Steep It Loose — TEA RECIPES

Supplies List:  -Assam tea -flavored teas for second fermentation: Strawberry Fields, Jasmine Pearls, and Mango Tango Tea are all great for this, but feel free to play around with your favorites! -SCOBY -Sugar -Large jar -Cloth -rubber band   What exactly is Kombucha? If you translate directly from Japanese, kombucha means kelp tea: “kombu” is a type of Japanese kelp, and “cha” means tea in Japanese. In general, a good rule of thumb is that if the name of your tea ends in ‘cha,’ it’s probably Japanese—such as sencha, matcha, and genmaicha. The deeper you look though, the weirder the story...

Sometimes, your usual cup of tea just doesn’t fit the occasion. Perhaps you’re looking for some new and exciting drinks to make for friends. If you’re like me though, and the idea of having to choose between a cup of tea and another drink is unacceptable, here are some great new drinks to try—and for every one, tea is in the forefront without drowning out the rest of your ingredients. Mocktails and Cocktails A great place to start when spicing up your tea is to use bar syrups instead of sugar or honey as a sweetener. A bit of orgeat...

As the days are getting longer and warmer, we tend to drink fewer warm beverages throughout the day. But we’re still craving our tea, and iced tea is an overwhelming summer favorite. At The Tea Spot, we’ve been proponents of cold brewing since it first came on the scene about 8 years ago. For us, it all began with the motivation for less sugared, healthier hydration on bike rides. We wanted to get as many laboratory-produced chemicals out of our hydration, but still be able to replenish electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals. Several years and many hundreds of miles later, we’re super...

When life gives you lemons... make tea! While the British and Russians have been putting a squeeze of lemon in their tea for centuries, there might actually be something more to it than accenting the taste of brisk tea. Two studies have shown that the addition of citrus can help make your tea even healthier.Purdue University researchers showed that adding ascorbic acid works to increase your body’s absorption of polyphenol antioxidants, the key active ingredients in tea.[1] Ascorbic acid is a natural water-soluble vitamin (Vitamin C) present in high levels in citrus fruits. The ascorbic acid helps to preserve the polyphenols as...