So why, exactly, are we doing this? Three reasons: (1) We’re adding more and more fun stuff to the blog these days, and we want you to explore it! (2) We really want to know what you think: about our blog, or the tea world in general; and, (3) We want you to try our teas! We’re pretty sure that one of our nearly 100 organic loose teas is just waiting to become your new favorite!

On to the rules. Yes, there are rules, but they’re fairly simple – here goes:

1. You must be one of the first ten (10) people to comment on any given post to qualify;
2. To claim your free tea sample, just leave us a note in your next order telling us which post you commented on, and what tea sample you’d like us to include;
3. You must claim your free sample within seven (7) days of commenting. Comments made prior to January 17, 2011, do not qualify;
4. Limit one (1) free sample per order.

We hope you enjoy exploring the Arbor Teas blog, SustainabiliTEA, and that you find a new favorite tea in the process!

So why, exactly, are we doing this?  Three reasons: (1) We’re adding more and more fun stuff to the blog these days, and we want you to explore it!  (2) We really want to know what you think: about our blog, or the tea world in general; and, (3) We want you to try our teas!  We’re pretty sure that one of our nearly 100 organic loose teas is just waiting to become your new favorite!

On to the rules.  Yes, there are rules, but they’re fairly simple – here goes:

1. You must be one of the first ten (10) people to comment on any given post to qualify;
2. To claim your free tea sample, just leave us a note in your next order telling us which post you commented on, and what tea sample you’d like us to include;
3. You must claim your free sample within seven (7) days of commenting. Comments made prior to August 7, 2011, do not qualify;
4. Limit one (1) free sample per order.

We hope you enjoy exploring the Arbor Teas blog, SustainabiliTEA, and that you find a new favorite tea in the process!

Our amazing food blogger Olivia May (From the Kitchen of Olivia) found this wonderful recipe for Matcha Pancakes.  Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, this recipe looks fun, festive, and fabulous!  Of course, you know where to look if you are searching for the organic matcha required to make the recipe.  Check out the full recipe at the blog Une-deux senses.

Smoky Lapsang Souchong Caramels

Adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich
- makes 40 (1-inch) caramels –

2 TBS organic lapsang souchong black tea
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup Lyle’s golden syrup
1 cup sugar
rounded ¼ tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½  TBS unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened
Smoked sea salt to garnish

Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch loaf pan with parchment and butter the parchment.

Combine the cream and organic lapsang souchong black tea in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot. Allow the tea to steep while proceeding to the next step.

Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.) Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F.

When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Place a fine mesh sieve over the pan (to catch tea leaves) and gradually pour in the hot cream, stirring slowly; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°F for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F, for firmer, chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the caramel into the lined pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm. After an hour or so of cooling, sprinkle with garnish of sea salt and press crystals lightly into the caramel.

When completely set, lift the pan liner from the pan and peel off the parchment. Cut the caramels with a sharp knife.  Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper.

Here are a few simple ideas that I hope to do this holiday season:

1. Give a cup (or two) of hot tea to my postman, who always looks chilly on these winter days.
2. Boil a mixture of water and holiday spice black tea in a pot on my stovetop to infuse my home (and family!) with its festive holiday scent.
3. Use tea in one of my favorite holiday recipes to “spice it up” and then maybe bring it to work to share with my co-workers.  For a great example, try From the Kitchen of Olivia’s masala chai tea scones (yum!).
4. Host a holiday tea for my family and friends. A tea during the hustle and bustle of the holidays is a perfect excuse to slow down, take a breather, and enjoy the season! Because evenings are generally committed to the typical host of social gatherings at this time of year, mornings often work well for a holiday tea. I plan to keep my menu simple and fill it with items that can be prepared in advance, so I have a chance to slow down and enjoy the tea, too.  Menu: Cheesy egg bake (veggie and meat options); scones (perfect timing Olivia!); bread, butter and my mom’s homemade strawberry jam; Sweet cakes and breads (lemon poppyseed is a favorite!); and of course, our Holiday Spice Black Tea.

Hope this post helps you get started celebrating the holidays with tea!  I know there are plenty more ways that tea can help you celebrate – leave us a comment to add your ideas!

Masala Chai Tea Scones
Makes about 16 scones

1¼ cups heavy cream, divided
6 TBS organic Masala Chai Black Tea
4 cups cake flour (sifted if clumpy)
½ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch pieces and chilled
1 cup dried currants
1 large egg

Combine heavy cream and masala chai tea in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
When ready to make scones, preheat oven to 375°F.
Strain the cream to remove the tea, pressing with a wooden spoon to recover as much as possible.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Toss butter pieces into flour, blending with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. (A few pulses in a large capacity food processor will make short work of this.) Stir in dried currents.
In a separate bowl, mix together egg and 1 cup masala chai-infused cream, then gently fold this into flour mixture until the dough just comes together. (It will be quite delicate.) Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface, and with floured hands shape into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Use a knife to cut out small triangles of dough and arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops of scones with remaining cream and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake scones until tops are golden, 25-30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

The fundraiser was a wonderful event in which a dozen Southeastern Michigan artists came together to create an informal evening of entertainment at the Wild Swan Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI. The show featured the acclaimed Srishti Dances of India, Wild Swan Theatre, Brass Tacks Ensemble, Sumkali and the Vocal Experiment (UM-Dearborn).   Samosas, sweet treats, and Arbor Teas’ Indian Korakundah Estate Nilgiri Black Tea were served throughout the evening!

Simply delighted to be a part of this exciting project, I dropped in on Nancy one evening to observe her master craftsmanship firsthand.  The display of chocolate mastery I witnessed was nothing short of amazing!  She was making a white chocolate, masala chai tea ganache that, when cooled, would be rolled into orbs and dipped in white chocolate.  Without missing a beat while attending to all the stirring, cooling and additional stirring that the ganache required, Nancy poured perfectly tempered milk chocolate into shell-shaped molds, turning out the excess onto her parchment-covered workbench in a spectacle that can aptly be described as a chocolate “rain shower.” These shells will eventually enclose earl grey black tea-infused milk chocolate ganache. While those were cooling, she painted a shimmery campfire motif on the tops of a batch of 65% cacao dark chocolate Laspang Souchong truffles.  Talk about a multi-tasker!

Already finished earlier in the day and queued in neat rows on her work-space were the matcha truffles: a matcha-and-white-chocolate ganache dipped in organic milk chocolate and adorned with swirls of green-tinted cocoa butter. Jasmine green tea truffles, imbued with grapefruit zest were also ready to be packaged. Composed of dark chocolate ganache dipped in white chocolate and embellished with a transfer of delicate purple flowers, the jasmine truffles may arguably be the most stunning of the set.

Amid all this activity, Nancy and I shared a pot of organic passion pineapple green tea, which just happens to make an appearance in yet another dark chocolate truffle painted with blue floral details reminiscent of the blue malva flowers blended with the tea. Nancy is an extraordinarily kind and generous woman with whom conversation flows easy. During my visit she plied me with numerous truffle samples and was quick to share recipes and even her dinner, as the night lingered and we reasoned that truffles alone were probably not sufficient sustenance. In observing Nancy work about her shop, her passion for quality and attention to detail are clearly evident.

Produced in small batches and with the finest organic, fair trade ingredients, these truffles are available for purchase exclusively from our website (or if you happen to live nearby, Nancy will be selling them at her shop located in Morgan & York). With the approaching holiday seasons, these just might be the perfect gift for the tea AND chocolate enthusiast in your life! Of course, no judgments if that “enthusiast” just happens to be yourself. Find out which tea and chocolate combination is your favorite. Mine, undoubtedly, is the richly dark and intensely smoky Lapsang Souchong truffle!

Hope you enjoyed this Cooking with Tea Post from the Kitchen of Olivia!

Successful combinations of tea and chocolate can be achieved in a variety of ways. You can look for tea/chocolate pairings that share similar flavor characteristics, thereby enhancing one another. Conversely, you can also find very satisfying combinations where the flavors of the tea and chocolate contrast – these are sometimes the biggest hits. Lastly, look for tea/chocolate pairings where the characteristics of each aren’t necessarily the same, but are compatible or complimentary in some fashion. Along these lines, we offer a few ideas for you to try, but by no means is this list exhaustive – let your palate, your creativity and your sense of adventure be your guide!

Flavor Enhancers

• Jasmine Green Tea or really floral oolongs (like our Ti Kuan Yin Oolong) + dark chocolate with nice floral notes;
• Dragonwell Green Tea or others with similar nuttiness + almond bark or dark chocolate with nutty qualities;
• Earl Grey Black Tea + dark chocolate with pronounced citrusy notes.

Flavor Contrasts

• Earthy pu-erh teas + bright, floral dark chocolates;
• Spicy teas, such as Masala Chai Black Tea + milk or white chocolate (think chai latte or chai mocha!);
• Rich green teas like Sencha Green Tea or even Matcha Green Tea + milk or white chocolate.

Complementary Flavors

• Teas with a roasted or “toasty” quality, such as Houjicha Green Tea or Wu Yi Oolong + sweet milk chocolate or chocolate caramels;
• Full-bodied, coppery Assam black teas (or others that would ordinarily take mile well) + milk or white chocolate;
• Lapsang Souchong or similar smoked teas + really dark, bitter chocolate;
• Oolongs with sweet honey tones (like our Jade Oolong) + citrusy dark chocolate or chocolate infused with citrus.

Lastly, a note on flavored tea and flavored/filled chocolate. There is absolutely nothing saying that you can’t extend this pairing approach to include flavored teas or filled/flavored chocolates. That said, it’s important to keep it simple. Too many added flavors (either in the tea or the chocolate) can make for pairings that are too busy or too complicated – and often not as enjoyable. Pick your focus, and build around that.

And just why are we so interested in chocolate these days? Because we’re getting ready to launch our latest addition – an assortment of tea-infused truffles made with Fair Trade/organic chocolate and, you guessed it, organic tea from Arbor Teas! Stay tuned for more details… we hope to have these beautiful little treats ready for the world later this fall.

Yixing clay teapots (also called “purple sand teapots”) have been made and used in China for tea brewing for roughly 600 years, and with their recent addition to our catalog, the time-honored tradition of using them to brew cherished varieties of tea can be yours!  These very special teapots are produced in the region of the town of Yixing (in China’s eastern Jiangsu province), made of a special “purple sand clay” found in that region.

One of the key elements that make yixing teaware special is the slightly porous finish caused by the purple sand clay they’re made from.   With repeated use, this slightly porous finish allows a tiny amount of tea to be absorbed into the pot. Over time, the pot will develop a coating that retains the flavor, aroma and often the color of the tea it has been used to brew. For this reason, many tea lovers prefer to dedicate their yixing teapots to a single type of tea – often oolongs.  And here’s an important tip:  because of yixing teaware’s porous finish, soap should not be used for cleaning. I nstead, yixing teaware should be rinsed with fresh water and allowed to air-dry.