Iced Tea

I recently received a package of three different pouch teas from Mighty Leaf in the mail: Organic African Nectar, Orange Dulce and Marrakesh Mint Green Tea. It’s been hellishly hot in Florida. The kind of heat that makes us Floridians turn into hermits. The walk from the house to the car makes you sweat. Except for at work (where the A/C works exceptionally well and I still need a sweater during the day), I don’t want anything to do with hot tea. (Sad, I know.) I was excited that Mighty Leaf sent me teas that were perfect for icing!

Orange Dulce

I’ve had Orange Dulce hot before (unfortunately, I’ve been too lazy to review it). I love the mellowed, creamy flavor of this tea. The orange adds just enough fruity flavor to take this tea from boring to relaxing and delicious! When I tried it iced though, I found the orange would hide behind the strong black tea. Add a little sweetener (I used agave nectar) to bring the orange notes back to the front for a yummy iced tea.

Organic African Nectar

Organic African Nectar is a rooibos that smells absolutely amazing when you open the foil wrapper. There’s vanilla and the tart smell of fresh mango. I would love to fill my house with this smell! My first taste of this was disappointing though. Before icing it, I took a sip. All I could really taste was rooibos with that “bleh” vanilla flavor, like it’s been on a shelf for ages and took on some sort of cardboard essence. It didn’t seem to get much better after icing it, either. Unfortunately, this was a let down for me. (It seems to get good reviews from others. Give it a try and let me know what you think.)

Marrakesh Mint

I love mint teas! I love how refreshing they feel, hot or cold. Marrakesh Mint is made with Gunpowder tea and peppermint. The peppermint takes center stage and is very sweet. I can’t say whether or not the Gunpowder made this tea special or not, since it’s hard to taste beneath the strong mint flavor. I loved this tea unsweetened and iced – it is one of the best mint teas I’ve had.

All of these teas are available in pouches and some are also available loose. Have you had any great iced tea this summer?

Thanks to Mighty Leaf for the tea images!

I’m knitting again!

5/13/2009

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about knitting. I’ve been trying to do more knitting lately and decided to devote myself to knitting a hat for my mom. She’s been asking for one for more than a year now so I needed to get off my butt and just start working! (Actually, I guess I can knit and sit at the same time.)

This is the pattern: Robin’s Egg Blue Hat. It’s terribly cute, pretty easy and has so much potential for personality due to the button detail.

This is my first project to use a seed stitch too, so it’s great practice. Also, the use of 10.5mm needles to get gauge makes this hat “fly off my needles” as they say.

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So, it’s been more than a month since I started writing this post. I’m now finished with my hat!

The button is from As Cute As A Button. I still have to send it to my mom, but hopefully she likes it!

Gray Button Hat on Ravelry

What do you think?

Knits for Needs: Use your stash for charity

As soon as I decided to learn to crochet, I began collecting yarn like a maniac. A ball of this, a skein of that. I have tons of mismatching yarn and scraps leftover from projects sitting in my closet.

I started following @KnitsforNeeds to help myself find some new projects and inspiration because I haven’t been knitting or crocheting much lately. Knits for Needs is a charity that you can donate knitted and crocheted items to throughout the year to help those in need.

Most recently, Knits for Needs has posted about Prayer Squares, four-inch knitted or crocheted squares used while praying. Prayer Squares sent to Knits for Needs will be sent to Knit Wits who attach charms and prayers to the squares before donating them to chemo patients in cancer centers. These Prayer Squares are great for using up leftover yarns and yarn you just don’t know what to do with. Soft yarns will work best as they’ll be more comfortable to hold (- don’t use wool). For more information, read Knits for Needs Prayer Square blog post and/or join in the discussion on Ravelry.

I’ve started my Prayer Square and will post pictures when I’m finished. Is anyone else working on Prayer Squares? They’re a quick and easy project that will help give someone a little comfort, so I urge those of you that knit or crochet to start a Prayer Square and send it to Knits for Needs.

A simple tea timer

When I found a link to Steep.it on Twitter, I instantly fell in love. I’m a web designer (and starving artist at heart) so I appreciate the lovely illustrations the amazingly simple user interface of Steep.it. Web + tea = glee for Mandy Bee! (Oh my, I’m sorry for that.)

Anyway, Steep.it is a very simple tea timer. Any time you sit down at your computer with a cup of tea, just go to http://steep.it, input the amount of time you want your tea to steep and hit GO. Steep.it starts counting down! The background behind the counter becomes darker as the timer finishes (just like your tea!) and when it’s done, a little javascript popup box alerts you (as well as a cute little buzzer).

But Steep.it gets even easier. You don’t even have to go to the site, fill out the input box and hit enter. Just type http://steep.it/5minutes into your browser and hit enter. Steep.it automatically starts up the timer for 5 minutes!

Better yet, just type in http://steep.it/herbal and Steep.it begins a timer for the recommended 5 minute steeping time.

Steep.it works for black (3 min), green (1 min), herbal (5 min), oolong (3 min), mate (6 min) and rooibos (6 min). You can also time seconds by typing “30 seconds” in the input field on the site or http://steep.it/30.

Visit Steep.it to view their tips on using the timer or just to appreciate the great tea illustration.

Magnolia Oolong and a New Yixing Teapot

I have been trying to visit the Winter Park Farmer’s Market every Saturday as often as I can. The last time that I had gone, I had signed up for Tantalizing Tea’s mailing list and received a coupon in the mail! The next time I went I was really excited to see that the yixing teapots being sold in Tantalizing Tea’s tent were on sale and that I could use the coupon on top of the savings from the sale!

I’ve been casually looking into acquiring a yixing pot for more than a few months now. I’ve always been drawn to the interesting shapes and earthy colors that yixing pots come in. Since I started looking, I’ve had my eye on this cute little whale-shaped yixing teapot. The thought of pouring tea from the mouth of a tiny whale seemed so cute and whimsical.

Luckily for me, there was one cute little whale teapot waiting for me at the Farmer’s Market!

I had thought that I would use my first yixing pot for Quangzhou Milk Oolong tea that I had fallen so in love with. After I’d picked out the teapot and started looking through the different teas that were for sale that day, I was told that they had just started carrying a new Magnolia Oolong tea. Having tried a magnolia oolong once before (in Illinois), I was excited to hear this. I smell the tea and… ooooh my gosh. The smell is so light and flowery (of course)!

I have to say that I like floral teas but sometimes find that the flower scent in the teas is way too strong. The Magnolia Oolong smells so balanced – you can still faintly smell the tea under the magnolia. I was so delighted by the smell of this tea that I decided to use my new yixing teapot for it.

Instead of doing too much of my own research on how to season a yixing teapot, I decided to take Nikki’s (from Tea Escapade) research and use the technique that she found. It was pretty easy but just took some time so I couldn’t be impatient.

I’ve been using my teapot for a couple of weeks and can say that it already seems to enhance the Magnolia oolong. I’m hoping to see an even greater difference in the upcoming months that would allow me to compare and contrast – it would be something new to blog about.

The Magnolia Oolong from Tantalizing Tea tastes best when brewed for about three minutes in 160-180F water. It doesn’t seem to be too picky about steep temperature – I haven’t brewed a bitter batch yet.

Hopefully Tantalizing Tea will offer this tea on their website soon so that others who don’t have a brick and mortar store close-by can try it. It is one of the most well-balanced floral teas that I have ever tried.

As for yixing pots, if you have one, what tea have you reserved your teapot for?

Coco Chai Rooibos from Mighty Leaf (is delicious!)

If ever there was a tea that had been a dessert in its past life, it would be Coco Chai from Mighty Leaf. If you ever have the chance to try this, do it!

Anyone who’s followed my tea reviews or knows of my tea habits knows that I’m not a big fan of rooibos. I’d much rather sip on some real tea than herbal funk concoctions (as I call them). To my surprise, I was absolutely delighted by this (really pretty) herbal mix of rooibos, coconut, red peppercorns, ginger, cinnamon and cardamon. Well, almost.

My first steeping of Coco Chai was alright. It is very spicy without being overpowering. I usually don’t like pepper in my tea but the whole red peppercorns are so much smoother than ground black pepper. The coconut flavors are very nice and balanced with the tea. The tea is good but nothing to write home about. I wasn’t even going to give it a second try…

The next day, I kept smelling the tea as I walked through the kitchen. It was enticing! I just had to try again. This time I went the normal “chai latte” route and added agave nectar and a bit of milk. It was amazing; So amazing that John and I gulped down a pot of it in about 15 minutes then went to make another. All I kept saying was, “Oh my God, this is so gooooood!”

The added sweetener and milk give this tea a dessert quality almost like a spice cake. I think it brings out more of the sweetness of the coconut and rounds out all of the spices – my feelings toward a tea have never been changed so much just from adding sweetener and some milk.

The only thing that disappoints me about this tea is that the second steeping is really weak and that I have run out of it! I will definitely be ordering more of this. Because there’s no caffeine in rooibos, I can drink all of this I want after work without being kept up all night. I also don’t have to feel guilty about it because one cup with some milk and agave nectar is only about 70 calories (depending on how much is added). So I can have my cake and drink it too! (Wow, that was cheeeesy.)

Mango Green Tea Decaf from Mighty Leaf

Lately I’ve preferred non-flavored teas as I’ve been trying to get a better grasp on the raw flavors of tea and how their place of origin and preperation effects their tastes. I received a sample of Mango Green Decaf from Mighty Leaf recently and just in time! It’s starting to get back to the same old, hot and sticky Florida that I’m used to (and not entirely fond of) and a tropical-flavored light green tea is just what I needed to fend off those summer blues. (My relatives up north probably want to hit me – they’re all still fending off the snow! Haha ;p)

The smell of this tea is fabulous. I’d like to sprinkle it around my apartment as an air freshener. Mango with a backdrop of grassy green tea. It’s like spring on the verge of summer. There’s still dew on the grass, you’re relaxing on the lawn and you’ve got a drink in your hand – this is your drink!

Mighty Leaf recommends brewing this at 175-180F for three minutes in 12 ounces of water. If you want to ice it, same instructions, just less water (8 ounces). Mighty Leaf recommends using 1 tablespoon of tea but I got away with using 1 teaspoon. I brewed a batch of iced tea using 2 teaspoons of tea, 4 cups of water at 160F (I didn’t get to the water fast enough after I’d let it start cooling) and I got an “Ooh, this is perfect!” from John.

I really like the blend of the mango with the tea. This is one of those really well-balanced flavored teas. You can still taste the green tea behind the sweet, tropical flavor. John and I had a hard time trying to describe it perfectly. “Bold yet understated” and “flavors don’t hide yet don’t overpower the tea” are the two ways it was described.

If you feel the need to sweeten this tea, agave nectar goes really well. It’s pretty sweet on its own though, so I would just save yourself the calories and drink it straight.

Mexican Mango Agua Fresca recipe from Mighty Leaf:

Brew 1 tablespoon of Mango Green Tea Decaf in 175-180F water; add 4 ounces mango juice and a splash of sparkling water. Pour over ice.

If anyone has tried this recipe, let me know how it is! I have no sparkling water or mango juice on hand and am now out of this tea, so I won’t be able to try this until I order some more.

If it’s not still snowing where you are, get out your lawn chair, fill up that little plastic kiddy pool, brew up some Mango Green Decaf, and relax this weekend!

Organic Lu An Gua Pian

I was fortunate enough to receive two organic tea samples from Mighty Leaf last month. One of them was the Organic Earl Green and the other is the Organic Lu An Gua Pian.

The dry leaves are thin and twisted, almost stick-like. They are dark green with a frosted appearance. They smell lightly vegetal and a little roasted but the scent was very light.

The tea is light yellow, almost golden and tastes very “green”. The leaves after steeping turn bright green. The flavors of the tea are vegetal – grassy and a bit cabbage-y.

I was able to get three steepings from this tea. I enjoyed the second and third batches of tea more than the first as the tea’s flavors smoothed out and became sweeter.

165-170F for about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes is the best steep time and temperature for this tea for me. (I don’t like my teas strong… so try a longer steeping time if you do!)

Organic Earl Green Tea

Image from MightyLeaf.com

Organic Earl Green tea from Mighty Leaf smells wonderfully bergamotty, and if you know me, nothing could smell better. The dry leaves are reddish-brown, which is surprising because this is a green tea.

Nothing really stands out to me in this tea when comparing it to other Earl Greys. It does seem a bit smoother than Earl Greys blended with black tea because it doesn’t have as much bite as a black tea would bring to a blend. It’s a very uniform flavor and chances are that if you like anything remotely similar to Earl Grey blends, you’ll like this one also.

My First Experience with Merkaba Teas

After having had a bad experience with a new tea vendor (I never received anything that I bought), I felt like I might be setting myself up for another tea failure by ordering from another new-to-me online vendor. Luckily, I was happily surprised by the quick shipping and good customer service provided by Merkaba. I wrote a few micro-reviews via Twitter for each of the samples that I tried.

Gypsy Love

Lovely blend of rose buds, petals & black tea. Rose not overpowering & lingers on tongue. Steep 3 min @ 175F.

Rolling Thunder

Mate & black tea, spiced, no pepper. Smooth, nice morning tea. Goes well with honey. Steep 2-3 min @ 180F.

Quangzhou Milk Oolong

A new favorite! Milky, buttery and savory. Good for 3-4 infusions. Steep 3 min @ 180F.

Follow me @MandyTea on Twitter for more micro-reviews!