Toasting the new year with two leaves

By naomi / in Recipes with Tea, Tea Beverages, Tea Cocktails / January 9, 2012

A tea cocktail for 2012 made with our own Organic Tamayokucha

When Marketing Coordinator Christy Garfield and I decided that this month's tea recipe should be a cocktail, I set a couple of ground rules. First, it had to be simple enough for anyone to follow without a degree in mixology, and second, it couldn't include any ingredients you'd have to spend a lot of money on (and possibly not use very often in the future). While I love going out for a great drink, and I'm quite interested in the resurgence of cocktail culture sweeping our country, I don't need a bottle of Angostura Bitters crowding my tiny little liquor cabinet above the refrigerator.

So, I found a recipe for a great cocktail made with tea (Organic Tamayokucha was my choice) that includes really easy-to-obtain ingredients like mint, lime and vodka, and that you can whip up in a flash for visitors. It's a refreshing, festive drink, and anyone abstaining from alcohol could quite easily follow the first step to make some Moroccan mint tea, and then shake it up with ice and garnish it for a great mocktail.

Quite frankly, I'm leaving some of the specifics of this cocktail a bit loosey-goosey, because you'll probably want to tweak how strong you want the tea, how sweet you want it, and how much alcohol you want to put in it. Make it your own, people!

Minted Green Tea Cocktail

Ingredients:

Sachets of Organic Tamayokucha
Mint sprigs
Plenty of sugar
Vodka
Lime
Ice

Directions:

Make a sweet Moroccan mint tea by steeping the sachets of Organic Tamayokucha in water that's almost boiling. (Don't use water that's too hot or you'll "cook" the delicate green tea and it'll be bitter.) Steep the tea along with plenty of mint, putting the whole sprigs in, and a good amount of sugar. Moroccan mint tea really is sweet stuff -- it's delightful.
While steeping the tea, cut up a lime and run it around the rim of your chosen glassware, and then dip the edge of the glass into sugar.
Grab your cocktail shaker and throw a handful of ice in there, and then add some mint leaves. Give it a good shake to really bruise those leaves and release some flavor.
Once the steeped tea has had a chance to cool a bit (maybe with a stint in the freezer), remove the sachets and the mint sprigs and pour the tea into the cocktail shaker. Put in a healthy squeeze of lime to brighten it up. Add a shot or two of vodka and then shake it like you mean it, baby.
Strain this wonderful concoction into your prepared glass. To really wow your friends, we recommend further garnishing the glass with a slice of lime and a sprig of mint.

Cheers! Chime in: Do you have some good tea cocktails we need to try? Twist our arm and we just might do it ...

Baking with tea! It’s our recipe of the month.

By christy / in Baking with Tea, Uncategorized / December 6, 2011

Most of us at two leaves and a bud love cooking, and all of us love eating. And since we also love tea, we're blending these passions and sharing them with you in the form of a monthly blog post featuring a recipe that uses two leaves and a bud tea as an ingredient. Last month, we cooked pork with Mountain High Chai. This month, it's cookies with Earl Grey.

It was recently my turn to bring dessert to book club, so I tested this recipe out on my friends. There were no complaints (that would be very unlike my book club!), but the consensus was that the cookies were tasty with a subtle, but pleasant tea flavor. These cookies would also be perfect for a tea party and would make a lovely holiday cookie.

I found the recipe on a wonderful blog called I'll Have What She's Having by a Montrealer named Lynn. Turns out she found the recipe from none other than Martha Stewart. I took Lynn's advice and tried cutting the amount of orange zest called for in half so as not to overpower the tea.

Two leaves CEO Richard Rosenfeld also found the tea flavor in the cookies to be subtle. His recommendation for those of you that can plan in advance: let the tea "steep" in the (dry) sugar first. Put the sugar and tea in a jar together for a few days and see if the sugar absorbs some of the Earl Grey flavor. Maybe leave the sachets intact in the jar, so that you can separate them before you begin baking. If you give this a try, please let us know how it goes! Another tip: grind the tea with your fingers while it's still in the sachet and sleeve if you don't have an electric coffee grinder or food processor.

Happy baking! And please offer your reviews and share your tea recipes with us. We'd love to hear from you.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies (Makes about 60 cookies)

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp finely ground Earl Grey (from about 6-7 two leaves sachets) Tea can be ground in a spice grinder or mini food processor.
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (optional)

In a small bowl mix the flour, tea and salt together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar and orange zest together with an electric mixer until the butter is light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the flour, mixing until well combined.
Split the dough in half and create two round logs, 1 1/4 inches in diameter, wrap them with parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour. To keep the bottoms of the logs from flattening out you can slide the logs into paper towel tubes before refrigerating.
Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment, set aside.
Cut the logs into 1/4 inch slices, place the slices on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the bottoms are just golden. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before serving.

When tea becomes part of the meal … literally

By naomi / in Uncategorized / October 31, 2011

Our new marketing manager, Christy Garfield, came up with this concept, and now, having made the first recipe for my family over the weekend I can stand up and say, "Bravo!" How great is it that I had some tea in my cupboard (of course) and I could use it to create a really delicious meal? I'm looking forward to discovering many more tea-centric recipes that make our tea shine way beyond your daily mug.

In this case, I used a spice grinder (but you could easily use a mortar and pestle) to pulverize a couple of sachets of Organic Mountain High Chai. That heavenly-smelling powder gets blended in with other spices and used as a rub on pork that will be seared.

More of the Mountain High Chai -- this time, brewed strongly -- is blended into a cream sauce that will be drizzled over the pork. The sauce includes Sriracha hot sauce — you know, the bright red spicy stuff made in Southeast Asia that people like my husband seem addicted to. Which is probably why he misread the recipe and added too much of it to our sauce, giving it extra kick. Interestingly enough, it was still great — but I didn't serve the sauce to my 3-year-old. She did love the pork on its own, though! I served it on a bed of arugula.

Read on for this delightful use of our very own Mountain High Chai (and use promo code NovDeals11 at checkout for a 30% discount on our Chai through the end of November):

Seared Chai Pork Steak with Spicy Chai Cream and Mache

Chai Tea Rub:

5 tbsp loose Organic Mountain High Chai

2.4 tsp ground madras curry

2.5 tsp tandoori spice blend**

2.5 tsp garlic powder

1 1/4 tsp course salt

1 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Note: Makes about 5 heaping tablespoons of rub, enough for five pounds of meat

Spicy Chai Tea Cream:

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp strongly brewed Organic Mountain High Chai

2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce

salt to taste

NOTE: Makes about 1 cup of sauce

Directions:

1. Make the rub: Crush tea leaves to a fine powder. Pour tea into a small mixing bowl. Add curry powder, tandoori spice blend, garlic, salt and pepper to tea and mix.

2. Prepare meat: Brush pork steak with olive oil. Sprinkle chai tea rub onto meat, coating both sides (approximately 1 tbsp per pound of pork). Wrap meat and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

3. Make the dressing: Brew a dark, strong chai tea and let cool. In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, brewed chai tea and Sriracha. Refreigerate until ready to use.

4. Finish: Let meat rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Heat small amount of olive oil in oven-proof pan until hot — sear meat on both sides and then finish in 375-degree oven until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Allow to rest for a few minutes before thinly slicing across the grain. Serve on a bed of mache or other flavorful green and drizzle with Spicy Chai Tea Cream.

**Tandoori Spice Blend: mix together equal parts cardamon chili powder, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger — store in a cool, dry place.

A Christmas Tea Desert: Chai-Poached Apricots and Plums

By admin / in Uncategorized / December 22, 2008

Why not do something different for Christmas this year, and add Mountain High Chai to your menu?

Chai-Poached Apricots and Plums

Gourmet

More elegant than jam but just as handy, this compote goes with almost everything.
Yield: Makes about 4 cups
Active Time: 5 min
Total Time: 1 hr (includes cooling)
ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
6 oz dried Angelino plums* (1 1/4 cups)
6 oz dried California apricots** (1 1/4 cups)
2 chai tea bags
preparation

Combine sugar and 3 cups water in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan. Halve vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife and scrape seeds into pan, then add pod. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.

Add plums and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes. Add apricots and tea bags and return to a simmer. Cook fruit, gently stirring once or twice, 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

Allow tea bags to steep with fruit in syrup 15 minutes (fruit will continue to soften as it steeps), then remove bags, gently squeezing liquid from them into syrup. Transfer compote to a bowl or jar and cool, gently stirring occasionally.

Find out more ways to make use of organic tea with Two Leaves and a Bud.

A Tea Recipe: Jasmine Tea Sorbet

By admin / in Uncategorized / December 16, 2008

Here is a great way to do something different with your Jasmine Tea: turn it into sorbet!

Jasmine Tea Sorbet

Gourmet | June 1995

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time. Make sure to use high-quality tea for this recipe

Yield: Makes about 3 cups

- ingredients
3 cups water
2 1/2 tablespoons fine-quality jasmine tea leaves
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- preparation
In a small saucepan bring water to a boil. Add tea leaves and remove pan from heat. Cover pan and steep tea 5 minutes. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved, and strain tea through a fine sieve into a bowl. Chill tea, covered, until cold and freeze in an ice-cream maker. Sorbet may be made 1 week ahead.