♥ October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month ♥

We are featuring a custom hand painted hatbox filled with one 4oz tin of Tea for TaTa's, a tea infuser and a beautiful three piece tea set, featuring Judith Glover's "Spice of Life Ladies Who Lunch".



~Also available in 1oz version.

~not all tea sets are alike (We thought is

was more fun that way) and

~both the 4oz & 1oz tins may be purchased individually.

**We are honored to donate ALL proceeds from our Tea for TaTa's tea to http://www.makingmemories.org ~ Granting wishes, including memory-making events, for metastatic breast cancer patients, while continuing to support, educate and increase resource awareness.

♥ How to choose a loose leaf tea ♥

© Dawnya Sasse

Choosing a tea is a very personal decision. Whether you are selecting a tea for yourself or for your tea party menu, there are a number of factors to consider. Let’s look at just a few:

Do you want an herbal tea or one with caffeine?
Are you using your tea for health purposes, or are you interested primarily in taste?

When choosing your tea, using as many of your senses as possible will help in the selection. The following list provides some useful information to consider.

Real Tea or Herbal?
Real teas are made from the same tea plant, and include black, oolong, and green teas. Real teas vary from heavy to light in taste and overall feel. Real teas also contain caffeine, but the amount varies from tea to tea. A black or green tea might be a perfect accompaniment to a morning or afternoon tea menu.

Herbal teas are made from different plants, not the tea plant, and usually do not have any caffeine. If you are hosting an evening party you may select something like chamomile or peppermint herb tea for a quiet and calming wind-down.

Flavor
If caffeine or using a real tea is not an issue, then taste may play a greater role in selection if it is the primary goal. Teas vary greatly from one to the next in taste, and blended teas add even more variety as there is no limit to the possibilities! And with the availability of so many teas in bulk, you can even create your own recipe.

The varieties of fruit and herbal teas also add a bit of spice or flavor not found in black teas. In general, the tea you select should taste fresh, leave a pleasant after taste, and never taste stale.

Pairing a flavored tea with a meal can be tricky. I find that a ginger peach black or green tea works well with many menu offerings. A blended non flavored tea such as an English breakfast or Irish afternoon is also a sturdy tea to pair hearty and chocolaty fair with.

Smell
Smell is as important as taste, and one that will give an indication of flavor as well (although the best situation is one where you can sample the tea before purchase).

When choosing a tea, smell both the dried leaves, and if possible, the brewed tea as well. Each test will produce a different smell, and if both are pleasant, you will likely enjoy the tea. If the smell is nonexistent or does not last, it is not a good tea.

Smell contributes to your tea party. The scent of a fresh well brewed tea pouring into a china cup is breathtaking. Consider what your guests will experience from the moment you pour the pot.

Purpose
Will you be using the tea for an after dinner drink or for its health benefits? A tea's purpose will help determine which is the best choice. As with the real verses herbal test, purpose will factor in your decision as well.

A variety of fruity herbal teas may be perfect for a children's tea party, while a more subtle variety may be perfect following a rich desert. You can even replace a dessert by offering a Chocolate Mint Truffle tea as a substitute. Your guests will be delighted with the no calorie, high impact craving stopper.

Appearance
Tea leaves, particularly green tea leaves, should feel smooth rather than brittle. Crumbly leaves are old or over-baked and will likely produce a stale or burnt tasting tea.

Tea selection can be an exciting adventure. With so many options to choose from and a little help from these guidelines, even a relative novice can quickly become an expert in the art of tea selection, and considering these questions will help you choose the right tea for your big tea event!

(C) Dawnya Sasse

♥ The Tea Party ♥

The tea party is a spa for the soul.

You leave your cares and work behind.

Busy people forget their business.

Your stress melts away,

Your senses awaken.

~Alexandra Stoddard~

♠

Tea & Antioxidants By William I. Lengeman III

Tea is not just good but it’s also good for you - or so the story goes. There are a number of research studies that have offered compelling evidence in favor of this notion. A number of brief articles have also appeared at this very site examining how tea might help us in treating various and sundry types of ailments.


Loose Leaf Green Tea
But how does it all work? It’s a great question and one that I wouldn’t dare attempt to tackle in the short space allotted here. Let’s oversimplify things quite a bit and say that much of the benefit we derive from drinking tea comes from the antioxidants it contains. In tea’s case, one of the most notable of these antioxidants are a compound known as catechins. For a rather technical overview of what catechins are and how they work, start with this Wikipedia entry.

All of which is well and good, assuming that our bodies are able to absorb and process the beneficial substances that will help cure what ails us. A study in the Journal of Nutrition a while back took a look at this very issue. A group of Italian researchers undertook a study on green tea flavanols to try to determine, as a recent article at the Tea News put it, “what percentage of the antioxidants contained within green tea stay in the body after digestion.” Study results were generally positive.

Another (rather offbeat) study on catechins found a group of researchers from Hong Kong testing how well catechins derived from tea were absorbed into rat’s eyes. Being a layperson I have to admit that it’s not clear exactly what their findings were or even why the study was undertaken.

How To Cold Brew Tea From Teas Etc

From Lady Dawnya; Are you an Iced Tea drinker? Here's a super simple way to cold brew premium loose leaf tea. Use this method for your home or for your tea business. Simply make the tea each evening and in the morning it is ready! It's like the tea fairies came to visit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLxEoeH3r9M&feature=player_embedded

How to Naturally Decaf Your Tea

Tea Making Tips 101 (1941)

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Reminds me of elementary school, lol. I love the flavor of quality loose leaf tea...