Tea - Articles and Posts from Slashfood

Stuffed Carnivale Squash - Feast Your Eyes

Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:00AM by Alexa Weibel (RSS feed)
Filed under: Fall Flavors, Comfort Food, Thanksgiving, Feast Your Eyes, Tea

Photo: Laurapants, Flickr.

Stuffed anything is good this time of year -- and stuffing the cooked vegetable back in its original shell makes for an especially festive treat. The blogger behind Kitchen Illiterate put it simply: "Stuffed squash is stuffed goodness."

We second that -- especially in such a vibrant, flavorful concoction. First, the squash is roasted on its own. In the meantime, you cook the stuffing on the stove, a spicy cumin-cayenne scented rice with black beans, peppers and queso fresco. Once the squash is softened, you toss in the stuffing and throw it all back into the oven for ten minutes to allow the flavors to meld together, a roasted richness permeating the entire dish.

And to prove you can never get enough of a good thing, Kitchen Illiterate has also bestowed upon us a Spaghetti Squash with Swiss and Pancetta Bechamel, a White Bean and Sausage Stuffed Delicata Squash and a Southwestern Style Stuffed Acorn Squash. So get creative this Thanksgiving -- and don't worry about washing those fussy serving bowls!

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

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Bottled Iced Tea Reviews

Posted Sep 1st 2009 4:28PM by Slashfood Editor (RSS feed)
Filed under: Teas, Tea, Taste Test

We sampled bottled, canned and fast-food iced teas to let you know which ones are worth chugging, and which you should "leaf" behind.

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Iced Tea Reviews

While we love the idea of always having a freshly-brewed pitcher in the fridge, we're often on the go and have to make a grab from the deli cooler. All summer long, our editors will be sampling bottled, canned and fast-food iced teas to let you know which ones are worth chugging, and which you should leaf behind.
Lipton Pure Leaf Black Tea with Lemon
Grade: B-
Tea purists will blanch at the extreme lemony sweetness, but those weaned on the powdered stuff will happily sip their way down memory lane. The flavor is remarkably strong and tangy with a lingering apple juice finish that's not so much refreshing as it is simply satisfying.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

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Iced Tea Reviews

Rachel Been, AOL

Stewart's Unsweetened Tea Refresher
Grade: F
We're all for utterly unadulterated, unfancy iced tea, but this harsh brew tastes like squeezings from bags left to moulder at the bottom of a pot. We sipped, swished with water, sipped again, spat it out, re-swished and ran off to brush our teeth repeatedly, and still the bitter, metallic tang that had set up camp at the backs of our tongues refused to depart quietly. We're seriously considering mouth-ectomies.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Joe Tea Lemon Half and Half
Grade: A
Call it an Arnold Palmer. Call it a half & half. Just don't forget to call us when Joe's coming over. While other brands attempt to pass off over-lemoned iced tea, Joe knows that the ultimate blend begins with equal parts of high quality, full-flavored iced tea and lightly tart lemonade. The finish is nothing short of sweet 'n sour sunshine in a bottle.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Iced Tea with Lemon Flavor
Grade: B-
Remember when you were fifteen and you'd hit up the convenience store for a post-practice drink? This is that iced tea, in all its tawdry glory. $.99 affords a tall 23 ounces of super-sweet, lemon-tinged black tea, and though the corn syrup sweetener gums up in the back of the throat, hey, it'll go great with that Twinkie.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea
Grade: B-
Had this just been touted to us as a plain ol' sweetened tea, we'd pleased, even if not especially impressed. Problem is, it's billed as Southern-style sweet tea, which is a different critter entirely. Real sweet tea delivers a smooth, mellow slug of plain white sugary deliciousness to the whole palate, while this brew brings a weirdly artificial, cloying sweetness that sits just on top of the tongue. Hold out for the real deal.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

McDonald's Sweet Tea
Grade: A
We're pretty sure we'll catch heck from our Southern in-laws, but we just have to go ahead and say it -- Mickey D's Sweet Tea is every drop as delicious as the gallons we've slurped down at Lexington BBQ, the High Point Country Club or any given K&W Cafeteria in the North Carolina Triad. That is to say it's an ideal balance of tooth-cracking sweetness, mellow orange pekoe and gentle brain freeze, both smooth enough to sip all day and intensely sugary enough to ensure that it's a physical impossibility to do so.

It's most definitely sweet tea, rather than sweetened iced tea, so folks not familiar with this culinary signature of the South might want to just dip a toe in before they fully commit. At $.99 for a giant jug, it's a worthy experiment.

Also - purists, take note -- it's often served with a slice of lemon already tossed in, so speak up if you wish to avoid that.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Sobe Green Tea
Grade: D
Y'know what this doesn't taste like? Green tea. In fact, it tastes like watered-down white grape juice that someone spiked with mystery herbal infusion. Or a lime Saf-T-Pop that spent too much time on the doctor's desk. The very idea that Sobe markets this as green tea is downright lizardbrained.

Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Blueberry White Tea
Grade: B
Hello, fruity! This iced tea finds blueberry out in full force with some well-dressed pear on its arm. Though sweet, the tea isn't sugary, instead delivering its nectar au natural. The organic sweetness melds nicely with the earthiness of the tea, resulting in a summery swig that's the perfect antidote for a dog day afternoon.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Teany Green Tea with Ginseng
Grade: C+
While we're big fans of musician Moby's New York City tearoom and plenty of of his other bottled offerings, this one falls a little flat. It's not actively awful, by any means, but for a brew with all natural, health-friendly ingredients, the flavor has odd notes of artificial sweetener and feel slightly medicinal. We're all for reaping the body benefits. We just wish it didn't have to taste that way.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Ito En Japanese Green Tea
Grade: B+
This one's got a light, tannic body, with straightforward fresh, unsweetened green tea flavor that the can claims is a result of its having been "Produced with our state-of-the-art T-N (Tea & Natural) Blow technology." Further research reveals it as a technique that removes air from the can just before sealing, so as to prevent oxidation and ensure freshness. It works.

There's no weird or wow factor, but it's definitely more "healthy" feeling than either soda, or some of the other sweetened bottled tea offerings. It pairs well with sushi, sashimi and green salads.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

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Qishr with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Jul 14th 2009 2:00PM by Erin Meister (RSS feed)
Filed under: Teas, Coffee, How To, Middle East, Tea

Coffee cherries are drinkable too. Photo: rohsstreetcafe, Flickr

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is the ninth in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Coffee's origins as a beverage are as murky as the sludge left at the bottom of a French press: Were the beans really the discovery of a bygone Ethiopian goatherd with a hyper flock? Did the first coffee drinkers actually brew the plant's leaves as tea instead of the beans we use today -- or the cherry in which they grow? Can a drink be made from the cherry itself?

That last one, at least, is a definite "yes," and several beverages made from dried coffee-cherry husks are still imbibed around the world. Learn more about these rare-to-us brews after the jump.

Continue reading Qishr with the CoffeeMeister

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Genovese Basil is a Sign of Love

Posted Feb 8th 2009 5:00PM by Max Shrem (RSS feed)
Filed under: Farming, Italy, Tea, Herbs

Does food symbolism bear any truth? If, so then Italian sweet basil can trigger romance. In Italian culture, basil symbolizes love. When a woman puts out a pot of basil, it means she is ready to receive her suitor. Interestingly, in Ancient Greece, it represented anger. Since basil is one of my favorite herbs, I prefer to believe it's a sign of love. The sweet pungent taste of Genovese basil with hints of anise brings me back to a past trip to Cinque Terre.

While basil is a summer herb, I recently tried a delicious basil tea that reminded me of how much I love it and yearn for summer produce. While it originated in India, Africa, and Asia, it's now grown worldwide. Genovese Basil might be one of the best varieties out of the 150, because it yields about 8 cuttings and makes the best pesto.

While in Cinque Terre, I visited a small pesto factory outside the village of Riomaggiore. I'll never forget the gorgeous cliffs covered in bright green basil and the beautiful enchanting aroma of basil emanating from a red bucket in the pesto factory. If indeed basil activates romance, then this Valentine's Day, find a way to incorporate it into your meal.

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A Tea Haven in NYC's Greenwich Village

Posted Dec 21st 2008 7:00PM by Max Shrem (RSS feed)
Filed under: Stores & Shopping, Tea

Tea Spot in NYC's Greenwich Village has a relaxed cozy environment that is perfect for escaping the infectious urban anxiety that often characterizes Manhattan. Tea Spot provides a fascinatingly aromatic treasure chest of teas from which to try. Since every tea has its own ritual, the staff is excellent at explaining how it should be drunk and how long the tea should remain in the pot. For example, with chamomile tea, they suggested leaving the tea in the pot for at least 7 minutes.

One of the most important ways to fully experince tea is to be sitting in the right atmosphere, one that is not overrun with people. One of the best parts about Tea Spot is that it's usually easy to find a seat. There are two floors. The bottom floor has few windows (it's mostly underground) but it's spacious and has several tables. Not only can you purchase tea to stay, but you can also buy it, along with tea pots and filters, to go and drink in the comfort of your home.

This past week, I tasted one of their many rooibos teas that seemed to soothe every neurotic bone in my body with its bright euphoric floral aroma and its sweet slightly nutty flavor. There is something wonderfully calming and meditative about the mere act of sipping tea. I poured just a dash of milk into my cup and was transfixed by the change in color from maroon to light red. For me, the experience of tasting tea seems to begin with a visual response. Then, my olfactory senses dominate my gastronomical perception; it's all about the aroma. And finally, the sensations on my taste buds allow me to become fully absorbed by the tea's unique flavor.

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TY KU - Asian Citrus Liqueur

Posted Dec 20th 2008 2:02PM by Gretchen Roberts (RSS feed)
Filed under: Asia, Raves & Reviews, Liqueurs, Tea

I posted about Shochu recently, and one person commenting noted the difference between Shochu, a Japanese liquor, and Soju, a Korean liquor. (They are similar-tasting, and some Shochu is labelled Soju for marketing purposes.) Not long ago I tried a really interesting citrus liqueur made from Soju called TY KU. TY KU is made from yuzu, an Asian citrus, honeydew melon, ginseng, mangosteen, an Asian superfruit, goji berry, green tea, Soju, and Sake. It's refreshing, with totally exotic flavors that are hard to describe because they're unlike most drinks found in America.

Let's be perfectly frank: the liqueur is quite good. In fact, it's so good that a group of six of us polished the bottle off in one sitting (it's only 20 percent alcohol, so don't schedule an intervention!). But I don't normally write about liqueurs, so in the spirit of honesty, I'll share with you why I'm raving about this bottle.

It has an LED light in the bottom that lights up the liqueur inside, taking me right back to my college days when everyone in the dorm had a lava lamp. The light makes the green liqueur glow irridescent, a perfect conversation piece for a cocktail party (it was for mine!).

Also, apparently TY KU is a celeb favorite. Denzel Washington, Patrick Swayze, Leonardo Dicaprio, Jaime Foxx, and Paris Hilton have all been spotted drinking it.

After the jump, a couple of TK KU recipes (though seriously, it goes down just fine alone).

Continue reading TY KU - Asian Citrus Liqueur

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Mango with Leaves - A Favorite from The House of Tea

Posted Nov 25th 2008 11:01AM by Marisa McClellan (RSS feed)
Filed under: Tea

bag of Mango with Leaves from The House of Tea

Every few months, I stop drinking coffee for a time. Typically, I give equal time to coffee and tea, but then I hit a wall where coffee suddenly stops tasting good. I don't know what causes it and I can't gauge when it will happen, but one morning I find myself reaching for a box of tea bags instead of my jar of beans and before I know it, two weeks will go by and I won't have touched a drop of joe.

I'm in the midst of one of these phases right now, and I'm starting to think I may never go back to coffee, mostly because I'm totally in the thrall of the tea you see right over there to the right. Called Mango with Leaves, it is a fruity, fragrant black tea that goes amazing well with a little milk and honey.

This particular variety comes from The House of Tea, a Philadelphia institution that was founded by Nathaniel Litt, the man who started his career as an architect and then went on to be a clown, a bookstore owner, a professional jam maker, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef and finally the owner this Fabric Row teashop. Litt died in 1997, but his tea legacy lives on. For those of you in the Philly area, I recommend making a trip over there. If you're a little too far away, make sure to head over to the website, where you can order all the specialty teas that The House sells.

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Southern Sweet Tea

Posted Jun 28th 2007 2:48AM by Kat Kinsman (RSS feed)
Filed under: Drinks, Tea, Non-Alcoholic, Raising the Bar, Guilty Pleasures

Sweet or unsweet?

If you've spent any time south of the Mason-Dixon line, this query is as familiar to you as "paper or plastic?", but the rest of the USA doesn't have a cotton pickin' clue what you're talking about. See, we may get all schmancy, blending decaf Royal Tiger Spice Baby Assam with cran-kiwi nectar and individually wrapped cubes of Albanian raw beet sugar, but this Yankee is willing to admit that y'all got something special goin' on when comes to iced tea.

Sweet Tea is a staple of restaurants and homes across the Southeastern United States; so prevalent that a guest has to specifically request 'unsweet" in order to get a brew that won't instantly candy their molars, and enough of a cultural institution that several Representatives in Georgia presented House Bill 819 requiring all food service establishments to serve it. Sure, it was quickly revealed as an April Fools Day prank, but it bespoke the region's reverence for the "champagne of the South".

So, just what IS this magical elixir? Essentially, it's bagged or loose orange pekoe (that's a grade of black) tea, that's brewed and blended with sugar while it's still hot. A lot of sugar. If you're making this for the first time and you think you've swirled in enough sugar – you haven't. Keep pouring. Then pour more. If your stirring spoon is threatening to stand up on its own, you may still need to add more. Have a Southerner sample it if you're not sure. They'll tell you to add MORE.

If it's served in a Southern home, there's a good chance it'll be in a tall, slim glass filled with ice, and accompanied by a long-handled iced tea spoon with which one can stir in, bless their heart, even more sweetener if so desired. Milk is unheard of, and lemon or mint – well, that's just being fancy, but if it makes the Yanks feel at home, then so be it. That's just good ol' Southern hospitality.

There are as many ways to make Sweet Tea as there are Southern families. This is how my husband and I (he's from High Point, N.C.) like to make it at home.

The Wagner Family's Sweet Tea

For Simple Syrup:
* 4 cups sugar (Don't worry - not all of that goes in the tea!)
* 2 cups water

For Tea:
* 4 cups water
* 8-10 regular-sized or 3 "family sized" bags orange pekoe tea (preferably Lipton or Luzianne)
* Pinch of baking soda
* Additional water

Pour 2 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar into a saucepan and stir together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and stir until thickened. Turn off heat, and set aside.

Strip tags from the tea bags, and tie strings to the handle of a wooden spoon, near the bowl. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat, and place the tea-tied wooden spoon in the pan with a pinch of baking soda (It smooths out the tea's tannins.). Once it's suitably darkened, and still hot, pull out the spoon. (Refrain from squeezing the teabags, as that clouds the tea.)

Stir 1 cup of the sugar syrup into the tea until it's thoroughly blended. Pour the mixture into a 1 gallon glass or metal pitcher, and fill to the top with water. Stir, and chill in the refrigerator. Pour the remaining sugar syrup into a glass jar, and cover.

Once the tea has cooled, serve it in tall glasses 2/3 filled with ice, with sugar syrup on the side so that guests may sweeten according to their personal taste.

Y'all come back now, hear?

(P.S. If you're having trouble with the comments link, try this one.)

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#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Slashfood Editor	87	0
2	Alexa Weibel	50	2
3	Sarah LeTrent	37	0
4	Hanna Raskin	29	0
5	Sara Bonisteel	18	0
6	Emily Farris	18	0
7	Jennifer Lawinski	15	0
8	Michael Thomas Hastings	10	0
9	Monika Bartyzel	9	0
10	Jennifer Iserloh	8	0
11	David Koeppel	7	0
12	Mike Pomranz	6	1
13	Jose Ralat Maldonado	6	1
14	Lisa Schweitzer	5	0
15	LeNell Smothers	5	0
16	Joshua M. Bernstein	5	2
17	Erin Meister	4	0
18	Max Shrem	4	0
19	John Devore	4	0
20	Sarah Christine	3	0

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Stuffed Carnivale Squash - Feast Your Eyes

Bottled Iced Tea Reviews

Iced Tea Reviews

Qishr with the CoffeeMeister

Genovese Basil is a Sign of Love

A Tea Haven in NYC's Greenwich Village

TY KU - Asian Citrus Liqueur

Mango with Leaves - A Favorite from The House of Tea

Southern Sweet Tea

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