Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season!

2011 is almost upon us.  Whether you're attending a New Year's Party or just sitting in the corner clutching a bottle of cheap sake at midnight like I will be, we wish you all the best for the coming year.  Hopefully this will be a year of recovery, growth and contentment for all.


Pictured drink: Matcha cocktail.  2 level tsp Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder with aforementioned cheap sake(Gekkeikan, etc); shake + pour. 

Happy New Year from us to you!

Fun with lavender buds

Lavender is such a beautiful and fragrant herb.  For those of us who get the crafty bug during the holidays, lavender is an inexpensive and versatile choice for various projects.  Here are a couple of interesting things that can be made with lavender:

• Here's a delicious-looking recipe for lavender tea cookies. As a healthier alternative I would also try the frosting recipe and add lavender to this oat-based recipe. 
• Make a Lavender Eye Pillow using two pieces of fabric (see Easy Eye Pillow Pattern), 3 cups flax seed or uncooked rice
  
  (not instant), 2-3 tbsp. lavender flowers and lavender essential oil.  I don't know about you, but this is one homemade gift I would love to receive! 
• This is an interesting one - you can make a light lavender water cologne using 1 cup lavender flower buds, 1 cup distilled water and 4 tablespoons vodka.  Combine, shake well and let infuse for a couple of weeks, making sure to shake the mixture daily.  Strain liquid into a container and add a little lavender essential oil if the perfume is not strong enough to your liking. 

If you need fresh, fragrant, culinary grade lavender we offer it in an 8 oz jar size, straight from Sequim, the lavendar capital of the U.S.  Have fun!

Mmm...

 

Are you in the mood for a nice, hot, rich Green Tea Latte but your local coffee shop doesn't serve them? Or maybe they only serve a drink with very little or no matcha(stone ground Japanese green tea), or one with a strong melon or soy protein aftertaste? 

If you feel that your local coffee shop would be open to serving authentic Green Tea Lattes, please send them our way! And of course if you don't wish to wait for your local coffee shop to start serving them you can always make them yourself at home. 

Matcha for the holidays

The holidays are upon us.  For many it's a time of eating and sometimes overindulgence. I know I'm looking forward to some good food!

Matcha, with its extremely high concentrations of anti-aging components and catechins, sounds like a nice antidote to have on hand when we've partaken a bit too much of the rich foods and sweets that are all around us at this time of year.

Also, the calming effect of L-Theanine may be just what's needed when the stress of the holidays starts to mount.

Perhaps you've been telling your friends and family about the benefits of Matcha. Now would be a great time to introduce matcha to others by making a Matcha-Banana Smoothie for an energizing breakfast treat.  2 tsp matcha, a banana, some milk and some ice(and a little sweetener), delicious!

Of course, a traditionally made cup of matcha enjoyed with a rich treat is also something I'm looking forward to.  Or I may just get out my bag of Culinary Matcha and make a tray of Matcha shortbread cookies.  So much for overindulgence!

Some recent articles on matcha:

http://www.brainready.com/blog/thetop5brainhealthfoods.html

http://www.gayot.com/lifestyle/health/features/matcha-green-tea-health-benefits.html

The new ThreeTreeTea.com website is here!

The new ThreeTreeTea.com is finally here!  A brand new website with all of the old favorites and some new ones as well.   We now offer payment through PayPal's secure site.  However! If you don't have (or don't like/want to use) PayPal you of course have the option to pay by credit card as well and bypass PayPal altogether.

Though our previous site was security encrypted through Yahoo!,  it was difficult to tell because our site was built in frames; that is, no matter what web page you were on within our site, the search bar always showed the address of the first page because the frame around the site was always part of the home page.  Now you can clearly see the https:// and the lock, so no more worries!

We've got great new products including our Matcha Set, which would make a nice gift for someone who likes matcha.  We've also got our new line of floral teas, Hana-cha.

We hope you like the new site, and we hope that we've made it easy to navigate and find what you need.  Enjoy the new site!

Operating an Espresso Stand? Tea Is Still Important...

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have a plethora of espresso stands.  Some are chains, some are independent...it's even getting to the point where some are adopting themes or gimmicks, such as the "sexspresso" stands we are seeing pop up all over the place as of late.

But just because it's primarily espresso that's being served or there's a theme going on, attention still needs to be paid to the quality of beverages that is being provided.  The goal is to keep customers coming back, and to do that the customer should not be inclined to go somewhere else.

Being in the tea business, I've spoken with many coffee shop owners and managers.  The number one concern for them is ease of operation and getting the product out as fast as possible.  That is understandable.  

But with tea, there really is not much of a reason to cut corners.  When I drive up to an espresso stand(or enter a coffee shop for that matter) and I see tea offerings that consist of the lowest grade tea bags that one can find at Cash and Carry, it makes me wonder why.  At a couple bucks a box and 20 tea bags, maybe, per box, that comes out to about $ .10 per serving.   Anyone who really appreciates a good cup of tea probably does not like the fact that they can't order anything better than what amounts to tea dust when they are in a coffee/beverage establishment.

I think that we tea drinkers out there would be happy to see either a higher grade level of tea bags(loose-leaf teas in pyramid bags would be best), or step outside the box and offer loose leaf teas.  Their per-serving costs are almost equivalent to tea bags if there is consistency with proper serving size.  And you can offer a product with better health benefits, flavor and visual appeal.

Offering a proper tea selection will elevate your business in the eyes of the customer, and, in contrast to cheap tea bags, it will project the message that the business really cares about serving teas with quality and flavor.  It's easy, it can be done, and if anyone has questions about it please contact me, I'd love to help walk you through the process!

Chilled Matcha

Here's a refreshing twist on the traditional preparation of ceremonial matcha.  The picture captures its gorgeous green color, and the ice cubes poking up from the luscious layer of froth.  

Preparation: 

In a matcha bowl, use two heaping chashaku or 1 1/2 teaspoons of ceremonial matcha.  

Pour water that's just off of the boil into a separate cup, then transfer it to the matcha bowl.  The transferring of water from one vessel to another cools it down by a few degrees. Normally, you'd fill the matcha bowl to 30% of capacity with the hot water.  For this iced drink, we are only going to put enough water to make the matcha dissolve, or about 10-15% capacity.  Stir gently until matcha dissolves.

Then add cold water to the matcha and fill to 30% capacity.  Using a matcha whisk, stir briskly until completely blended and a nice froth forms.  Add a couple of ice cubes, and enjoy!