Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Zen Tea


Starbucks is introducing new sachets with loose leaf tea instead of the paper teabags, I just got a preview of the new Zen, and I have to say that it is a much much better cup of tea, the aroma is very full and the flavors jump out of the cup, in a side-by- side comparison to the old Zen tea bag there is no comparison hands down a better cup of tea. Rumor has it they will be doing away with African Red Bush and Wild Sweet Orange, so if I were you I would stock up now, much like Sweet Cinnamon Spice (RIP) one of my personal favorites I still have a few bags left, I have been rationing it out only for just the proper time.  

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

great holiday treat


So I just had something that I had to post, quite possibly my new favorite tea combination drink, its a combination of black tea and rich dark chocolate powder, it makes a very rich dark drinking chocolate experience like none other. For starters I took a bag of Tazo Awake black tea, I have to stop myself by saying that I will be getting into the joys of black tea in a few months, but I had to post this before then,  steep black tea properly for 5 minutes. Different tea types steep for different times to properly bring out the flavor, steep to long and you may get bitter tea, to short and you will loose the fullness of  its liquor (that's tea talk for the liquid of the tea),  then I added two tablespoons of Starbucks mocha powder, this is the kind that you can buy on the shelf, mixed it with just a splash of cold nonfat milk, the type milk used is always very important to the flavor outcome, the higher the fat content of the milk the richer the flavor will be, however sometimes the higher fat content can cause you to loose some of the subtle notes of some teas, just be aware.  mix them together and the dark undertones of the black tea combined with the subtle bitterness of the coco make a wonderful combination. Try your own combination of chocolate and black tea and comment on it, let me know what you think. Remember whatever you do enjoy your tea, keep clam and carry on.

In a nutshell:
  • Awake Tea steeped for 5 minutes
  • 2 tablesoons Starbucks Mocha powder
  • 1/4 cup of nonfat milk
  • Sip by a fire

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Welcome letter, soon to start



Welcome to 365 Tea, this is a new endeavor that we are going to embark on, the goal is to bring the world of tea to those who haven't traversed her sweet and sometimes spicy hills, to open the doors of a land of tastes and flavors never thought to have existed. I hope that in this year we will all learn and grow, we will try things this year that we may have never thought of and we must be willing to expand our horizons on the fields of tea and herbal infusions, as well as other delicacies that go with the world of tea.

This blog is geared for the new beginner in the world of tea, as well as others more experienced. We will start with the basics from the history of tea to the different types of teas, brewers, and pots as well as foods and candies that pair well with teas, much like fine wines, teas have different flavors bodies, and textures. Lets work our way though till we reach the summit of the art of tea.

I want to have feedback from your experiences and your ideas, I would love to see what things you have learned along the way and I hope that we all can grow to enjoy tea by the end of this year.