Lee, had his birthday on the 21st and he took Friday off. So for 3 days we did nothing. NOTHING!
I spent a lot of time on the couch reading and I did some beading as well.
These are the most favorite things I can do these days that do not involve a trip to my brother's back porch! THAT, my friends is the BEST place in the world.
I had a pot or two of tea this weekend and some great news!
Two dear friends of ours who live in Wilmington, NC is the first bit of news. The one friend is going to be a momma and the other friend who happens to be HER momma is going to be a grandma!
I am going to go into more detail on that on Sun & Moon.
The other bit of good news is a dear witch friend of mine is coming out of her bayou home to visit me in the low country in June AND she is bringing me some andouille sausage from the 'Big Easy' with her! Oh, Boy!

She wants to see America's only tea plantation and that is right here on Wadmalaw Island.
There are a few tea rooms here in Charleston and one in Summerville. This is a chance to not only show her the area, but to report on the tea rooms of the low country for my blog.
Unfortunately, we both suffer from a chronic illness. The one I discuss on the other site and the same illness that will sometimes without warning bump me off of all of my pages for a few days. BUT we will perserve and gimp along together even if we have to hold each other up and get a step ladder to boost us into the horse carriages!
Don't worry Wyllow! I am looking forward to the visit!

I have had the time this weekend to enjoy a tea called "Zhena's Gypsy Tea - Sense of Peace"
This is an organic tea and although I normally only buy loose tea, this tea is round bags.
The ingredients of this tea are Organic White Tea, Organic Egyptian Mint and Roses.
Purchased at EarthFare grocery store for $8.99 for a tin of 30 tea bags, it is overall a good tea. Although the price was really high for such simple ingredients.
Gypsy Tea is a tea company dedicated to the fair trade which is so very important in todays world.
From looking at the sight, there are 13 types of tea available and a new one called "V-Tea" which is white tea with vanilla.
The sight for Gypsy Tea is very thought provoking and she sells beautifully packaged tea.
I still think her prices are high.

Tomorrow, hopefully, we move on to get a better daily grip on this blog thing now that the computer isn't doing the "out to lunch" bit that was so common with XP.

Fruit Teas

I think I have mentioned all the colors of tea, the scented and the flavored, herbal and flowered.
How about fruited...with real fruit!

We are fortunate these days to have readily available to us not only a variety of different kinds of fruit usually year round, but we can find dried. I will say though I have the hardest time finding fresh figs and dragonfruit.
Go to your grocers and look at all of the dried fruit available to you and if the selection isn't good there, try your local Whole Foods store, Organic market or Co-op.
The important part of the fruited teas are the fruit must be dried. You can do this yourslef by picking fruit it is just ripe. Slice the fruit and use a food dehydrator or spread it evenly out on a drying surface. Remember to turn it over often to prevent mold from forming on the fruit. Use a clean window screen for a good air circulation and make sure you cover them at night to prevent insects.



OK, let's get some of the dried fruit and make some tea!
Depending on how you mix things up, you may also need to be aware of what some properties are dried plants.
How about Juniper and Cranberry Tea?
As most women know who have ever had a UTI, cranberry juice is the first thing we reach for its soothing and healing of the urinary mucus membrane. Juniper has long been used as an antiseptic. Used together and you get a good flush of the urinary sustem.
Pregnant women should stay away from juniper as it is a uterine stimulant, and that just isn't good for you.
To make 2 cups (16 0z) of Juniper cranberry tea:
2 teaspoons of dried Juniper Berries
1 cup of boiling water
1 cup of cranberry juice
Put the berries into the proofed ceramic or glass teapot. Add the boiling water, cover and let steep for 10 mintues. Allow to cool and then combine with the cranberry juice.

Orange, Cinnamon and Peach Tea.
(If dried peaches aren't available, try dried apricots!)
This also makes 16oz.
1 tsp grated fresh orange zest (rind, no pith)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs chopped dried peach
2 cups boiling water
Combine the orange zest, cinnamon and peach in a proofed ceramic or glass teapot. Add the boiling water, cover and steep for 5 minutes. YUM!
It is good for a digestive after a heavy meal.

I have so many more recipes and info for you, unfortunately my health meter swings wildly at times and today it is in the red. When it swings back to the green, I will add more recipes and ancedotes about my favorite beverage...TEA!

A Cream Tea

I know, I know, I said that on Monday I would give a recipe for clotted cream you can make at home...so sue me, I got tied up at the post office, grocers, etc, etc.

Sooo , without further ado, here is my favorite recipe for homemade clotted dream.

2 cups heavy cream
Cook cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until the cream is reduced by about, mmmmm, half. It should be the consistency of butter with a golden :crust" on the top of it.
Transferr the cream, crust included to a bowl. Cover and let stand 2 hours, then refridgerate at least 12 hours. Stir the crust into the cream before serving.
This should make about one cup.

This is a bit time consuming, but it is better than what you can get in those tiny bottles at the gourmet or import store and it is cheaper. I think the pint cream I bought last week was $1.50, the last time I bought a tiny jar of prepared Devonshire clotted cream its price was over $5.00.
Sooo, I think I will invest the time when I want clotted cream.

Clotted cream is really good on things like scones, naturally but how about english muffins, bagels or my favorite, Sally Lunn Buns.

Sally Lunn Buns are a light egg bread similar to Brioche.
This is my recipe for them.

1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp sugar
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tbs dry yeast
3 eggs
2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs milk extra
Grease a baking sheet and two heavy duty foil strips measuring 18" long and 2" wide
Combine butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan and heat until warm, about 110F degrees.
Add yeast and stir to dissolve. Let set. In a seperate bowl beat 2 of the eggs well, pour some of the milk mixture into the eggs, beat some more, then add more milk and beat, this is called tempering, without it you may wind up with scrambled eggs. Add the rest of the milk and beat well.
In a large bowl, Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix them together, make a well inthe top of the flour and add the liquid mixture. Mix well adding flour as needed to form a soft dough. Lightly knead 2 minutes on floured board.
Cut dough in half. Shape each into a 6 inch round. Place on prepared baking sheet and secure each around its base with a strip of foil. Cover with clean towel and set in warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour.
Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
Bake buns 20 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the remaining egg with the tablespoon of milk for a glaze. Brush on tops, return to oven for a few minutes to dry. Cool on a rack. Split buns in half and toast to serve.
Serves 4.

If you have any questions or if you need more info, please feel free to email me.

Brightest Tea Blessings to y'all!

American Iced Tea

According to my readings, Iced tea was introduced to America by an Englishman at Chicago's Columbia Exposition in the summer of 1893. In an attempt to get sweltering fairgoers to drink tea, he poured it over ice chips and a national predilection was born. Today bottled iced tea is the fastest growing section at the supermarkets.

I do not know about where y'all live, but everytime I need a 'tea' and run over to a vending machine, the tea is ALWAYS gone. Whether it is the Coca-Cola Bottling company's Nestea or Pepsi's Lipton Tea, both machines are usually out when I get to one.
My hubber's never asks, when we are out on the road and we stop for a cool drink, whether it is on a state owned rest stop or a filling station, he always gets me my tea, sweet and in a bottle.

The English really do not 'get' iced tea, but then again, when has Great Britain ever had 90 degrees in the shade with 90% humidity (or higher)? Let's face it, we need our tea at times iced. Some of us just like it cold. I am one of those people. I have a cold sensitivity with my teeth that NO amount of special toothpaste will help. I like my sweet tea just out of the fridge, if it is very hot out I may put 1 or 2 ice cubes in it.

I have a sibling though.......

My big brother, I used to run and get his tea for him when he got home from work either from the coal mines or when he was volunteering as an EMT and he wanted his tea then and still has it to this day with so much ice that you can see no space at the bottom of the glass.
Now that is a lot of ice. And it is too much ice for me to drink from...brrrr.

Tomorrow, just what the heck IS clotted cream anyway? I will tell you! I may even give you a recipe on how to make your own and a great recipe for scones.
Until then,
Brightest Tea Blessings!
Blessed Be

Fruit and Herbs and Tea all in one!

I found an old copy of an Herbal Companion magazine that I had saved for a tea recipe that combined fresh herbs, fruit and tea.
I have tried this tea as in the notes I wrote along the edge of the margin I noted that it needed "a little something more".
I will give you the recipe as it was stated in the book and then tell you what little something I gave it. You can try both and be the judge.

Apple-Mint Iced Tea
To brew 4 - 10 ounce glasses.
1 quart of water
6 teaspoons of black tea or 6 regular tea bags (GASP!)
1 cup of fresh peppermint leaves
2 tablespoons of honey
2 cups of apple juice
More fresh mint sprigs and apple slices for garnish (Optional)

Combine black tea or bags, peppermint leaves and just boiled water in a teapot and steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain, stir in honey and chill.
To serve, combine with the apple juice, pour over ice and garnish with apple slices and sprigs of mint.
Hint: To keep the apple slices from turning brown, spritze with lemon juice on both sides.

THAT was their recipe. I admit it was good, but it seemed kinda flat for a summer cooler tea.
I thought if you are going to add a apple juice to the tea, why not make a spritzer instead?
While the tea is chilling, take 1/2 can of frozen apple juice concentrate and add it to a quart of club soda. You will need to mix this in a large pitcher because it will get fizzy.
Take out your chilled tea add 2 cups of the apple spritzer to it, pour over ice and garnish.
I think you will like both of these teas.
The great thing about the spritzer is there will be enough left over for those who don't want or need tea. The apple juice concentrate and club soda is a delightful drink on its own, add tea and WOW!

I should mention that if you are using a sweetened apple juice for the original recipe, you may want to leave out the honey as it may be too sweet for you.

Fast forward 6 months, it is cold out and you need something warm. Make this tea. Except make it hot and use a culinary grade cinnamon stick for a stirrer. Yum!

See, tea can be very versatile and I love just about everything you can do with it.
Enjoy!

The Moon Brews

Ahh, the moon. My personal totem. I have moon earrings, bracelets, anklets, necklaces and my apartment is decorated in moons and stars. My actions and life is guided by that 28 day cycle of the moon.
Is it any wonder that I have several teas for women that involves their moontimes?

Do not think that because you no longer have a moontime whether surgically (such as myself) or naturally that you cannot drink these teas. They will help you rebuild the calcium and the strength your body needs to live life to the fullest!

Moon Brew
This will make you a mason jar full of tea.
2 tblsp Oatstraw
1/4 cup rose petals...these are dried petals from roses that haven't been sprayed. Try your florist for presprayed roses OR get your own if you are fortunate enough to have the bushes.
1/4 cup spearmint leaves
1/2 cup nettle leaves
3/4 cup raspberry leaves
1-4 cup lavender flowers
Please remember to get these ingredients from culinary herbs not from the craft store's dried up potpourri packs.
Mix these herbs up in a large jar. Cover tightly.
To make the tea, you can then use 1 teaspoon of the herbs per cup of water. Steep for at least 10 minutes.

For a calcium boost, I found the following on a woman's health site that I added a few herbs to, it turned out to be a very flowery tea with a mint bite.
Again this herbage will make a large jar. Mix all the herbs well in the jar by putting the lid and shaking the jar. Keep tightly covered in a cool, dark place.
Full Moon- Full Bones Tea
1/2 cup of red raspberry leaves
1/2 cup red clover blossoms
1/2 cup nettle leaves
1/4 cup lemon balm leaves
2 tblspns of calendula flowers
2 tblspns of lemon verbena leaves
2 tblspns of rose petals, the organic type mentioned above.
This is better drank by the pot. For a 4-6 cup pot, steep 1/4 cup of the above herb mix covered with boiling water for 15 - 20 mintues. Strain into your cup. Sweeten with honey if desired.

What is a tisane?

Got an email from Sheryl who wanted to know what a tisane or an infusion was.
Great question and unless you were an herbalist, this terms probably wouldn't cross your path.

Believe it or not, everytime you put herbs into a cup of hot water not only have you made an herbal tea, but you have made a tisane. Just that easy.
A tisane is a french word for a beverage made by steeping dried or fresh plant parts in water that has come to a boil.

A decoction, used mainly for medicinal purposes, are made by boiling the plant parts in water until the liquid is reduced. The water is then strained into a container or teapot.

We could go on from there, but we would be entering my herbal healer arena and out of teas!

An infusion of a single herb is called a 'simple'. Simpling is the best way in my opinion to enjoy and appreciate the benefits of that herb.
You can mix an herb with a tea and have a delicious combination or herbal blend. I like spearmint with black tea. There is also Chamomile with Green tea. The chamomile is a gentle, delicate flavor and blends beautifully and does not overpower the green tea.

You want to know the best way to brew herbs?
Glad you asked. It is really easy if you follow a few guidelines.

1. Use fresh cold water. As with black, green, or Oolong tea, the purer the better tasting the water the more satisfying the tea. I use bottled water.
2. Use full-leafed herbs when possible. The more intact the leaves or the flowers are the better the essence of that plant will be. When herbs are powdered or pulverized, (look inside of any herbal tea bag) their essential oils which are responsible for their fragrance and their taste to evaporate quickly. If you use an infuser you will get more joy from your herbal tea than any tea bag convenience can give you.
3. Use the proper equipment. Herbs need space and good water circulation to unfold and move to steep. For infusing, use a plastic, bamboo or wire mesh strainer that can be dipped into a single cup or get a pot with a built in infuser.
DON'T USE THE LITTLE STAINLESS STEEL BALLS, or the enclosed mesh balls. There is absolutely NO room in those things for herbs to unfold in.
If you must use those things do what I do, use them for sprinkling powdered sugar or cinnamon, they are great for that, not good for tea.

Your cup and teapot should be glass or ceramic as metal could give a definite metallic taste to the tea and it may even give undesirable minerals to the herbs.

OK we all on the same page now? Lets make us an infusion.
1. Boil water: Fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil. Use a little of the boiling water to proof your pot.
2. Infuse the herbs: Cover herbs with just boiled water and allow to steep...how long? Herbs take longer to steep than black tea does, depending on the herb, the part used, you will have to experiment here.
3. Drink: If you like, add lemon or honey to taste. I find that honey brings with it even more herbage flavor.

That is about it.
I hope you enjoyed our foray into tisanes, infusions, decoctions, macerations, er, that is a different post.

Brightest Tea Blessing, y'all!

Back on the burner!

After a two day Discussion" with my cable modem, I am back online and running.
Since joining 2 tea rings the traffic to this blog has certainly increased...Thank you for stopping by!
Don't drink bagged teas unless you have to!

I was thinking of giving an idea for a Morrocan Tea Party (complete with tents and camels!), but I realized that I have left some of you in the lurch as it were on teas.
I have gone over the Rainbow of Teas in a previous post, but I think it is time to talk about the blends.

Here I will give just a few of my favorite black tea blends.

English Breakfast: originally this wasn't a blend at all, but a straight Keemun, it was given its name by British tea marketers. Today the term applies to any combination of China, Ceylon and India teas that yields a brw with a medium body and brisk character. Usually drank with milk as a whitener.

Irish Breakfast: Another marketing term. Heartier than English Breakfast (of course), it's usually made from high-grown Ceylon and robust Assam. Also good with milk and my particular morning favorite.

Russian Caravan: Originally I posted about the origins of Russian tea in "side tracked post" . Today this blend is likely to be made from China and Formosa Oolongs, unspecified black teas and perhaps even some Lapsang Souchong. The blend is then cured with smoke to give it its characteristic aroma and flavor. Served best with lemon slices.

These could also be considered blends, but I call them flavored and/or scented.

Earl Grey: This is said to be the finest scented tea to be drunk in the west. It's made of China black, Ceylon or India tea with oil of Bergamot extracted from a small citrus fruit ggrown in the Mediterranean and sprayed on the leaves after manufacture.
One thing I can tell you as an herbalist is that there are grades of bergamot oil, some are natural some are synthetic or an chemical ester. The best Earl Grey balances an orangey flavor with the tea taste without one overwhelming the other.

Lapsang Souchong: This tea is grown in China but rarely drank there, this tea is immediately identifiable by its smokey aroma obtained from curing in a smoke filled rooms (think hams) over pine needles. It priduces a dark red infusion that goes especially well with savory dishes.

Chai: This is the Indian word for "tea" and the ubiquitous brew of India. It is made from a combination of black (Or sometimes green) tea leaves and a combination of spices. Quality can range from delightlful, and as I can attest, to dreadful. Milk, usually condensed, is added.

Green tea blends
I only have a few of these.
Jasmine tea: What Earl Grey is to the west, jasmine tea is to North China.
Jasmine is a nightblooming flower and are picked in the morning and kept in a cool place nightfall. Just as they are about to open, they are piled next to heat dried green tea leaves which absorb the jsmine fragrance. This process is repeated two or three times for ordinary jasmine tea, or up to seven times for top grades like Yin Hao. Jasmine Pearls are hand rolled pellets that "explode" in hot water, releasing their perfume.
Watch out for inferior teas made with extracts and oils and remember that the presence of blossoms in the tea has no bearing on quality; some excellent jasmine tea has no flowers in it at all.

Green Chai: Frankly I do not understand this tea. It is a popular one out now. Green tea is so delicate and beautiful on the palate, why anyone would want to cover a green tea up with spices is beyond me.

Now some tea sites or others may go into herbal teas at this point. I may go into a few, but I must stay true to my herbalist roots.
Herbs are not to be entered into lightly. They have medical, chemical and magical properties. You may even have problem with some herbs without even knowing it.
But that is another post. As the warning states on the bottom of this blog, you must be careful upon introducing herbs into your system.

Mint Tea is a very good tea. A pitcher of iced mint tea on a hot, sultry, southern afternoon like the kind we have here in Charleston will make you think you stepped into a Tennessee Williams play. However, where mint has the power to help some people with a tummyache, people with a hiatal hernia should stay very clear of all mints.
Chamomile Tea is very good and a gentle tea. as long as you know you are getting true chamomile...there are people out there in the "herb" business not knowing what they are pulling. Is it chamomile or is it agrimony? Read labels. If you are buying a tea already made up, then it should just say chamomile flowers.
There are blends of herbs as well but I think I will do that another day.

Time for a tea break.

Children's Tea Parties

I do not know your feelings on children drinking tea. My earliest memories involve an amber substance in a baby bottle, so there you go. No, it wasn't Jameson's!

I do know I drank tea as a child, both hot and cold, bag and instant. While I was in college, tea wasn't available cold like it is today (I went to Penn State and the only tea you could find outside the cafeteria was in the coffee machines in the student union...Ick) so I drank lots of Pepsi. LOTS...the back seat of my AMC Javelin would clink from cans and bottles.

I had tea parties as a child. I had crackers that had butter and jelly, tea and sometimes mom gave me gingersnaps for my little plates. The snaps were always too big for my tiny plates, but at least my dolls never went hungry...nor did my brother when he was home from the Navy who would indulge his baby sister by trying to handle those tiny cups. Now he has to do it for his granddaughter, Meghan....I bought her a tea set for her 5th birthday next week!

I have several ideas and websites that will help you get a very nice children's tea party under way.
First, let me say children are not much for planning. They like to do things when they want. I think that is great and it should be encouraged because as they grow into adulthood those opportunities to do what they want unstructured will disappear. Let them be children as long as possible.
However, if you would like to plan a child's tea party for say, a birthday, halloween, or just because that child of yours is the sweetest thing that ever walked the Goddess's planet, then by all means let's plan.

Pick a theme. Halloween? Birthday? Victorian? For this example let's do a Beach theme since summer is just around the corner.
Make some invitations. These could be bought or made. It is quite easy to purchase pre-folded invitations ready for the printer at your local meglamart. However, let your child decorate the invitations rather than send them through a cardshop program. Lots of suns and beach chairs, flipflops and umbrellas and of course, teacups. Fun!
Make sure to put a few cut outs in your invitations of the sun or some sprinkles of confetti so that the person opening the invitation will know the party is going to be full of surprises.
Perhaps you can add that the children could come in a beach type outfit.

For food for the party, keep it simple whether it is for just you and your child or for your child and her friends. PB&J sandwiches cut into shapes, or perhaps a little more grown up sandwich like egg salad made with cream cheese on the small deli breads used for cocktail parties, trim the crusts before assembling and cut diagonally. Their small size are perfect for both the party and small fingers.
Remember that a small size is important in an adult's tea party, just think how much smaller you have to make these things for a child's party.

Make a plate of fruit wedges and grapes. Pears and apples can be dipped in orange or pineapple juice to keep them from browning. Make a dip for the fruit by mixing a small container of peach yogurt with a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and 1 oz of cream cheese. Whisk until smooth.

Cookies and cakes are easily done. You can make a tiny version of your child's favorite cookie or most stores have the tiny or mini cup cakes these days.
Try this recipe:
I would suggest getting a Jiffy mix cake , whatever flavor you like. Theses small cake mixes only make a one layer cake.
Make this mix, but spread the batter in a square pan, 8x8, and bake at 350 degrees (325 for a glass pan) for 20 minutes and check for doneness.
When cool this little cake can be cut into squares 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" or use a 1-1/2" circle cutter. Place these on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet or wax paper.
Whisk 1 cup of 10x powder sugar into 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth, add a drop of food color to liven it up a bit. If this glaze is too thick to drizzle, add milk a drop at a time until it is of the right consistency.
Place the glaze in a zip bag and nip a corner, very small nip.
Drizzle this over your little cakes getting as much or as little of the glaze as you want on them, leave some plain to sprinkle powdered sugar on for a different look.
Let the glaze set and move to the serving plate. If your child wishes, while the glaze is still wet, she can sprinkle edible glitter on them.
IF there is any left, store loosely covered. You just made a quick version of peti fours without the jam inside!

On to the beverage of the day...(fanfare please) TEA!
If you do not wish to serve your child tea because of its caffeine content, no worries. I have recipes for tea without ANY caffeine.
Since this is a beach theme, how about mint tea? Or Lemonade 'tea'?
If your child is set on having regular tea, then the way to go would be iced green tea or decaf tea. It is a beach party and not many people (except me) have hot tea in the summer.
If you go into a healthfood store, any organic market like WholeFoods, EarthFare, etc, there is an herbal tea bar. It is a place that you look at all of the teas available and pick the one you want. You bag it and tag it. Another way to go if you do not mind having leftover teabags in your house is buying Celestial Seasonings Mint Magic for the Mint tea, there are other ingredients in this particular tea, however it is caffeine free and a very good tasting tea. From the same company, Lemon Zinger makes the best lemonade I have ever tasted. Again, it is caffeine free.
Another great thing about Celestial Seasonings is that their boxes of tea have some of the prettiest artwork on them and the blank artwork is available for printout for your children to color.

Nothing about the party has to be expensive. A trip to a dollar store recently showed me that their selection of gift paper would be great for covering a small tea table, or use a beach towel. While at the dollar store look into a "Goodie Bag" idea for the guests to leave with.
A zip bag decorated by your child with markers (Sharpie has some wonderful colors out now) filled with such beachy things as sunglasses, bubbles, a plastic beach cup, maybe a lollipop. There were so many ideas I got just walking around the big dollar mart we have here.

Have fun, use your imagination and enjoy your time with your child. This time with them is so precious, enjoy every minute of it.

Feel free to comment your own adventures or reminisce from your childhood. Let me know either here or by email on how you are wanting to do a party. Afterall, we are all children at heart.

Brightest Tea Blessings!

The rainbow color of teas

Emperor Shen Nung, Father of Tea

Black, white, yellow, red, green...what is missing here? Purple perhaps or blue?
I may find those with additional digging, but for now let me expound on what I know.

Let's start with the Black Teas.
We have Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Dooars, Keeman, Nilgiri, North China Congou, Sikkim, South China Congou, Yunnan.
Now a note on the delicate Darjeeling. This is usually an expensive tea for many reasons. It is like a wine in that it picks up the vagarities of the region where it is grown and in that way it is identified. The leaves are deliberately broken during manufacture as well unlike the normal black teas that are sorted according to the leaf sizes.
The Darjeelings are also identified by the estates they are grown on in the Himalayas as well as the "flush".
First Flush is April/May: Plucked from the first growth; light and flowery taste.
Second Flush is May/June: Harvested from the second growth; frutier and smoother.
Autumnal Flush Timing depends on when monsoon rainfall occurs: Larger leafed, harvested after the rainy season; rounder in taste.
I bet you thought someone just plucked a bunch of leaves and tossed them in a box for shipment, huh?
Darjeelings are rarely sold unblended because they are so expensive. Leaves that come from a single harvest and are unblended is called a vintage.
So remember that when you buy a Darjeeling tea in the grocery store you may be buying a blend of less than 50% of actual Darjeeling tea leaves.

I want to say it may seem that I left out a lot of teas that seem familiar to you, like Orange Pekoe or Irish Breakfast Tea. Sorry to say that Orange Pekoe has nothing to do with orange flavoring or colors, but with the leaf size and Irish Breakfast and his types are black teas that are blendings.
We will go into the particular blends of teas at another time as we will the leaf sizes.

Now let's do the "colored" teas.

Oolong is a classification all on its own out of Taiwan and mainland China having several varieties. Felt to be the King of Teas by connoisseurs it has by my taste buds overriding hints of Jasmine. Of course I haven't tasted all of the varieties. Some of these varieties you will not find except online.
Formosa Oolong, Pouchong, Pu er, Vinca Rose Oolong, Ti Kuan Yin, Wuyi AND my favorite...get ready...Dong Ding Oolong.
Explanation is ready when you stop laughing.
In chinese, Dong means "cold" or "chilled" and Ding means "top". In Taiwan there is a mountain called Dong Ding and it is there that this tea is grown waaay up on top. At least that is what my tea tasting friend told me.

Green Teas
Bancha, Baozhoang, Dragonwell, Gen Mai Cha, Gu Zhang Mao Jian, Gunpowder (AKA Pearl Tea), Gyokuro, Hojicha, Hyson, Longjing, Matcha, Pi Lo Chun, Sencha.
There are many green tea blends as well such as Jasmine and Green chai.

White Tea
Pai Mu Tan (White Peony)
White tea is the least processed of the tea leaves and it is also the most rare. It is 100% tip of the plant, this is the most tender and delicate cup of tea imaginable. Also one of the most expensive vintages.

Red Tea
Mountain Red Tea AKA Roobios
Hate to tell you, it isn't a tea. That is it isn't botanically related to the Camillia Sinesis plant that the above mentioned teas are a variety of. No, this is considered an herbal tea.
I threw it in here for fun and I know that many of you have heard of "red tea" by now.
Roobios pronounced Roy+boss, the Mountain Red tea is native to Cape Town, South Africa, and grows on the limestone slopes of Cedarberg Mountains. The bush isn't red, but the color of the tea is.

That about wraps it up for today, but I must leave you with one particular thing I found on one of my reference sites today.
Taiwan and Asia has a novelty tea drink that is a growing trend in the states, called "Bubble Tea".
Bubble Tea sometimes referred to as "Black Pearl Tea" is a infusion of hot tea poured over tapioca pearls. Often milk is added to heighten the contrast of white beverage and black spheres on the bottom of the glass. An extra wide straw is used to slurp up the tapioca pearls, which by this time are soft and flavorless.
Weird, huh? Believe it or not I have the recipe.
If any of you have tasted this Bubble Tea, please comment here on what it was like, I am very curious. I have already found a site online that sells the kits. I do not know why you would need a kit when it is just tapioca and tea, but whatever!

Brightest Tea Blessings to y'all!

Missed a few days...

Between having fibromyalgia and needing our car serviced, I missed a few days.

Let's see if I can try to make up for that over the next two posts.

I found this quote on a box of, you guessed it, TEA!
"Happiness comes from accepting the present situation, whether it's something you wish to savor as long as possible or change as quickly as you can. Neither is possible without acceptance as the starting point, becausewithout acceptance you are living on the periphery of your life. There at the edges, you cannot fully enjoy the good stuff or do anything about the rest."
-Victoria Moran
Quite apropo, wouldn't you agree?

I tasted a few teas this weekend.
One was Bigelow Teas "Constant Comment - Green Tea". I have had a long standing love affair with the Constant Comment before it was done in the green tea variety.
Personally, I prefer the original recipe.
I will compare the Bigelow Constant Comment to Celestial Seasonings version of the tea that is called Tuscany Orange Spice and say that Bigelow wins against even the mighty Celestial Seasonings.
Green tea seems to be the new way to go for tea makers because there is a niche made by those who think the antioxidants needed to help with heart problems are found only in green tea. That isn't true. Antioxidants are found in all teas. It may lower your bad cholesterol and in men it has been shown to help with coronary heart flow. AND it can help the fight against cancer in that it has a secret cancer fighter called polyphenols. Not bad for a cup of tea, huh?
The green tea has less caffeine, but don't let me stop you from getting hooked to any form of tea.

I think tomorrow after I find all of my books, we will go over the different types and colors of teas. There are green teas and black teas, but do you know there are white teas and red teas? There are yerba mates that have as much caffeine as coffee.
I had a small amount..just a sample size at Earth Fare at James Island of Tropical Fruit tea. I will have to look more into that, but I could tell by tasting it that it was instant and the fruit was overpowering the tea. I won't give it a tea cup scale unless I get some to experiment on, but normally I stay away from instant teas. I am a brewer of tea, not a stirrer of powder.

So on a tea cup scale of 1 tea cup being passable for a beverage to 5 teacups being the creme' de la creme' of teas, I give Constant Comment - Green tea - 2 teacups
Regular Constant Comment - 4 teacups
Celestial Seasonings Tuscany Orange Spice - 2 teacups

For those of your who do prefer Green tea let's take it up a notch.

Stop and Smell the Flowers Green tea
This brews a 4 cup pot.

3 teaspoons of green tea...or 3 tea bags.
10 - 12 fresh lemon verbena leaves...you can find these in some produce departments.
The petals from one unsprayed rose...go to your florist and ask them for one, most grocery store roses are sprayed to lengthen their freshness
Heat 4 cups of water to just a simmer combine the green tea, verbena, and rose petals in a proofed teapot. Steep for 5-7 minutes. Strain into cups, add a mild clover honey if desired.
Remember to stop and smell the aroma of the tea before drinking.

Until later,
Brightest Tea Blessings