Cascara Tea

For the coffee lover, cascara tea may just win you over.  Cascara is the Spanish term for the skin or peel of a fruit.  Cascara Tea is made from the coffee cherry peel which the coffee bean comes from and can be found through your local coffee roasters.  Okay it's not a true tea (doesn't come from the camellia sinensis tea plant), so don't worry.  It's made from 100 percent coffee ingredients and therefore, is a bit on the strong side for this tea lover.  My friends at Adair Kithen and Bebidas have put in a special request for a cascara tea blend.  Had a try at it and created two cascara concentrate tea blends that would be liked by both coffee and tea drinkers.  Tea makes everything better.  Recipes below.

1. Cascara & Hibiscus Blend: 

Ingredients:  1 oz cascara, 1 oz rose hips, 0.5 oz hibiscus, 0.5 orange peel, water

Instructions for cold brew:  

• Pour cascara tea blend into coffee or tea press with 12 oz. water at 208 degrees Fahrenheit  
• Wait 10 minutes, press down on filter
• Place in fridge overnight or for at least 10 hours
• Pour into a separate pitcher, filtering out the cascara tea blend
• Pour into a shaker or cup and add water to dilute to your preference.  Add honey or agave to taste.  
• Shake with ice, sip and enjoy.

Instructions for hot brew:  

• Pour cascara tea blend into coffee or tea press with 16 oz. water at 208 degrees Fahrenheit
• Wait 10 minutes, press down on filter
• Pour desired amount into cup, add honey or agave to taste, sip and enjoy.

2. Cascara & Rooibos Blend:

Ingredients:  1 oz cascara, 1 oz rooibos, 0.5 orange peel, 0.5 elderflower, water

Instructions:  Same as above.

Cascara can be found at your local coffee roasters.

Cascara, hibiscus, rose hips, orange peel blend.

Cold brewing Cascara & Hibiscus blend on left, Cascara & Rooibos blend on right.

Cascara & Hibiscus iced tea on the left, Cascara & Rooibos iced tea on the right... Yum!

Matcha Chocolate Almond + Coconut Cookies

I made Matcha chocolate almond and coconut cookies for my cousin Jenny who inspired me to cook or bake with tea.  I must say they turned out pretty good for my first try at these.  Ate three of them but I don't feel too terrible about it because they were made with coconut flour and other "healthier" cookie ingredients.  There's also an extra dose of that heavenly Matcha.  Recipe below.  Enjoy yourself!

Prep time 30-45 min, Makes 12-16 cookies 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter  

1/3 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract  

1 1/2 cup semi sweet or dark cacao 

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes  

1 cup sliced almonds  

2 tbsp MATCHA

Instructions: 

1. Stir together coconut flour, baking powder, salt, Matcha
2. In separate bowl, beat butter and coconut oil together; add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, almond milk, vanilla; beat
3. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture; beat until well combined
4. Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet
5. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes or until edges just begin to brown; let cookies cool down on cookie rack
6. Melt chocolate using double boiler or microwave and dip half of the cookie into melted chocolate 
7. Sprinkle coconut flakes or sliced almonds onto chocolate dipped area 
8. Let cookies cool in refrigerator  

Matcha chocolate coconut and almond cookie ingredients

Put it all together...

Bake, let cool, and dip in melted chocolate via double boiling; then sprinkle on unsweetened coconut flakes or almond slices

...and voila!

Help Needed! ~ Looking for a Tea Assistant

Need assistance in blending/measuring/packing loose leaf tea blends for wholesale to local cafes. This is a good opportunity to learn about different tea varieties as well as the tea blending process.  Assistant is required to be competent at basic math and detail oriented. Interest in tea is a plus. Hours are estimated at an average of 2 hours per week to assist at my location on Fridays anytime between Noon-6pm.  If interested, please email [email protected].  

I love you so Matcha

My current obsession would have to be Matcha green tea.  I like it as a latte hot or iced, in my pastries and desserts, or just straight Matcha brewed then whisked.  I was in Matcha heaven when I visited Japan, and it's been exciting to see it become increasingly more popular in Western culture.  Its taste is wholesome and satisfying and so very good for your mind and body.  Matcha is made from shade-grown then stone-ground green tea leaves.  Being shade-grown, the leaves have more chlorophyll turning the leaves to a beautiful emerald green color.  The shade-grown leaves produce more of the wonderful amino acid, L-theanine.  L-theanine is responsible for a good mood, alertness, and memory.  It generates alpha waves in the brain which is why you feel a "calm alertness" as opposed to a jittery high with coffee followed by a "crash."  Also, the tea leaves of Matcha are ground to a fine powder and this means you are consuming 100% of the whole leaf packing a punch of more antioxidants and catechins than other green teas.  Matcha has been the tea used in the beautiful four hour long Japanese tea ceremony and is influenced by Zen Buddhism.  The ceremony demonstrates the graceful movements in preparing the tea and focuses on being present.  It usually takes me only five minutes to make a cup of Matcha, but I take that brief moment to myself to enjoy the ritual and then enjoy it even more while I sip it.  

Pandan Tea

My very first blog post will be about a tea that truly isn't a tea.  But that's okay because I have to start somewhere.  A true tea is known to come from the new buds of the Camellia Sinensis plant, hence the name Camellia Tea.  The other day, we stopped in a local ice cream shop in the crowded streets of Rice Village after making a tea delivery.  This ice cream shop had the most unique and creative flavors that seemed to be Asian inspired.  They had a Matcha flavor with Lychee bits, which was amazing.  But there was one flavor I couldn't get over and have been craving ever since, Pandan.  Pandan comes from the leaves of the Pandanus plant and is widely used for cooking in Southern Asia and Hawaii. It is also used for a cooling treatment to help with inflammation in the body.  Today I put together a nice pot of Pandan tea for myself.  All I did was chop up a few leaves from a stash I had stowed in the freezer and steep it in boiling water for about five minutes.  It tasted warm and buttery, reminiscent of toasted coconut, vanilla, and a little hint of lemongrass.  And just like that, it was the perfect fix.

Pandan leaves

Pandan tea