Today it's visual and audio inspiration for you as you plan your very own Mad Hatter's Tea Party this month. Check out the video and photos and see how it gets your creativity going if you are the party planner, or a guest! Don't forget to post your photos/videos online of your party and link them in our comments here to be eligible for our tea giveaway. Some lucky Canadian is going to win some fabulous tea!
Hope you're MADLY inspired!
Steeped Tea is giving away a great package containing 2 of our brand new savory products: our Caramelized Onion Chutney & Red Pepper Jelly.
If you live in Canada and you haven't entered yet, what are you waiting for? Simply click here and leave us a comment about your experience of combining tea with chocolate. The contest ends today, so click now. We'll announce the winner this week here at the blog and by email.
It's blustery this weekend around these parts, so a hot cup of hot chocolate chai tea might just be the thing to warm up! Remember you still have time to enter our contest to win some of our great new savory products, just by leaving us a comment on your favourite chocolate and tea combination on this post.
This recipe is by Janeen A Sarlin with Noelle Shipley and the photo is by Sheri Giblin. These women are responsible for a book entitled Princess Tea. They write: Chocolate chai tea is cloudy, but the aroma and taste are clearly delightful. Adding a hint of cocoa to loose tea leaves in the pot is the magic formula that will have princesses asking for more. Have a small pitcher of warm milk and a bowl of sugar for each princess to add as much as she likes. I add a little sugar to my cup, no milk, and stir it with chocolate sticks found in sweet shops or candy stores.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons chai tea leaves
1 teaspoon unsweetend cocoa
1 quart boiling water
Sugar and warm milk as desired
Chocolate stirrers
Directions:
1. Place the tea leaves and cocoa in the teapot and pour the boiling water over. Let steep for 5 minutes.
2. To serve, add 1 teaspoon of sugar to each teacup and fill two-thirds full with tea. Add warm milk to taste and stir with the chocolate stirrers. Makes 1 quart.
Our contest is still open until this weekend. If you are Canadian, you could win some of Steeped's wonderfully delish new savory products. All you have to do is leave us a comment about your favourite tea and chocolate combination.
Meantime, here's a recipe for combining tea and chocolate in a cake that you can then enjoy with a cup of tea. The author of the recipe writes:
"This is an Austrian recipe that was passed on from one generation to the next in my family. The secret of this cake's full flavour and softness: Prepare it one day in advance before eating it!"
No, we don't mean basketball...
Mad, as in the Madhatter!
Disney & Tim Burton have teamed up for another version of Alice in Wonderland, which opens March 5th, and of course, tea parties play a theme, inspiring Steeped Tea to suggest that March should be the month of tea parties to celebrate.
Celebrate what? Your unbirthday, of course... Or maybe one of your friends actually has a March birthday... Or spring... Or, the joy of tea is fine thing to celebrate! So why not gather some friends to celebrate whatever you feel like celebrating and have a tea party.
Photo from a Madhatter Tea Party held last spring
Contest:
Host a Madhatter Tea Party during the month of March and submit a photo or video by leaving a link in the comments*. All submissions will be entered into a draw to win our 5 top selling teas!
Prize includes:
Have a super weekend enjoying the spirit of love.
Why not indulge in some tea and chocolate tasting over the weekend? Leave us a comment about your tea and chocolate experience in this post and be entered in our draw (residents of Canada are eligible).
Here's a sweet recipe that combines tea and chocolate. According to Bella Online, In Japan, women give gifts to men on Valentine’s Day, and sometimes it seems that no one has better mastered the art of candy-making than the Japanese. Who else would combine chocolate with tea to create a scrumptious treat? The sweet and bitter flavors of white chocolate and green tea complement each other well, just like you and your Sweetie, and when they’re in the shape of cute little hearts, they’re down-right irresistible. This Valentine’s Day, you can show your loved one just how much you care with the following recipe, straight from Japan, and then you’ll be irresistible, too:
Green Tea Chocolate Hearts
• 1 lb white chocolate chips
• 4 tsp green tea powder
• 2 Tbsp milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Heart-shaped molds or cookie-cutters (optional)
• Extra green tea powder for coating (optional)
Pour the white chocolate chips into a large mixing bowl and set to the side.
In a small pan, combine the green tea powder and milk. Place on the stove over low heat just until the mixture warms and the green tea dissolves.
In a separate pan, heat the heavy cream over medium heat, stopping just before it starts to boil. Then, add the milk and green tea mixture, carefully stirring.
Pour the entire mixture into the bowl of white chocolate chips. As the chocolate melts, stir gently. Continue to stir until all chocolate chips have melted, and the mixture is smooth.
Line a 13 x 9 in. pan with wax paper, and place the heart-shaped molds or cookie cutters inside. Then, pour the chocolate mixture into the molds / cutters, and place the entire pan inside the refrigerator to cool.
Cool for about one hour, or until firm. As the mixture begins to cool, extra green tea powder can be sprinkled on top of the molds for added color and flavor.
Once firm, carefully remove chocolate hearts from the molds.
Serve to a loved-one, and have a happy Valentine’s Day, Japanese-style.
*As an alternative, this recipe can be made, without molds, by rolling the chocolate, as it cools, into small balls instead. Coat with green tea powder, and place inside the refrigerator, on wax paper, until firm.
Milk and cookies, wine and cheese, tea and chocolate. Some foods are just made for each other. If you haven’t yet tried savouring some chocolate while sipping your favourite tea, maybe now’s the time. For 2 reasons:
1. February,with Valentine's Day right in the middle, is synonymous with chocolate, so you might have some around.
2. We're doing another blog giveaway, so read on!
Pearl Dexter, editor and publisher of Tea, a Magazine, says “there are three ways to look at tea and chocolate pairings. The first is as ‘friends,’ teas and chocolates with similar characteristics. The second is as ‘lovers,’ teas and chocolates that complement each other through their differences. The third happens when both combine ... a ‘perfect match.’”
You don’t have to be a connoisseur of either tea or chocolate to enjoy finding your perfect match. Have you tried nibbling a little chocolate while sipping your tea? Lots of experts have already “played” and tasted, helping us ordinary tea and chocolate lovers, find our next favourite combination. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Assam: Origin – India. Dominant flavor – malty. Pair with -- dark chocolate.
Chai: Origin – India. Dominant flavors – nutmeg, cinnamon. Pair with -- milk chocolate.
Darjeeling: Origin – India. Dominant flavor – bright muscatel. Pair with -- white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate
Dragonwell: Origin – China. Dominant flavors – nutty, vegetal. Pair with – white or milk chocolate.
Earl Grey: Origin – China. Dominant flavor – bergamot. Pair with -- chocolate macaroons, dark chocolate.
Gyokuro: Origin – Japan. Dominant flavor – sweetish. Pair with – dark chocolate, all chocolate desserts.
Hojicha: Origin – Japan. Dominant flavor – roasted/nutty. Pair with -- brownies.
Irish Breakfast: Origin – India, China and East Africa. Dominant flavor – malty. Pair with -- chocolate cake.
Jasmine: Origin – China. Dominant flavor – flowery. Pair with -- chocolate madeleines.
Keemun: Origin – China. Dominant flavors – rich and fruity. Pair with – milk or dark chocolate.
Matcha: Origin – Japan. Dominant flavor – fresh grass. Pair with -- white chocolate.
Oolong: Origin – Taiwan, China. Dominant flavors – flowery, fruity. Pair with – white, milk, or dark chocolate.
Pu-erh: Origin – China. Dominant flavor – earthy. Pair with -- dark chocolate.
Sencha: Origin – Japan. Dominant flavor – savory vegetal/seaweed. Pair with – white or milk chocolate.
Silver Needle: Origin – China. Dominant flavor – sweet vegetal. Pair with -- white chocolate.
Yunnan: Origin – China. Dominant flavor – spicy or peppery. Pair with – white or milk chocolate.
You’ll find Steeped Tea has many of these teas in our product offering, so enjoy shopping for some good quality chocolate and nibbling it while you sip. Enjoy feeling the chocolate melt in your mouth under the heat of the tea. Have fun smelling and tasting the tea and chocolate to see if you detect the same characteristics the experts did.
Leave us a comment telling us about your favourite tea & chocolate pairings. If you reside in Canada, let us know and you will be entered to win a great package containing 2 of our brand new savory products: our Caramelized Onion Chutney & Red Pepper Jelly. These are delish and a great way to kick up a sandwich or entrée. The contest runs for the month of February.
To win, leave us a comment on your favourite chocolate and tea pairings. Let us know where you are from. If you are Canadian, and are NOT a Steeped Tea consultant, you will be entered in the draw. Have fun!
If you read the recent post about the upcoming visit in this area of Gary Mortensen, you may have read that it was over a cup of butter tea that he made a promise to come back and build a school for those rural children.
Did it make you think - butter tea, what in the world is that? Where is it in the Steeped catalogue?
Butter tea is a drink of the Tibetans and Chinese minorities in southwestern China. It is also consumed in Bhutan. It is made from tea leaves, yak butter, and salt.
Drinking butter tea is a regular part of Tibetan life. Before work, a Tibetan will typically down several bowlfuls of this tangy beverage, and it is always served to guests. Nomads are said to often drink up to 40 cups of it a day. Since butter is the main ingredient, butter tea is a very warming drink, providing lots of energy (calories) and is particularly suited to high altitudes. The butter also helps prevent chapped lips.[1]
According to the Tibetan custom, butter tea is drunk in separate sips, and after each sip the host refills the bowl to the brim. Thus, the guest never drains his bowl; rather, it is constantly topped up. If the visitor does not wish to drink, the best thing to do is leave the tea untouched until the time comes to leave and then drain the bowl. In this way etiquette is observed and the host will not be offended.
If you'd like to try making your own butter tea, the author of the Not Quite Nigella blog shares this recipe along with the reaction of guinea pigs - er tasters! She reasons that if we put whipped cream on hot chocolate, how different is this? Yes, and lots of people love a dollop of foamed milk on their chai, so... maybe it's not impossible. (P.S. the photo of the pot and tea in the cups also comes from her blog site):
An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Makes 2 cups
1. Boil the milk with the teabags for 2-5 minutes. Add sugar and using a whisk, dissolve and then add butter and salt to taste. Whisk throughly so that it is foamy and the butter is completely emulsified.
