The annual World Tea Expo fosters exploration, innovation, networking. Tea industry producers, importers and distributors, tea shop owners, restauranteurs, and tea drinkers sample and discuss teas, teach or attend classes, peruse tea-related merchandise, and network. Why should you care? Well, products that catch the eye of attendees may possibly turn up in your local tea … Continue reading Tea Expands Culinary and Mixology Possibilities
If asked to name all the cooking herbs you have in your kitchen, does sencha make the list? Or lapsang souchong? Any tea besides culinary matcha? If your answer is no, then you might be surprised to know that tea—both classic and flavored—is amazingly versatile in cooking and baking alike. This year's World Tea Conference … Continue reading Six Easy Ways to Use Tea in Your Cooking
Who doesn't want to eat tea bubbles?! And I'm not talking about tapioca pearls, fruit jellies, or popping boba that are commonly added to bubble tea. Agar Fruit Tea Bubbles Lisa (owner of TeaHaus, Ann Arbor) and her sons are always cooking up new things with tea, and they recently made bubbles, or pearls—not for tea, … Continue reading Forget Bubble Tea—Make Tea Bubbles Instead!
Shrubs require only three ingredients: fruit, sugar, and vinegar—although it could be argued that the Babylonians' date vinegar-and-water drink was an early shrub, and that has only two of the three listed ingredients. Regardless, today we recognize a shrub as a fruity vinegary drink that may or may not include alcohol and that can incorporate … Continue reading Add Tea to Your Fruit Shrubs!
Being totally averse to grocery store runs in general, I've found that this continuing stay-at-home order has given me an ironclad excuse to not do any grocery shopping. Literally, at all. Okay, well, there was the time that my daughter stood in line for 2+ hours (!!) to get into the store so I did … Continue reading Staying at Home, Whipping Up Matcha
Wagashi are theoretically traditional Japanese confections but in practice they are as much art as food. Made for centuries, they were popularized during Japan's Edo period (1603–1868), when tea was coming into the country from China—and sugar was arriving from the Portuguese and Dutch. Because sweets pair well with bitter matcha, and the beauty of wagashi … Continue reading Wagashi, A Beautiful Accompaniment to Tea
Living in a country where "matcha" too often means sweetened matcha lattes, how amazing to read about a place in Japan that offers matcha gelato—in seven levels of bitterness! If it weren't for Japan being a pricy 13+ hour journey from Michigan, I'd be sampling gelato today! Because matcha gelato is really fantastic. Actually, matcha … Continue reading Matcha, and Embracing Tea’s Bitterness
Eating matcha cookies lowers stress! This is according to bona fide scientists. Yeah yeah we all know that tea can reduce stress, but did you get the cookies part?! When I'm stressed, I eat cookies. Lots of cookies. Especially my own made-from-scratch cookies. Usually with a cup of tea. But now I have scientific proof to … Continue reading Lower Your Stress: Eat Matcha Cookies
So finally I'm getting to the good stuff, the actual tea cocktails! Phil of Mammoth Distilling and Lisa of TeaHaus concocted five fantastic cocktails, all including tea. These drinks were first introduced at Mammoth's Traverse City location, at a TeaHaus Takeover event. A tasting at TeaHaus followed, with light food paired to each cocktail—and tea … Continue reading Tea Cocktails, Part 4: Paired with Food
Chocolate and tea. They form the base of my food pyramid—hey, they both arguably offer health benefits! And paired? Well, that's just another name for perfection. Because the right pairing of chocolate and tea will bring out incredibly delicious nuances of both. But you do want to use high-quality loose leaf tea and high-quality chocolate … Continue reading Pairing Tea with Chocolate: A Heavenly Match!
It's More Than Tea 