Tea Recipes #1

JASMINE TEA GANACHE

• 10 oz. heavy cream
• 1 oz. light corn syrup
• 1 1/4 oz. jasmine tea
• 9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 1/2 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 oz. rum

Chop the chocolate into small pieces approximately 3/8-inch. Boil together the cream and light corn syrup. Add the jasmine tea and simmer for 1 minute. Strain the tea and pour over the bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate. Mix the ingredients only enough to incorporate. Allow to cool to 90 degrees and stir in the rum. Pour into a shallow dish that has been lined with waxed or parchment paper. The filling should be 5/8 inches thick. Allow to cool overnight or until firm, covered in refrigerator. Cut into squares.
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TEA LIQUEUR

• 2 tsps. black tea leaves (or choose a flavored black tea)
• 1 1/2 c. vodka
• 1/2 c. sugar syrup (dissolve 1 part sugar to 1 part water over heat; adjust for desired sweetness; cool before using)

Steep the tea leaves in vodka for up to 24 hours. Strain and add sugar syrup. Age for 2 weeks. Store in a capped bottle in the refrigerator. Yield: 1 pint

EARL GREY SHORTBREAD

• 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
• 1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 c. flour, sifted
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 1 Tblspn. Earl Grey tea, finely ground

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light. Fold in flour, cornstarch and tea and mix until dough begins to hold its shape (do not overwork dough). Pat dough into 8"x 8" pan and bake 55 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting in 2" squares. Yield: 16 squares. Source

Teapots: Yixing Clay

The vision of a tea drinker with an Yixing clay teapot brings to mind Miguel de Cervantes' (author of "Don Quixote") quote about friendship: "Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."

An Yixing (pronounced ee-shing) clay teapot is a tea drinking joy like no other. It is made of a red, purple, or buff clay found only in China's Jiangsu province northwest of Shanghai. The clay is especially porous, and neither the inside nor the outside of the teapots is glazed to allow the tea's flavor and oils to permeate the pot's walls. For this reason, Yixing devotees usually designate a pot for a specific type of tea to avoid contamination from cross-brewing.

Westerners are often surprised at the small 1-2 cup size of the typical Yixing teapot. Unlike communal 6-8 cup or larger teapots, the Yixing teapot is a personal and intimate treasure much like a favorite pair of slippers.

Tea preparation begins with the seasoning of the new pot. First, rinse the pot with water to remove any loose materials. Then, allow an infusion of the type of tea to which the pot will be dedicated to steep in the pot for up to 30 minutes. Discard the tea and rinse the pot with clear water. The seasoning process is only done once before a pot's first use.

To prepare the tea:

• fill the teapot with boiling water, put its lid on, and pour hot water over the pot
• discard the water once the pot is warmed
• add loose leaf tea to the pot; the amount depends on personal preference, but 2 tablespoons in a 2-cup pot is a safe starting point
• fill the teapot with hot water
• allow the tea to steep; again, the time depends on personal preference, but up to 2 minutes for the first steeping is typical

Pour the tea into your favorite pre-warmed cup, relax, and submerge your senses in the combined ancient elements of clay, water, and tea. High grade tea leaves support 4-6 steepings.

Caring for a Yixing teapot could not be easier. Use clear water to flush the leaves out of the pot, and turn the pot upside down to dry. Soap or detergents should never be used on either the outside or the inside of a Yixing teapot.

Click Yixing teapots if you would like to begin shopping for your own Yixing pot. Enjoy!

Devoted to Darjeeling

Darjeeling tea is often referred to as the “champagne of teas." And just as with fine wines, a skilled tea taster can identify the leaves’ garden of origin and can describe the weather conditions on the day the leaves were picked. Darjeeling's flavor depends on the season when the harvest occurs. For example, a Spring flush picking in May and June yields a leaf with the favored Muscatel-like taste and an amber colored liquor.

Darjeeling tea was first cultivated in the Darjeeling region of India in the mid-1800’s from Chinese tea seeds. The Darjeeling region in the northeastern Indian state of West Bengal is currently home to 86 Darjeeling tea estates. Authentic Darjeeling tea cannot be produced anywhere else in the world although nearly 75% of the tea sold as Darjeeling is fraudulently labeled.

Modern-day tea harvesting is still done by hand and to exacting standards. For example, a “fine plucking” Darjeeling harvester will only pick the bud and 2 leaves from the end of a branch. It takes 22,000 of these shoots make a little over two pounds of tea. A tea bush may be cultivated for 10 years before it is harvested.

Recommended reading

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Tea Tip #1

Tea Tip #1
A cooled tea bag works well as a compress on swollen, puffy eyes. A newly blackened eye also benefits from a tea bag compress.
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Cancer hope for green tea extract

A chemical extracted from green tea could help scientists to develop new drugs to fight cancer.

Tests by UK and Spanish researchers showed polyphenol EGCG taken from green tea leaves inhibits cancer cell growth.

The effect was seen even at low concentrations, equivalent to drinking two or three cups of green tea a day.

Read the entire BBC story.

Welcome, tea lovers!

Tea lovers of the world ... welcome to Tea Glorious Tea!

Relax with your favorite cuppa and enjoy this wondrous journey.