Darjeeling Workers Lift Tea Embargo for DTA Gardens
29 Mar 2011
By World Tea News

Darjeeling First Flush From ITA Member Gardens Held Hostage

“The situation in Darjeeling is a mess,” observed Devan Shah, CEO of International Tea Importers (ITI) on his return from the troubled region. A partial embargo by workers of shipments from India Tea Association gardens continues. On Wednesday workers lifted an embargo at 63 Darjeeling Tea Association gardens that had escalated to the point where “workers show up to work, tea is manufactured but not shipped. There is a big backlog of teas and the clock is ticking for these teas,” says Shah.
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The embargo of first flush Darjeeling was lifted by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha at 63 gardens Wednesday freeing growers to resume tea shipments that have been disrupted since March 4. The decision makes it posible for suppliers to meet European demand before the important Easter holiday sales season. Only gardens represented by the Darjeeling Tea Association will benefit at this time. There are 87 gardens in the region. The remainder are represented by the Indian Tea Association (ITA).

The decision by the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union was announced when DTA garden owners agreed to resume talks on a proposed daily rate hike. The 20 member gardens of the Indian Tea Association "will continue to be crippled by the embargo" according to reports in The Telegraph of Calcutta.

The DTA's decision undermines efforts by the Consultive Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) which represents 20 ITA gardens, 63 DTA gardens and four independents.

The Telegraph reported that separately the Labour Department, the CCPA and representatives of other trade unions met in Siliguri to discuss a wage agreement that expires Thursday. Participants rejected Morcha's demand to conduct separate wage talks.

The newspaper reported that wage parity among gardens has been the norm.

Monojit Dasgupta, the secretary general of the CCPA, told the group “We are serious about inking the new wage agreement at the earliest. The tripartite talks have proved to be fruitful in fixing the wages. The issue can be resolved amicably.”

A strike in support of the political movement to further divide West Bengal to create the state of Gorkhaland has hampered Darjeeling tea deliveries since Mar. 4. Protests in support of establishing a home state for the Gorkha has disrupted life in all three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. Last week the GJM failed to resolve differences after meeting with garden owners following street protests and a general strike. In response the GJM stopped the dispatch of sample tea bags from the hill gardens. Soon after an embargo of all tea shipments was imposed.

The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) represents the majority of Darjeeling's gardens. The older ITA represents the remainder. The Morcha-controlled Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union is seeking an increase from Rs57 ($1.27) to Rs154 ($3.44) a day.

First and second flush teas account for 70 percent of the region's annual revenue which produced 8.2 million kg in 2010. The region employs 55,000 workers in the tea gardens which cover 45,000 acres (18,000 hectares).

According to the Darjeeling Times, garden owners hope to discuss the wage revision “in conformity with well established practices towards a composite agreement covering all sections of the West Bengal tea industry.” This means that the discussion must be carried out with all operating tea unions in Bengal and that no separate parleys could be held only with the Morcha’s union."

"The movement for a separate Gorkha state dates back to the 1980s. Since then it has claimed thousands of human lives. The movement gained momentum last year when the GJM organized strikes on two occasions," according to the Indial publication Hardnews. India employs millions of tea garden workers in its annual production of 10,000 million tonnes; 100,000 are employed in the Siliguri region which last year produced 40,000 tonnes of tea.

Last week tourists were seen fleeing the hills to avoid harassment during the strike. Amid simmering tension, worried parents feared for their children studying in the hill schools. Students have also started moving out of the hills. Supplies to Sikkim were also disrupted as the only highway to the hill state was blocked by the protestors. A guided tour of German tourists in SUVs was detained.

In a statement to the media the CCPA expressed "concern over the move on the part of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union seeking to bypass... well established norms to achieve their ends through threats which could completely destroy the Darjeeling tea industry.”
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The good news is that all of the SensibiliTeas Darjeeling teas come from estates that are covered by the Darjeeling Tea Association -- Makaibari, Goomtee, Gopaldhara, Avongrove, Risheehat.

Hoping shipments can be begin soon. A word of caution though ... the price of Darjeeling teas can be expected to rise in the coming months.

Colicky baby?

(the title of the blog post is a link to the referenced article)

Yay! Perhaps the coolest side effect of a downturned economy is how many start taking a look at natural healing! Chamomile, fennel, licorice (I don't mention balm mint because I don't have much experience with it...) to calm a baby's colic. Chamomile is also great for relaxing the baby and used topically will soften hair or is great for skin afflictions.

(If the baby or any one using the chamomile exhibit symptoms consistent with that of a ragweed allergy, please discontinue use.)

One can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial colors, flavors and sulphites.

Better off with diet soda? Not if they're sweetened with aspartame or sucrolose. You just set yourself up for a future of kidney and liver disease.

But who drinks only one CAN of soda anyway? Hasn't the normal serving become 20 oz? So that's 1.67x the sugar (17 teaspoons), 250 calories, 50-85 mg caffeine and even more artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and sulphites.

Even though studies have linked soda to osteoporosis, obesity, tooth decay and heart disease, the average American still drinks an estimated 56 gallons of soft drinks each year. Additionally, consuming all that sugar will likely suppress your appetite for healthy foods, clearing the way for nutrient deficiencies.

If you routinely drink soda--regular or diet--eliminating it from your diet is one of the simplest and most profound health improvements you can make.

Replacing the soda with freshly brewed iced tea would be an incredible health improvement.

Freshly brewed iced tea boasts ten times the antioxidants you find in bottled tea products, and often just 1 TBSP of sugar is enough to sufficiently sweeten the tea if the sugar is completely dissolved. Even though my classic Southern sweet tea (my recipe) has lots of sugar (1/2 cup per quart/8 tsp) it is still less sugar than you find in soda.

SensibiliTeas has over 500 teas from which to choose! Let me teach you how to start your spring off in a healthy way!

Hoping to post iced tea recipes here as the weather warms up!

National Australia Day, bottled water and the cold and flu season

Today, January 26 is National Australia Day (at least in Australia it is!)

This day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.

Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on January 26th date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is presently an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by inductions into the Order of Australia and presentations of the Australian of the Year awards, along with an address from the governor-general and prime minister.

On 09/26/09, hundreds of people marched through the picturesque rural town of Bundanoon to mark the first day of its bottled water ban by unveiling a series of new public drinking fountains. Such a smart move, knowing that bottled water is just tap water anyway ...

And Australians know the wonders of Lemon Myrtle, one of our best selling herbal tisanes and the perfect answer to the cold and flu season which will soon be peaking. Lemon myrtle is a plant grown in Australian and enjoyed as a beverage, a seasoning and can also be used as a insect repellant or antiseptic.

For general wellness, we recommend one cup a day. If ``something's going around'', two cups a day. And if you are already not feeling well, three cups back to back as soon as possible.
Usually $3.00 per ounce we'll have it on sale for the rest of the week at $2.50 per ounce.
Drink ... and be well!

12 things about tea your local dim sum restaurateur won't tell you Read more: 12 things about tea your local dim sum restaurateur won't tell you

Here's an interesting take on tea!

I can't prove or disprove any of it, but I agree with most of it!

Neotame ... the new neurotoxic sweetener

Neotame, New Neurotoxic Sweetener: FDA Says No Label Needed, Not Even in Organics
A Monsanto-created chemical, Neotame is likely more toxic than Aspartame. The FDA has quietly decided that we don't have the right to know if it's adulterating our food, not even if the food is labeled USDA Organic.
by Heidi Stevenson
2 January 2011

Aspartame can step aside. There's a new sweetener in town and it isn't saddled with the inconvenience of having to be listed on labels, so it can be sneaked into any prepared food, even USDA so-called Organic. So sayeth the FDA. Neotame is a Monsanto-created chemical similar to Aspartame, including its neurotoxic properties.
Monsanto developed Neotame as their Aspartame patent was expiring, and had no trouble in gaining FDA approval in 2002. They added 3-dimethylbutyl, a chemical listed as hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to Aspartame, making it both sweeter and more toxic.
Toxicity
Both Aspartame and Neotame contain substances that are metabolized into formaldehyde, a highly toxic poison, and an excitotoxic amino acid that agitates, thereby damaging, nerves.
At the time Neotame was originally approved by the FDA, Feingold.org, which battles the addition of many dodgy food additives, stated:
We did a search of MedLine to find studies of adverse effects or side effects of Neotame. Only four studies appeared, two of which were not studies, and the other two of which were actually a single study done by NutraSweet company researchers.
Feingold aptly described one of the nonstudies as effectively saying, "If we don't look, we won't know anything bad." The other, by the World Health Organization, is not a look at potential toxicity, but rather is about setting acceptable daily intakes of Neotame, along with other artificial sweeteners. Note: One must wonder how the FDA justifies non-listing of an ingredient for which there's an acceptable daily intake.
Mary Nash Stoddard, founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, compared the historic arc of tobacco company research with that of Aspartame. It applies equally well to Neotame:
There is a parallel issue with which to compare the Aspartame issue. That of cigarettes and the deadly effects of smoking. The massive Tobacco Industry is able to produce large volumes of scientific studies showing smoking does not cause: lung cancer, heart disease, strokes or death. Today, mainstream science accepts the fact that smoking can be deadly and addictive. So it is with Aspartame, whose approval was based, not on scientific fact, but as an issue of public policy.

Bad news from Assam, India

Assam teas, grown in the Assam region of in northeastern India, are known for their heartiness, boldness and maltiness and are therefore typically used as the base of most breakfast tea blends. The link provided here will lead you to a story that may help explain changes you may see coming in your strong teas in the future.

I beg that in the future if such changes occur within your teas, that you understand that I cannot control the climate that results in these changes.

Christmas Tea Punch (Adults only please)

Christmas Tea Punch

4TBSP Loose leaf black tea
(we recommend Java Kertasarie)
2 cups white rock sugar
3 cups of water, just below a boil the juice of three lemons
3 sticks of Cinnamon
9 cloves
9 1/2 cups of dry red wine (we recommend a good Shiraz/Syrah)

Steep the black tea and cloves in the 3 cups of water for 3 1/2 minutes. Strain and discard tea leaves and cloves.
Mix with rock sugar, cloves, cinnamon and lemon juice and bring to the boil.
Add wine and reheat but do not boil. Perfect in a crockpot set on low.
Serve hot in fireproof glasses. Serves 24.

(The tea, rock sugar and cloves are all available at SensibiliTeas, Cinnamon sticks are currently out of stock, but one tablespoon of cinnamon chips from SensibiliTeas will work fine as well)

SensibiliTeas will be open Thursday 12/23 1pm-5pm and Friday 12/24 10am-5pm.
Happy Holidays!

Winter Solstice

This morning there was a full moon and a lunar eclipse. The sun entered the astrological sign of Capricorn. This combination of events will not occur again in our lifetime! In fact, the last time I figure it happened was December 21, 1638, and it won't happen again until December 21, 2094! Haven't figured out yet when the last time these events occurred while Mercury was in retrograde. The holiday season is a little to busy for that kind of research!

Today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere (or summer if you're in the Southern Hemisphere!)

Poets over the ages have proffered plenty of advice for the coming months. Poet Pietro Aretino, born in the 15th century, said, "Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius." William Blake wrote, "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." There's a Japanese proverb that says, "One kind word can warm three winter months."

Emily Dickinson wrote, "There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons — That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes." Existentialist Albert Camus wrote, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Victor Hugo once said, "Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart."

American writer Minna Antrim gave these instructions-in-verse:
"Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes, my sweetheart fair."

Were any of you lucky enough to glimpse the lunar eclipse with a delicious cup of tea held in your hands? No such luck here. As for most astrological events (it seems) it was cloudy. But I had the cup of tea in my hands ... I almost always do! For those of you who missed it here's a video of last night's lunar eclipse!
Grab a cup of awesome tea and enjoy!

Beehouse teapots have arrived!

Isn't she lovely?! We have a whole new line of teapots in stock. From the Beehouse line from Zero in Japan. We have a wide variety of colors and finishes in stock in both a 15oz model and a 22oz model. Each pot comes with an infuser basket, so all you need do is add water and tea! If we don't have a color you love, ask to see the color chart and we can special order yours with our next order! 101 colors from which to choose!

Stop by the Shirt Factory Open House this weekend, Saturday and Sunday Dec 11 & 12 from 10am-5pm and see the new Beehouse teapot line! You'll love them!
(Other products may also be available via special order)

Let's play Trick or Treat!

Between now and Halloween, let's play trick or treat at the tea shop! With any purchase, receive your choice of any of our prepackaged one ounce packages of tea just for saying trick or treat!
And if you come in dressed like the mad hatter, I'll think of something very special for you!

Lower risk of brain tumor for coffee and tea drinkers

(Reuters Health) - Coffee and tea lovers may have a decreased likelihood of developing the most common form of malignant brain tumor in adults, a new study suggests. The findings, from a study of more than 500,000 European adults, add to evidence from a recent U.S. study linking higher coffee and tea intake to a lower risk of gliomas, a group of brain tumors that makes up about 80 percent of malignant brain cancers in adults.

It does not, however, prove that the beverages themselves confer the protection.

"This is all very preliminary," said lead researcher Dominique Michaud, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Imperial College London. "This study shouldn't be the reason that anyone changes their coffee or tea intake."

And even if coffee and tea have some direct effect on glioma risk, the impact would be small. Brain tumors in general are uncommon; in Europe, for instance, annual rates are estimated at between four and six cases per 100,000 women, and six to eight cases for every 100,000 men.

Overall, the odds that a person will develop a malignant (cancerous) brain tumor in his or her lifetime are less than 1 percent.

Still, Michaud said, if higher coffee and tea intake is somehow protective against glioma, that could give researchers insight into the causes of the tumors. "Right now, we don't know much about what causes brain cancer," she noted in an interview.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, come from an ongoing study in 10 European countries investigating potential risk factors for cancer. At the outset, 521,488 men and women between the ages of 25 and 70 completed detailed questionnaires on their medical history, diet, exercise habits, smoking and other lifestyle factors.

For their analysis, Michaud's team focused on more than 410,000 participants who were cancer-free at the outset and had complete dietary information. Over an average of 8.5 years of follow-up, 343 of these men and women were diagnosed with glioma; another 245 were diagnosed with another, usually benign type of brain tumor called meningioma.

When the researchers divided the study participants into four to five groups based on their coffee and tea intake at the outset, they found no evidence of a "dose-response" relationship -- that is, a decreasing glioma risk as coffee and tea consumption climbed.

The findings were different, however, when the researchers looked at two groups: those who averaged at least 3.5 ounces of coffee or tea per day, and those who drank less or none at all.

The heavier coffee/tea consumers were one-third less likely to be diagnosed with glioma, with factors such as age and smoking history taken into account. There was no connection seen with meningioma risk.

According to Michaud, it's not clear why there was no evidence of a dose-response association between coffee and tea intake and the risk of glioma -- which is generally considered a stronger sign of a possible cause-and-effect relationship. But it may be related to difficulties in precisely measuring study participants' coffee and tea intake, which was dependent on self-reports.

It is biologically plausible that coffee and/or tea could affect glioma risk, Michaud said. A recent lab study, for example, found that caffeine appeared to slow the growth of a type of glioma called glioblastoma. In addition, both coffee and tea contain antioxidants, which help protect body cells from damage that can lead to cancer and other diseases.

However, it's also possible that coffee and tea enthusiasts have other characteristics that might affect their likelihood of glioma development. Just what those characteristics might be is unknown, as the causes of most brain tumors are unknown.

Researchers know of some risk factors. People who undergo radiation therapy -- most commonly radiation of the head to treat other cancers -- have a heightened risk of a future brain tumor. And genetic predisposition appears to play a role in a small percentage of brain tumors.

But the evidence on dietary or environmental factors, like on-the-job chemical exposures, has been inconclusive. Michaud said that more research is needed both to confirm that there is an association between coffee and tea intake and glioma risk, and to understand the underlying reasons. SOURCE: link.reuters.com/rer36p American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online September 15, 2010.

EGCG in green tea

Scientists from the UK and Spain have discovered a compound found in green tea that inhibits the growth of cancer cells. The joint in vitro study confirmed that naturally occurring polyphenol, EGCG (epigallocathecin gallate), prevents cancer cells from growing by binding to a specific enzyme, thereby stopping this enzyme from making DNA. According to scientists, this helps explain decreased rates of certain cancers in regular tea drinkers. Concentrations used in the test are equivalent to those found in the blood of people who drink 2 or 3 cups of green tea a day. Researchers hope that this breakthrough will lead to new anti-cancer drugs based on the structure of the EGCG molecule.

Bottled vs. brewed teas: Study reveals healthiest teas

Labels on bottled tea beverages are typically plastered with declarations of their rich antioxidant content. But a new study suggests, if you're looking for high doses of healthful antioxidants, you might be better off brewing your tea at home.

Many of the popular beverages included in the study contain fewer antioxidants than a single cup of home-brewed green or black tea, the researchers say. Some store-bought teas contain such small amounts that consumers would have to drink 20 bottles to get the antioxidants, also called polyphenols, present in one cup of tea.

"There is a huge gap between the perception that tea consumption is healthy and the actual amount of the healthful nutrients — polyphenols — found in bottled tea beverages. Our analysis of tea beverages found that the polyphenol content is extremely low," said study researcher Shiming Li, an analytical and natural product chemist at WellGen, Inc., a biotechnology company in North Brunswick, N.J., that develops medical foods for patients with diseases, including a proprietary black tea product that will be marketed for its anti-inflammatory benefits.

In addition, bottled beverages often contain large amounts of sugar that health-conscious consumers may be trying to avoid, Li said.

The study was presented Aug. 22 at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.

Bottled vs. brewed
Antioxidants are substances that protect cells against damage from unstable molecules called free radicals. They may play a role in preventing a host of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's.

Li and colleagues measured the level of polyphenols of six brands of tea purchased from supermarkets. Half of them contained what Li characterized as "virtually no" antioxidants. The rest had small amounts of polyphenols that Li said probably would carry little health benefit, especially when considering the high sugar intake from tea beverages.

The six teas Li analyzed contained 81, 43, 40, 13, 4, and 3 milligrams of polyphenols per 16-ounce bottle. One average cup of home-brewed green or black tea, which costs only a few cents, contains 50-150 milligrams of polyphenols.

Less tea, more water
|After water, tea is the world's most widely consumed beverage. Tea sales in the United States have quadrupled since 1990 and now total about $7 billion annually.

Some manufacturers do list polyphenol content on the bottle label, Li said. But the amounts may be incorrect, because there are no industry or government standards or guidelines for measuring and listing the polyphenolic compounds in a given product. A regular tea bag, for example, weighs about 2.2 grams and could contain as much as 175 mg of polyphenols, Li said. But polyphenols degrade and disappear as the tea bag is steeped in hot water. The polyphenol content also may vary as manufacturers change their processes, including the quantity and quality of tea used to prepare a batch and the tea brewing time.

"Polyphenols are bitter and astringent, but to target as many consumers as they can, manufacturers want to keep the bitterness and astringency at a minimum," Li explained. "The simplest way is to add less tea, which makes the tea polyphenol content low but tastes smoother and sweeter."

Li used a standard laboratory technique, termed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), to make what he described as the first measurements of polyphenols in bottled tea beverages. He hopes the research will encourage similar use of HPLC by manufacturers and others to provide consumers with better nutritional information.

(Article posted by MSNBC news 08/22/10)

Tea, Fluoride and You ...

Recently researchers at the Medical College of Georgia determined that there is far more fluoride in tea than originally thought.
Excerpts from a recent article:
``Most published reports show 1 to 5 milligrams of fluoride per liter of black tea, but a new study shows that number could be as high as 9 milligrams.''

``Whitford discovered that the fluoride concentration in black tea had long been underestimated when he began analyzing data from four patients with advanced skeletal fluorosis, a disease caused by excessive fluoride consumption and characterized by joint and bone pain and damage. While it is extremely rare in the United States, the common link between these four patients was their tea consumption -- each person drank 1 to 2 gallons of tea daily for the past 10 to 30 years.''

Please note that the report of study does not indicate whether or not the tea was made the fluoridated water, not does it provide the source of the tea. It does, though, note that the study involved analyzing date from four patients -- who each drank 1 to 2 gallons of tea a day. Really? 1-2 gallons a day??? Even I don't do that ...

But let's understand how the fluoride gets into the tea in the first place.
The tea plant absorbs fluoride from the soil. It would stand to reason that it's the older leaves that have the higher levels of fluoride.
Loose leaf tea is typically two leaves and a bud -- the newest growth -- and is
most usually handpicked. The leaves can be used to make white tea, yellow tea, green tea, black tea or oolong or pu-erh. The difference is in the processing.
White tea is steamed and dried quickly. The steaming stops the oxidation.
Yellow tea is steamed and dried slowly. The steaming stops the oxidation.
Green tea is pan-fried, or rolled and pan-fried or baked to stop further
oxidation.
Oolongs are bruised and baked to stop further oxidation.
Black teas are allowed to fully oxidize before firing.
Pu-Erh is green or black tea that is aged after oxidation or firing. This is not
the same as brick tea.

The issue is not how old the leaf is, but rather how long the leave was on the
bush. Even if the tea is coming from trees 100 years old, the fluoride content will
not be as great in the newly grown leaves, which is what is typically harvested
for higher quality teas.

Lower quality teas, such as bagged tea from the grocer, are typically machine
harvested. The machine is unable to distinguish between new growth and older
leaves, so the bagged tea often contains some older leaves. Organic farming is
also not that important to the producers of bagged teas, so higher levels of
fluoride may exist in the soil.

Brick teas are typically made of lower grade leaves ... this means leaves
further down the stem -- 3rd leaf or lower -- or leaves that have been on the
plant longer. The leaves are then ground. They absorb more fluoride from the
soil (assuming there is high levels of fluoride in the soil.) because they are
on the plant longer.

Higher levels of fluoride exist in soil that has been fertilized or that have
been exposed to pesticides. Organically grown tea plants would not use
fertilizers and pesticides that would increase the level of fluoride in the
soil, and therefore the fluoride in the tea leaves.

Adults can safely intake 3.0-4.0 mg of fluoride per day without great risk of
fluorosis or acute toxicity. Fluorosis occurs when an individual has consumed
more 10mg. or fluoride per day over an extended period of time. As for toxicity,
the lowest dose that could trigger adverse symptoms is considered to be 5 mg/kg
of body weight, with the lowest potentially fatal dose considered 15 mg/kg of
body weight typically taken in over an extended period of time. Here are some
handy fluoride number I hope you'll find useful.

Fluoride Content of Teas
Type of Tea
Fluoride (mg/liter) Fluoride (mg/8 ounces)
Green 1.2-1.7 0.3-0.4
Oolong 0.6-1.0 0.1-0.2
Black 1.0-1.9 0.2-0.5
Brick tea 2.2-7.3 0.5-1.7

Food Serving Fluoride (mg)
Tea 100 ml (3.5 fluid ounces) 0.1-0.6
Grape juice 100 ml (3.5 fluid ounces) 0.02-0.28
Canned sardines (with bones) 100 g (3.5 ounces) 0.2-0.4
Fish (without bones) 100 g (3.5 ounces) 0.01-0.17
Chicken 100g (3.5 ounces) 0.06-0.10

So while it is always good to be especially cognizant of the foods and beverages
you consume, you should feel comfortable drinking tea in moderation.
You can always opt for preparing you tea with non-fluoridated water, or
alternating between real tea and herbal teas.

Tea is still far more beneficial than harmful.

Blueberry-Lemon Iced Tea

Get refreshed with this antioxidant powerhouse!

Blueberry-Lemon Iced Tea

Ingredients
• 1 (16-oz.) package frozen blueberries
or 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups water
• 2 Tbsp loose black tea
• 3/4 cup sugar

Preparation
Bring blueberries and lemon juice to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, using back of a spoon to squeeze out juice. Discard solids.
Boil 2 cups of water. In one cup of water, steep black tea in for 3-4 minutes. Remove tea leaves and discard. In the other cup of water, dissolve the sugar. Add blueberry/lemon juice mixture, the dissolved sugar and 2 cups of cold water to the tea. Pour into a pitcher; cover and chill 1 hour. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemons and blueberries. Enjoy with friends!

Summer's here!

On June 21 at 7:28am EDT (11:28am GMT) summer will finally be here!
What better way to celebrate than a bowl of delicious frosty ice cream!


Green Tea and White Chocolate Ice Cream

8 ounces white chocolate, chopped into pieces, about 1/2 inch
2 cups light cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla
5 large egg yolks (be sure they are at room temp)
3/4 cup light brown sugar (more if you like sweet ice cream)
2 Tbsp matcha

Directions
1. Mix the creams and extract in a saucepan and heat to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks.
3. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar with the green matcha making sure to completely incorporate the matcha.
4. Add the brown sugar/green tea mixture to the egg yolks and blend.
5. Add 1/4 cup of cream at a time to the egg/tea blend and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour it back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the custard is thick, at about 170°F.
6. Remove the custard from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl of chopped white chocolate pieces. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Let the custard cool to room temp and them cover and chill in the fridge overnight.
7. The following day, processing in an ice cream make according to the manufacturers instructions.

Enjoy!

Spiced Iced is so Nice!

Who said iced tea has to be fruity, or spicy tea can only be served hot? Spiced teas make surprisingly good iced teas!
Spiced Iced is so Nice!

Ingredients:

3 TBSP loose leaf black tea
4 cups water
12 whole cloves
12 allspice berries
A 2-inch cinnamon stick

Directions:
1. Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a simmer,not a boil. (When steam is slow and lazy and small bubbles have started to appear on the bottom of the pot, remove from the heat)
2. Add tea, cloves, allspice and cinnamon.
3. Cover and steep the mix for about 5 minutes. Strain out all the spices and tea leaves, and then put in the fridge to chill thoroughly. Serve this spiced iced tea over ice. Garnish with lemon slices.

Classic Southern Sweet Tea

Yes, Classic Southern Sweet Tea is loaded with sugar, but it's still far less sugar than any sweetened bottle product contains, and you can control how much sugar is in your iced tea. This recipe is a little less sweet than a deep south sweet tea, but perhaps plenty sweet enough for the Yankee palate.

For each quart:
Ingredients
2 cups near boiling water (175°F-185°F)
2 Tbsp loose black tea (in a large tea ball, Tsac or cheesecloth)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups cold water
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) baking soda

Directions

1. Heat 2 cups of the water to just below boiling. (175°F-185°F) 2. Steep the tea with the baking soda in the 1 cup of the hot water for about 3-4 minutes. 3. Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup of hot water. 4. Remove the tea leaves from the brewed tea concentrate. 5. Add the hot tea and the dissolved sugar to the cold water. 6. Chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice. Garnish as desired.
For best results, SensibiliTeas recommends Java Malabar or Assam 1947 for this recipe. Large TSacs for making larger quantities of tea are available at SensibiliTeas. These TSacs are also great for making mulled wine or cider later in the year.

The Basic Iced Tea Recipe

This is the basic iced tea recipe. In any recipe I provide you in the future that makes reference to brewed tea, this is the recipe I mean! Takes only a few minutes and packs 10 times more antioxidants than a bottle iced tea!

For each quart:
Ingredients
2 cups near boiling water (175°F-185°F)
2 Tbsp loose black tea (in a large tea ball, Tsac or cheesecloth)
2 cups cold water

Directions
1. Heat 2 cups of the water to just below boiling. (175°F-185°F)
2. Placed the tea leaves in 1 cup of hot water and cover and steep for about 3-4 minutes (or as otherwise recommended by SensibiliTeas)
3. Remove the tea leaves.
4. Add the hot tea to the cold water.
5. Chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice. Garnish as desired.

Enjoy!

Large TSacs for making larger quantities of tea are available at SensibiliTeas.
These TSacs are also great for making mulled wine or cider later in the year.