Steep It Loose

This green tea cocktail recipe is an oldie but goodie here at The Tea Spot. It was chosen by the Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine nearly 10 years ago for their special feature on new trends in tea, and it stands the test of time.    Servings: 2 6-oz cocktail glass servings Ingredients: 1 tsp Boulder Blues tea leaves, yielding 1/4 cup sweetened tea concentrate 6 ounce Citron Vodka 1 ounce Cointreau Ice cubes Sugar crystals for the rim of the glasses (optional) Preparation: 1) Make Boulder Blues tea concentrate: Steep 1 tsp of Boulder Blues green tea leaves in a...

THE EARL: Earl Grey is the most common tea in the Western world, after English Breakfast. Its distinctive flavor and fragrance come from oil of bergamot, a Mediterranean citrus fruit, and the base is a blend of teas, which traditionally hail from China, India and/or Sri Lanka. Today, you can find Earl Grey teas on green, white and even oolong tea bases. The origin of the tea’s name is presumed to come from Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey, who as the British prime minister in the 1830’s was conferred a gift of this exquisite bergamot-scented tea at the conclusion...

           If the instructions on your tea package call for an infusion of 2 minutes and 30 seconds at 180F… why is that? Why not 1 minute, or 5 minutes? And what if we chop that infusion up into many little ones, like gongfu style… how is the first infusion different from the 10th? Of course, we might guess that a 1-minute infusion would be weak, and a 5-minute infusion too strong, and the 1st gongfu steep is more flavorful than the 10th, but how and why? Let’s talk about at what types of molecules are...

One of the many badass benefits of tea uncovered by modern medical research is that high tea consumption leads to a healthier heart. The very same teas (Camellia sinensis) you’re drinking to boost your immune system make for a healthy heart. The "Seven Countries Study" compared diet and lifestyle between seven contrasting countries and cultures for over half a century. The evidence showed that cardiovascular disease was preventable. After decades of follow-up, the study found that populations with higher than average flavonoid intake showed lower rates of heart disease. Elderly men who drank more than 4 cups (960 ml) of tea...