Gourmet Coffee Chatter

Don’t know about you but where I am it’s been a pretty mild summer.  But the heat is coming soon, so here’s an adult summer slush drink for the hot days to come.

If you’re trying to cut back on caffeine use loose decaf tea. Serving a non-alcoholic crowd, try it with a fruit juice such as apple or guava juice.

The source of this recipe was allrecipes.com.

Until next time, happy steeping

Most of us are blessed with a tolerance for caffeine in our tea. The energy boost from caffeine may even be one of the benefits we get from drinking our gourmet tea. But there is a case for decaf tea.

Sometimes you just don’t want the pick up when you drink your tea. Tea is a drink noted for contemplation and relaxation, the removal of the caffeine may remove any jarring element in your experience and add to the overall enjoyment.

Of course, depending on the decaffeinating process used, you may want to avoid additional chemical content in decaf tea. Or just create your own – steep the tea for about one minute and throw the first cup out. This removes about 98% of the caffeine. Subsequent steeps are essentially caffeine free without any additional chemical content.

Until next time – happy steeping.

The cancer prevention component of tea is in the polyphenols in the tea. The processing of green tea maintains more of these polyphenols making it better than black tea overall for its health benefits. But does the process of decaffeinating green tea reduce the health benefits of decaf green tea?

Two processes are used for decaffeinating tea. One, which makes use of the solvent ethyl acetate, retains only 30 percent of the polyphenols. The other process uses only water and carbon dioxide and is called “effervescence.” It retains 95 percent of the polyphenols. Be sure to check labels to see which process was used.

Don’t like decaf green tea, there is good news. The first steep of the tea leaves contains the most caffeine. Each subsequent steep contains less caffeine and by the third steep the caffeine content is reduced to almost 2%. To take advantage of this, steep the green tea for 50 seconds and discard the tea, but not the leaves. Add new water and enjoy your reduced caffeine gourmet tea.

Until next time – happy steeping.

For me ritual is such a big part of tea drinking. So the method of steeping plays a big role in the ritual. I’ve already written about my current favorite steeping basket but I was reading about steeping using a French Press today.

I’ve seen it done before but never really thought about it. But today it occurred to me that the French Press gives a sense of elegance to the steeping process.

So, for those situations where a whimsical steeper won’t do when preparing your Japanese green tea consider using a French Press.

Until next time, happy steeping.

Tea is such a wonderful drink. Shrouded in ritual and conducive to contemplation. The very act of steeping tea one cup at a time seems to impose a relaxation that other drinks don’t.

For some, unfortunately, tea contains caffeine. Those more sensitive to caffeine may even find tea intolerable. Those not sensitive to caffeine may find it to be part of the attraction of tea.

There is good news. The first steep of the tea leaves contains the most caffeine. Each subsequent steep contains less caffeine and by the third steep the caffeine content is reduced to almost 2%. In some cultures, the first steep is thrown out and only the second and third steeps are drunk.

The other solution is decaf black tea. Decaffeinated teas offer a solution that removes the caffeine but allows the flavor of the tea to remain.

So whether it’s drinking the third steep or decaffeinated tea, here’s to eliminating the jitters from your tea experience.

Until next time – happy steeping.

There is something really special about an outstanding cup of discount gourmet tea. It’s not just the tea, it’s the ritual.

For me it starts with the aroma of the tea when you open the container. I can’t help it, I just have to lean in and take in the scent of the tea. For some teas this can be the most satisfying part of the experience as that wonderful perfume fills the air. Each sip then becomes an olfactory delight as one more time you soak up the fragrance of the tea.

Then there’s the sip. The cup held close to the lips, the warmth bathing your face. The first sips may be tentative due to the heat allowing you to breath in the tea. Then you sip allowing the liquid to cover your taste buds.

Ahhhh!

Not every cup is like that but when it is, it’s ecstatic and relaxing at the same time. Hope it’s the same for you.

Until next time – happy steeping.

What a dilemma. You like flavored tea but you don’t want it every day. And you don’t want to keep 4 or 5 different teas in the house. Consider using tea syrup.

The nice thing about having tea syrup on hand is choice. If you don’t want your tea flavored today, you don’t have to flavor it. If you want a stronger flavoring today, it’s your choice.

The potential drawback is that tea syrups will use sweeteners. Not to worry, the syrup manufacturers offer sugar free syrups for dieters and diabetics.

These syrups can also be used for flavoring coffee and in other cooking applications. Experiment, add some flavor in your life today.

Until next time – happy steeping.

One of the great things about tea is the wide variety of tea drinking experiences available. One of the increasingly popular tea possibilities is flavored tea.

Flavored tea (sometimes referred to as scented tea) starts with a tea to which is added flower petals and flavoring oils. Given the large number of flavoring oils available on the market today this makes for a large variety of flavored tea possibilities. While not all flavoring possibilities work well, there should be a flavored tea out there to tempt almost every one’s taste preferences.

Dieters and diabetics can enjoy flavored teas as the flavoring oils don’t use sweeteners.

Until next time – happy steeping.

So you decided you want a better tea than the one in the teabag and bought a good quality, loose leaf black tea. Now, what’s the best way to store it so you get the best out of this new tea?

The enemies of your tea will be moisture, heat, direct light and the tendency of tea to absorb odors and tastes from the environment around it.

Where you store the tea should address all four of these issues. One rule of thumb I encountered was: store your tea in the same place you would store your cereal. A kitchen cabinet or drawer should remove it from moisture and direct light. It should also keep the heat factor in check. Being aware of the other items in the vicinity of the tea should address the absorption issue.

What you store the tea in should address the moisture, direct light and absorption issues. Selecting an opaque or solid colored container addresses the direct light and moisture problem. Ideally the container is airtight to prevent any undesired odors and tastes being absorbed into your tea.  (Plus that first whiff of the tea when you open the container is heavenly!)

But what about storing it in the refrigerator or freezer to extend the life of the tea? This isn’t recommended. While these are both cool places out of direct light, they are environments that introduce the tea to moisture and lots of smells and tastes you don’t want in your tea. And the book is out on extending the life of your tea by doing this.

How long can you expect your tea to last if your properly store it? About 1 year for a green tea, several years for a black tea. But with a really good tea do you expect to have it around that long?

Until next time – happy steeping.

Spring is just around the corner and it will soon be time to tune up your grills for outdoor cooking. Here are a few tips that will allow you to incorporate gourmet tea, into your grilling experience.

Concentrated tea can be used as a marinade for the meat. This has dual benefits, it both flavors the meat and detoxifies the carcinogenic HCAs created during the grilling process. Drink loose leaf tea with the meal and further acts to detoxifies any HCAs created during grilling.

Tea can be used as a smoking agent. Throw dried tea leaves on the charcoal to smoke the meat and add flavor to the meal.

Tea can also be used as a spice rub for the meat and be part of any sauces or secondary dishes served during the meal.

Until next time – happy steeping.