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While sipping tea recently with a friend, I was impressed by her sugar dispenser, a little glass bauble which puts out exactly one teaspoon of sugar each time you invert it. I sheepishly admitted that I don't get out much, and I might even have uttered the word "newfangled." Then she told me the piece was actually old. Oops.
So I shouldn't have been surprised that the tea-focused segment that I caught on TV yesterday was actually a month old. Pop-culture medicine man Dr. Oz was spouting age-old wisdom anyhow: his "Teas to Fight Disease" are nothing new, but perhaps they've reached a new audience in recent months. Of course I'm thrilled by the possibility that Oz's Oprah-fueled fame is providing well-brewed advice to reduce the incidence of diabetes, Alzheimer's, and various cancers with black, green, and white teas, respectively. But I'd like to highlight an aspect of his article which was not at all its focus.
When we talk about tea as a healthful beverage, we often focus on antioxidants, the benefits of caffeine intake (or, paradoxically, the benefits of reduced caffeine content when compared with coffee), or the beverage's super-soothing effects. But tea was flavored water before flavored water was hip - that is, before you could bottle flavored water and charge people for it. One of the greatest health benefits for tea drinkers is that they're upping their water intake without consuming extra sugar or calories - of course, as long as they're not drowning their tea in cream and sugar. Don't get me wrong: I love cream (or milk) and sugar in my tea, but it's not as necessary as I think it is. And so my favorite feature of the Dr. Oz feature was his little "Flavor Meter" for each tea, showing which teas were sweetest and which were strongest. His list was painfully short, excluding red teas and herbals blends, but maybe I'll create my own someday. For now, I'll be satisfying my sweet tooth with healthy cups of Darjeeling, matcha, and Silver Needle teas.
What are some of your favorite sweet-without-sugar teas? (And when you do need some sweetener, doesn't that old-timey glass dispenser sound positively tea-lightful?)
 What is High Tea exactly? Low Tea and High Tea are like small meals, almost like snacks, served with tea. Low tea, which gets its name from being served on a low table, like a garden table or coffee table, would be served somewhere between noon and 5 PM and hence sometimes goes by the name Afternoon Tea. High Tea is typically served around 5 - 6 PM and is a heartier snack, with meats, breads and of course tea. High Tea got it's name from being served on the dining table which was typically the tallest table in the house.
In today's nomenclature 'High Tea', which the name itself strengthens, is considered a fanciful event with fine finger foods, scones and gourmet tea. Historically, High Tea was drank by both the working class, as they would want a small snack when getting home after a long day, and also by the children of the upper class as a snack before a heavier dinner that they may not have the patience for. Either way, if you use the term 'High Tea' in today's society, expect to need reservations and a jacket.
Now to the important information; how to host High Tea or throw a High Tea party. Here are a few things to consider:
1) Sending written invitations always adds an air of sophistication to a party. If you feel snail mail invitations are a little above the call of duty, try sending an evite from evite.com. It's free, and you can choose tea related themes which will set the tone for your party.
2) Include the dress code in the invitations. Dressing up is fun, but only if everyone knows about it. Large hats for the ladies are great for conversation and photo opportunities.
3) Think of the aesthetics of your menu as much as the taste. White table cloth and serving on crystal or fancy serving platters will make the simplest of cookies look like the queen's affair.
- Tea Sandwiches are perfect - think special ingredients like nuts, unique spreads and herbs.
- Anything miniature is good - think Mandarin Oranges, Baby Corn and miniature Artichoke. These bright colors will help dress up the table as well.
- Small cookies and crackers for adding delicious spreads are a must. Want to really impress your guests? Consider finding a scone recipe and make at least one of the menu items homemade.
- To stick with tradition, serve two or three finger foods that involve meat. Cold cuts are always easy and go well with just about everything.
4) Now for the tea. Try serving a multi-course tea menu.
- Start with a traditional tea with a twist, like Vanilla Creme Earl Grey. This can be served with the scones to get things started.
- Bring out the veggies and meats with a kettle of a soft, but well rounded tea like Silver Needle.
- Finish up with the desserts while serving a unique, decaf dessert tea like Tiramisu Rooibos.
Let us know how it goes. We'd love to see photos of your High Tea parties. Post them in our Spill It Forum under Tea Photos.
My husband, Will, and I planted our first vegetable garden at the tail end of spring. We were so excited to harvest a variety of tomatoes, pumpkin, okra, squash, cucumber and a plethora of greens and herbs by the beginning of fall. After carefully planting each and every seed, hand watering daily, and taking morning garden tours and connecting with their progress, much to our dismay, a pesky little rabbit or squirrel took it upon themselves to feast at our expense.
What they don’t find appealing to their palate are the more potent herbs, such as the mint and tarragon and spicy greens. For some reason they have also left behind the delicate thyme too. Lucky me!
This recipe made me rethink salads. Growing up when I tried to help my mom out in the kitchen, she would always put me in charge of the veggie chopping for salads. I barely learned the secrets of cooking the main entrees, but I got really good at nailing the salads.
It is truly such a fulfilling pleasure to pluck fresh herbs from your garden and include it in your meal. I picked some thyme, sage and tarragon, which I couldn’t believe I found a recipe that called for three untouched ingredients from my garden! I soaked, washed and chopped them and took a little over a tablespoon of the mixture and tossed it with the salad. The combination of the baby greens I used along with the potent herbs was fantastic! Not too overbearing from the defined sage and tarragon leaves.
Brewing the Darjeeling with rice vinegar was innovative. Darjeeling has a naturally flowery aroma that complemented the herbs and greens and fit into this salad in its own defined piece of the puzzle.
Will, who is a clinical salad dodger, devoured it. Perfectly light and airy, it went well with the main course of whole, roasted chicken.
A while back I embarked on a journey to try every recipe printed in the fabulous book, Culinary Tea by Cynthia Gold and Lise Stern. My journey was interrupted by a gift from God…I became pregnant with my first child. As I could not reap the fruits of my labor, i.e., as I was now prohibited from consuming caffeine, I decided it was best to wait until now.
With my son sound asleep right next to me this 3rd month of his birth, I have shaken the dust off of my copy of Culinary Tea and am ready to dive back into trying all recipes.
 What I have discovered is that a copy of the book in its entirety can be found in Google Books. So rather than typing in all of the recipes into my own blog, you can follow along as I post the link to each recipe I try. This way, you can be sure to get them verbatim and I can be free from any blame for a typo of something like 2 tablespoons of sugar vs. 12 tablespoons of sugar. Not that that has happened so far…but anything is possible.
Yea! I get to cook with tea again! Is it strange that I like being a housewife? And a mother? How old fashioned can I get really? I’m 33 years old, grew up in the states, have a graduate degree, worked full time in a high profile profession, run an online business and I still believe that wives should cater to their husbands.
We have friends where their wives don’t know where to find the measuring cups in their own kitchen. These same friends come to potluck dinners with the husbands making the food. I must really be old fashioned because this notion always bothers me. Either way, I believe being a great cook is part of being a strong, well-rounded woman, and I'm excited to share ideas and recipes when I come across a good one.
Back to the amazing tea recipes. I recently cooked up a batch of Smoky Tea-Spiced Almonds, a variation from Smoky Tea-Spiced Pecans because I didn't have pecans and I was determined to do a recipe soon and not be held back any longer.
Not having a tea spice grinder, because I haven’t heard of one until today, I used my hubby’s coffee grinder instead. Yes he does drink coffee. Que lastima! I wonder if he will notice the hints of smoky Lapsang Souchong in his morning cup tomorrow, hehe!
Nuts and Lapsang are like tailgating in football. They were made for each other. Smoky Tea-Spiced Almonds are an excellent, healthy snack to any sporting event. It has the smoky touch that Lapsang provides but not too overbearing, in fact, it could be a bit smokier. It also has a sweet and spicy combo from the cayenne and allspice that makes you want to pop one after another into your mouth. It makes a perfect snack for football playoffs.
 How is it that you enjoy your night time tea? Do you enjoy a cup of herbal in the quiet after the kids go to bed? Do you sip a cup during the nightly news? I take mine out to the front porch and sip my tea while I drink in the night. Listening to the night sounds of suburbia, Killdeers winging through the dark... Sometimes watching a bat fly in and out of the streetlight catchng insects.
 Other times I sit quietly with prayer beads in hand and ask the Universe to help plot my course to contentment, pray for the end of suffering and war... or pray for things closer to home and my heart... or I simply give thanks for the blessings I have.
These are prayer beads I made for a friend fighting breat cancer.
Do you have a night time ritual invovling tea?
Tags: Honeybush, Tisane, Tea Culture, Japanese Tea, Chinese Tea, Chai, Pu-erh Tea, Rooibos Tea, Blooming Tea, Green Tea, White Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Darjeeling Tea
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