Tea

Milk Frother with Stand and Stainless Steel Milk Frothing Pitcher

Make Your Own Specialty Coffees and Teas

Fellow foodies and kitchen gadget junkies, I’ve given you tons of recommendations on this humble little food blog. I’ve recommended great cookbooks, delicious food, and kitchen gadgets, appliances, and cooking tools you have to see to believe. But today… today I present to you two kitchen essentials you must order today. The sooner you have them in your possession, the brighter your world will be Why haven’t I told you about these world-altering, life-changing essentials before? I only just got my hands on them myself!

My wonderful husband recently ordered me the two lovelies you see here: The Aerolatte Deluxe Edition Milk Frother with Stand, Stainless Steel is shown, in all its glory, above. The cutie below is the New 20 oz Espresso Coffee Milk Frothing Pitcher, Stainless Steel.

Allow me to tell you why you need these babies: You can, in the safety and comfort of your own home recreate the pricey, exotic, fancy pants drinks you love in coffeehouses and restaurants. It’s cheaper, funner, and potentially healthier to make these lattes, milkshakes, fraps, and hot chocolates at home. Heck you can even do it in your pajamas if you want to. Been there, done that.

Thus far, I’ve made:

Chai Tea Lattes – By making up a mug of chai tea and frothing a little milk. I’ve also used whipping cream in place of the milk. Using 2 percent milk is just as delicious – but, admittedly, I add a packet of Truvia. What can I say, I have a mouthful of teeth and they’re all sweet. Sometimes I finish off the top with a dusting of cinnamon.
Hot Chocolate to die for – Forget the marshmallows! Topping off hot chocolate with frothed milk and a sprinkling of cocoa (or drizzle of caramel and sprinkling of sea salt) will make your eyes roll all the way into the back of your head.
Coffee with Frothed Milk – Seriously delicious and, again, using 2 percent saves calories.
Earl Grey Tea and Lady Grey tea with frothed milk is a REAL treat.

The Frother and Stand Product Features:

For steam-free espresso and other milk drinks; comes with storage stand
Includes 18/8 stainless-steel whisk, powered by 2 installed AA batteries
Frother produces foam in 15-20 seconds for hot or cold milk; circular, chrome stand grips frother for easy access and security
To clean, operate the frother in hot, soapy water and rinse; do not immerse the frother body in water or use in the dishwasher
The frother measures 8-3/4 inches long; Aerolatte offers a 5-year guarantee for defective parts or workmanship

I LOVE that the Frother comes with its own stand. You don’t have to worry about finding a place for it in your gadgets drawer or a spot for it in your utensils holder. You’ll always know exactly where it is – standing near your coffee pot looking fabulous. Click HERE for more information about the Frother and stand.

Espresso Coffee Milk Frothing Pitcher Product Details:

A must have for any coffee enthusiast
Corrosion resistant 18/8 gauge stainless steel
Seamless design with pour spout
Dishwasher safe

Click HERE for more information about the Espresso Stainless Steel Pitcher. I absolutely love mine.

Trust me, you just saw the next two kitchen gadgets (make that essentials) you should buy. As in NOW!

Delicious! Holiday Beverage Recipe from Lipton

Dazzling Creamy Dessert Drink

by Joi

Holiday Beverage Recipe from Lipton Tea!

When it comes to beverages, you can never, ever go wrong with tea. Well, as long as you don’t dump 23 pounds of sugar in your cup! You won’t need to when you use the wonderful tea recipes Lipton keeps coming up with – or when you drink their bottles of deliciousness. I love Lipton, could you tell?

Here’s a beautiful and delicious holiday drink – perfect for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s or today. Oooooh, today sounds good to me, how about you? Check out my daughter’s tea review blog for more gorgeous holiday beverage recipes with tea.

DAZZLING CREAMY DESSERT DRINK

5 servings | Prep time: 5 minutes | Stand time: 10 minutes
2 sprigs mint, large
1 bottle 100% Natural Lipton® Iced Tea with Pomegranate Blueberry
1-1/2 cups light cream or half and half*
3 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

Crush mint with wooden spoon against side of medium pitcher to bruise. Stir in remaining ingredients. Let stand 10 minutes; remove mint sprigs. Pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish, if desired, with additional mint leaves.

*Use fat-free half and half to make this dessert drink lower in saturated fat and calories.

For more wintertime recipes, visit Lipton Iced Tea’s Facebook page!

Star Wars Fans on Your Gift List?

The Dark Side Can Be Delicious...

by Joi

Star Wars fans are a fanatical group. They’re like Trekkies in that regard – once you get them talking about the movies, they’ll keep it up for hours. Sometimes days. Think Geek has something all Star Wars fans (and coffee fan for that matter) will LOVE: The Star Wars Breakfast Beverages Set. These adorable beverages make a fun and delicious gift idea.

From the Website:

We scoured the galaxy far, far away for the beverages that get humans, aliens, and droids alike buzzing with energy. Here’s what we found:

Vader’s Dark Side Roast Coffee is commonly enjoyed by Dark Lords of the Sith while planning new Death Star construction, but is also enjoyed in the break room by your common stormtrooper. This hand roasted coffee is a true taste of the Dark Side. A blend of three diverse coffees and two different roasts creates a full-bodied, sharp, cup with spicy undertones and smoky, dark-roasted complexity. Give into your anger and sample a steaming cup and you will be rewarded with power beyond your imagination.

Dagobah Green Tea is the drink of choice of Jedi Masters. Just because a planet is devoid of civilization doesn’t mean it’s not civilized. Deep in the jungles of Dagobah grow the most delicious green tea leaves in the galaxy. If you need a moment alone to ponder the Force, do it while sipping a hot cup of Yoda’s favorite tea.

Finally, Hoth Cocoa is guaranteed to warm you all the way to your bones. It’s the preferred beverage of the Rebels of Echo Base. All you need are warm hand-knitted socks. When life gives you snow, melt it into water and use it to make a steaming cup of rich, creamy Hoth Cocoa.

Choose your breakfast beverage wisely. The fate of the galaxy depends on you.

Clay Pig Tea Pot: Want, Need, Must Have

Honey, Are You Paying Attention?

by Joi

I was working on a post for my oldest daughter Emily’s tea blog when I came across the ADORABLE Brown Curious Pig Chinese Yixing Clay Tea Pot 21 ounces, shown above. For someone who collects pigs (not real pigs, my cat wouldn’t approve) in the kitchen, this little beauty made my jaw drop.

Product Description

This beautiful hand-crafted Yixing Ware tea pot is made from the clay of the Yixing Chinese province. Yixing ware has the unique ability to absorb the tea flavor with continued usage. The fired clay contains tiny air pockets which provide insulation and enhanced taste and aroma of fine tea. The different colors are achieved from pigments added into the clay before firing. Due to the handmade nature of this tea pot, the textures and patterns will vary from piece to piece.

Product Features

Brown curious pig uniquely stylized tea pot
Hand-crafted with Yixing Clay
Hand wash with hot water (no soap)

If you (or, say, someone on your Christmas list) love pigs as much as I do, this little beauty would make an incredibly unique and wonderful gift. See Brown Curious Pig Chinese Yixing Clay Tea Pot 21 ounces for a closer look. I can’t get over how adorable this is!

Adorable Mug Set for Pig Collectors

Fellow Pig Lovers, You Have to See These!

by Joi

Okay, this pig lover and collector is kind of freaking out right now. I was looking for Pig Canisters on Amazon but got sidetracked by these adorable guys. The PIG 3-D Mug Set of Mugs w/Mug Tree *NEW!* has my name written all over it.

I collect pigs in my kitchen (not real pigs, sad to say…. unless you count our cat Alexa)
I collect coffee mugs
I have a mug of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate at my side at all times. Day or night.

So, yeah, I’ll start picking a place on the counter right away.

Product Features

Create a personal and elegant touch to your kitchen!
Great as a gift!
Perfect for ANY pig collector!
Excellent attention to detail and such vibrant colors!
Useful and stylish all in one!

Product Description

BRAND NEW Pig 3-D Mug Set with wooden Mug Tree. This very cute set consists of four large mugs. They are very cute, they have great detail, and distinct colors. The mugs measure approx. 3.5″ tall and 3.5″ in diameter. They are made of hand painted ceramic with a very fine gloss finish coating them. Also included is a wooden mug tree so that you can display the cute mugs on your counter top. The mug tree is approx. 11″ tall x 6″ wide x 6″ deep. This would make a great addition to your collection or this would make a wonderful gift for any Pig Lover! Please don’t forget to take look at our many other Pig items of this same design set and other styles.

Click the following link to take a closer look. So stinking cute! PIG 3-D Mug Set of Mugs w/Mug Tree *NEW!*

Make Chai Tea Lattes at Home

Thanks to Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mixes

by Joi

It’s no secret, I’m a chai tea latte fanatic. I could drink one every single day – and often do. Sometimes two when I’m feeling extra exotic. Like most fans of chai tea lattes, I’ve attempted to re-create the magic at home, only to fall short. However, thanks to Jaipur Avenue, it’s now (literally) as simple as boiling water.

Jaipur Avenue sent my daughter Emily, the Crazy Tea Chick, a sample packet to review their Chai Tea mixes. However, Em doesn’t like Chai tea AT ALL (silly girl.. I just don’t know where I went wrong…) – so, knowing that I ADORED Chai Tea, she said, “This one’s on you.”

After doing my happy dance, I got down to some serious Chai Tea latte drinking.

About Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mixes:

All-natural ingredients. No preservatives and food additives.
Mix contains premium black tea, dry milk powder, a delicate blend of exotic spices, and minimal amount of sugar.
Easy to prepare – add hot water for a cup of heartwarming chai, or chilled milk and ice for a cool, refreshing summer drink.
Available in outrageously wonderful varieties: Vanilla, Original Masala, Cardamom, Saffron, and Ginger.

Visit The Crazy Tea Chick to read my reviews. I promise you, if you love the Chai Tea Lattes you get in coffeehouses, this is the product you’ve been waiting two forevers for. You’ll find ordering information within the reviews.

Honest Tea Organic Honey Green Tea

And So the Addiction Begins

by Joi

Another tea. Another addiction.

I can trace a lot of my addictions back to their original source. Coffee? I was somewhere between 8 and 10 and my pediatrician (a man I now list as a personal hero) made an unusual suggestion to my mother for my chronic asthma. Coffee. During my next asthma attack, sure enough, my saintly mother made me a cup of coffee. Granted, I was a novice, so it took about half the sugar bowl to make me happy, but I digress. A lifelong addiction began. And if you, or anyone you know has asthma, coffee is aces when it comes to clearing air passages. Even now (though my asthma is much, much better), when I notice that I’m having a problem, I head to the coffee pot. What’s that? You say I’m already there. Okay, yes, but you’re ruining a a perfectly good story.

Speaking of RUINING – why do people add so much to glorious green tea?! It’s as criminal as a child pouring half a cup of sugar into a cup of coffee. Green tea’s beauty is its strong, distinctive flavor – the unmistakable taste that lets you know you aren’t drinking your grandmother’s tea (unless, of course, your Asian, the you very well may be..).

You know how much I love tea. Heck, I even raised my oldest daughter to be a Crazy Tea Chick. Tea is as big of an addiction for me as coffee, buttermilk recipes, and chocolate. Green tea and I are particularly close, which is why it hurts me to see people messing with it. Seriously, I’ve bought some bottled green teas, taken a drink, and literally checked the label to make sure green tea is even in there. Note to green tea manufacturers, if I want to taste peach, I’ll buy a peach. If I want a mango, I’ll buy mango juice. Personally, I do love a little bit of honey with my green tea. Like salt to watermelon and sugar to strawberries, honey brings out a whole other side to green tea that I live for.

I was recently sent a bottle of Honest Tea Organic Green Honey Tea to review. I watched the mail excitedly because I’m familiar with Honest Tea and their teas don’t lie. Like George Washington and Shakira’s hips, they speak the truth.

When the bottle came, I could have poured it on ice and enjoyed it right away, but I wanted to have that legit, fresh from the bottle taste to review. So, I pretended to be a patient person and put the bottle in the refrigerator to chill for a while. After a while, I grew tired of standing by the refrigerator counting the minutes (1 miss-iss-ipp-i, 2 miss-iss-ipp-i…) and the cat was ridiculing me, so I popped the bottle open and had at it.

When giving food or drink reviews, I often tell you the first words to pop into my mind – like the a fore mentioned honest pillars, I think the’re the most “honest.” In the case of Honest Tea Organic Green Tea, the first words into my mind were, “Pure Green Tea” and “Finally, someone let green tea be the star of its own show.” I, of course, chased these thoughts down with the rest of the bottle. You’ve heard of drowning your sorrows in a bottle, I drowned my accolades in a bottle.

And were they ever grateful.

This summer, I intend to have plenty of Honest Tea sessions. I’ll keep bottles on hand for my husband while he’s mowing, my kids while they’re coming and going, and for me when I’m… well, when I’m awake.

Read more about Honest Tea on their hilarious website (just click the link). You’ll learn WHY Honest Teas are so pure and delicious. You’ll also read the remarkable nutrition and health benefits of Honest Teas. Their product is very, very well represented by their website and copy. Honest Tea’s quirky, fun, and fresh flavor is mirrored by what you read on the site. It’s actually one of the best jobs I’ve ever seen of a website capturing the essence of what it represents. Pure, honest, and delightful.

In the end, when all’s said and done, Honest Tea is the best policy.

Hot Spiced Tea Mix

If You Love Chai Tea, This is Your Cup of Tea

by Joi

Recipe for Hot Spiced Tea Mix

2 cups sugar
2 cups Tang
1/2 cup Instant Tea
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice (or clove)

Mix all of the ingredients well. Store in an airtight container to use as needed. When you’re ready to escape in an aromatic cup of spiced tea, add 2 teaspoons to a cup of boiling water.

Speaking of tea (and frankly, I’m almost always speaking of tea or coffee), check out a recent post on my daughter’s tea blog about an exciting line of 100% Natural drinks from Lipton.

Russell Hobbs Electric Tea Kettle

A Source of Complete Jubilation for Tea Lovers

by Joi

I just wrote a review of the Russell Hobbs Electric Tea Kettle on Crazy Tea Chick. Trust me, this is something no tea lover wants to exist another day without. This electric tea kettle would make the sweetest, coolest, most ingenious Mother’s Day gift in the world. If you’re remotely interested in one-upping your siblings, this baby’s your ticket to paradise.

Pleas head over to Russell Hobbs Electric Tea Kettle with Warming Tray and check out the post. While you’re there, I know you’ll want to read the other outstanding tea reviews and articles.

The beautiful, intelligent, charming, and witty young lady who IS The Crazy Tea Chick must have had a wonderful, equally intelligent, charming, beautiful, and witty mother. I mean, it just shows.

The tea chick’s name is Emily and, in full disclosure, I know her name because I gave it to her. My first born daughter didn’t fall far from tree. Caffeinated, check. Crazy, check. Sigh, I love her so.

Animal Tea Kettles

Giraffes, Ducks, and Roosters, Oh My!

by Joi

Whistling Tea Kettle – Rooster

I was browsing Amazon.com this morning – looking for Matcha green tea powder actually – when I got totally distracted by tea kettles. Two of my biggest obsessions in the world (tea and animals) ran smack into one another and it cost me almost as much time as it will money.

Sorry, honey.

There’s no question about it, I know I’ll have to have each one. The only decision left to be made is which one comes first? I actually collect pigs in my kitchen (not the real variety, my cat wouldn’t stand for it) – so I think the Rooster (shown above) may blend in the best.

For starters.