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Make Chai Tea Lattes at Home

June 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mixes

Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea

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.

Filed Under: Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Toddy Cold Brewing System: Coffee That’ll Make You Swoon

August 25, 2010 By 4 Comments

Toddy Coffee is Special Coffee

“(The Toddy) is the ultimate coffee maker.” -The Washington Post

If you’ve never used the Toddy T2N Cold Brew System for coffee, you have no idea what you’re missing. I’m not sure why this system makes incredible, outrageously flavorful coffee (I guess we’d need Alton Brown to explain it to us) but it does.

Truth be told, I don’t guess I care WHY Toddy’s so outstanding as much as I care how soon I can have my next cup.  Then the next, then the next, then the next…

I insist on trying out every coffee bean and every coffee-brewing system that comes down the pike before I recommend them on Get Cooking – so I force myself to consume untold amounts of coffee, but that’s okay, really, I don’t mind. As in AT ALL.

It’s how I roll, I call it my caffeine roll.

After I took a few drinks of my first cup of brewed “Toddy” coffee, all I could think was, “This is a perfect cup of coffee.” And I’ve thought the same thing with each subsequent cup. Perfect, with a coffee house boldness – yet smooth as a baby’s….well, you know.

From the website:

As important as those fresh roasted beans are to your cup of coffee, it’s what you do with them that counts the most.

In 1964, as a chemical engineering graduate of Cornell, Todd Simpson developed and patented a cold brew system that, using regular coffee beans, creates a superior-tasting cup of steaming HOT coffee. And, with 67% LESS ACID than coffee made by conventional hot brew methods, it’s easier on sensitive stomachs.

The Toddy coffee maker extracts the coffee bean’s true delicious flavor and eliminates much of the acidity, producing a bold, super-smooth coffee that can be served one cup at a time.

Toddy Cold Brewing System Features:

  • Designed to brew coffee with 67-percent less acid than coffee made with hot brew methods
  • Patented cold brew system uses regular coffee beans to create super smooth hot coffee, but with no electricity required
  • The Toddy Cold Brew System also makes tea, served hot or cold
  • Set includes brewing container with handle, glass decanter with lid, 2 reusable filters, 1 rubber stopper, set of instructions, and recipe guide
  • Get more out of your coffee beans, since the coffee concentrate stays fresh for up to 3 weeks

You can use your favorite coffee beans with the Toddy System and, as you just read… it makes fantastic tea as well.

You’ll want to slide on over to Amazon and order your very own Toddy T2N Cold Brew System right away. While you’re at it, you might want to grab one for the biggest coffee fiend on your Christmas list.

Filed Under: Christmas Shopping, Coffee, Coffee Reviews, Kitchen Gadget Reviews, Kitchen Gadgets, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Make Starbucks Drinks at Home

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Subscription Starbucks Coffee 1-L. Starbucks® Syrups Starbucks Raspberry Syrup with Pump

I’m a Starbucks fanatic and a green tea addict – so it’s only logical that  I’d be a Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino  fanaddict.   When the weather’s cold, I almost always go with Chai Tea Lattes, Skinny Caramel or Mocha Lattes, or hot tea – but when the weather begins to warm up, they know what I’m there for.

My youngest daughter, Stephany, and I are completely hooked on the Green Tea Frappuccinos made with whipped topping on top and drizzled with raspberry syrup.  Some people like the syrup mixed in with the green tea, itself – but it’s much prettier and much tastier if they just drizzle some on top.  We both threw ourselves into one yesterday while out enjoying every single digit of the 49 degrees.  That may not sound too warm, but it is when your weather’s been in the 20′s longer than my aunt was.  She outsmarts the rest of us.  She spends about 20 years in each decade.

While driving along slurpping, ooohing, and ahhhing, I thought how outstanding Starbucks Raspberry Syrup would be on smoothies, ice cream, pound cake, white cake with white icing, cool whip covering strawberries or hot green tea, my hand… This stuff is that good.

I jumped online and found that you can order some of your very own. In fact, you can order any of their remarkable syrups and get all kinds of remarkable in your kitchen. Think about the possibilities with each of these:

Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Syrup

Starbucks Caramel Syrup

Starbucks Hazelnut Syrup

Starbucks Vanilla Syrup

Click through any of the flavors listed for more information – there are also Sugar Free versions available. My mind just doesn’t spend much time with the words sugar free. Sometimes when I’m huffing and puffing on the treadmill I wish it did. But, there you have it.

I’d recommend each one of these perfect syrups for flavoring coffee and/or using in the seductive manners I described. Whatever you do, you MUST grab a bottle of the Starbucks Raspberry Syrup and a bottle of the Starbucks Caramel Syrup.

You can have a lot of success making Starbucks-like drinks at home, but having great coffee, great tea bags, and these flavored syrups are essential.  And delicious!

Filed Under: Beverages, Coffee, Coffee Reviews, Reviews, Table Talk, Tea, Tea Reviews

Matcha Green Tea Powder: Green Tea on Hyper Drive

July 14, 2009 By 6 Comments

matcha green tea powder


What is Matcha Powdered Green Tea?
Matcha is premium green tea powder from Japan used for drinking as tea or as an ingredient in recipes.  While other green teas are grown throughout the world, matcha is unique to Japan.  It is the heart of the Japanese way of tea and has been celebrated in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony for hundreds of years.  -  MatchaSource.com

I am, as I’m typing these words, enjoying an amazing Iced Green Tea Latte.  No, I haven’t been to Starbucks (not today, anyway).  I made this beautiful and delicious green drink at home using Matcha Green Tea powder from Matcha Source.  It’s the first time I’ve used Matcha, but it most certainly won’t be the last.

In preparing for this review, I actually brewed two hot Matcha Green Tea Lattes – one for myself and one for my daughter Emily – she LOVES hot tea but is proving to be a hard one to win over to green tea (don’t know where I went wrong with this girl).  I also made an Chilled Matcha Green Tea Latte because I’m addicted to Starbucks Green Tea fraps and have always wanted a way to capture the magic at home.

Emily didn’t know what I was brewing (literally) in the kitchen, so she didn’t know what to expect when I walked up behind her and handed her a hot mug with a little cool whip on top.  I’m forever making different types of hot chocolate, lattes, and teas in the kitchen – so her hopes were high.  When she saw the green color, though, her smile sort of straightened out and she said, “Oh, Lord.”  She knew her green tea loving mom was at it again.  My family just never knows what sort of herbal or green teas I’m going to come at them with next!

She took a drink and said, “Wow! That’s actually delicious.”  She then finished the entire cup before I could make it back into the kitchen to get back to mine!  I sat down at the table, trying to decide if I liked the iced or hot best and she brought me her cup to show off – she pointed out that she’d even “cleaned” the bottom where a few specks had remained.   And I hadn’t even sweetened the drinks at all!

One glass of matcha is the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea in terms of its nutritional value and antioxidant content.

I believe I might like the chilled Matcha Green Tea Latte a little better than the hot, but it’s almost too close to call.  Maybe it’s because it’s summer and ice cold drinks just seem so right.  I do know that I intend to keep Matcha Green Tea powder on hand from now on.

Matcha Green Tea Health Benefits:

  • Rich in Antioxidants: Antioxidants slow down the aging process and help the body to fend off diseases.  Matcha tea is actually higher in antioxidants than blueberries and spinach. Somebody had better tell Popeye! A testing method known as ORAC – short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity, evaluates the antioxidant levels found in food. According to research done by Tufts University, the ORAC capacity of matcha green tea is exponentially higher than other foods known for their high antioxidants levels such as blueberries and spinach.The ORAC rating of matcha is 1300 units/g, compared to 105 units/g for pomegranates and 91 units/g for wild blueberries.  If that’s not worth a WOW! – nothing is.
  • Contains Catechins Only Found in Green Tea: Catechins are a class of antioxidants that are found only in green tea.  What’s more, this class may be the most powerful of all antioxidants.  And of the catechins,  EGCg (epicgallocatechin gallate) is the catechin with broadest and most potent cancer-fighting properties.  Sixty percent of the catechin content of matcha tea is EGCg.  One gram of matcha contains 105 mg of total catechin content, or roughly 61% EGCg.
  • Naturally Mood Enhancing: I’m not sure what the properties or explanations are, but Green Tea simply makes you feel good, and since Matcha Green Tea is green tea on hyper drive, it makes you feel all kinds of good.
  • Zero on the Glycemic Index:  Will not raise insulin levels
  • Cleanses the Body of Toxins: Chlorophyll, the pigment which gives leaves their green color, helps to remove heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. Because matcha powdered tea is fully ingested when consumed, unlike tea leaves which are infused then discarded, and because matcha is shade grown, a process which increases the chlorophyll content in the leaves, matcha tea is a chlorophyll rich food.
  • Sugar-free and  High in Fiber: It also gives you more energy – which leads to more activity.   Green Tea is a dieter’s best friend!
  • Helps you relax: Matcha contains L-theanine, an amino acid known to relax the mind.

I can promise you this:  The Matcha Green Tea Latte and Chilled Matcha Green  Tea Latte are fantastic.  I can’t wait to try the Matcha Smoothie (below).

Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

  • 1/2 cup yogurt
  • 2 tbsp honey or sugar
  • 1 tsp ingredient grade matcha
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes

Blend ingredients together in electric blender.  Pour into a tall glass.  Experiment with adding berries, bananas and fruit juice.

For more recipes and to place an order for your own Matcha Green Tea Powder, visit their website.  Below are a few links that’ll serve you well!

Matcha Source – Green Tea Powder from Japan

New to Matcha Green Tea?

Recipe for Matcha Green Tea Latte

New Tastes in Green Tea (book)

Recipe for Matcha Ginger Green Tea (Yum!)

More recipes featuring Matcha Green Tea Powder, the surprise ingredient of the summer!  These recipes include Matcha Green Tea Ice cream, Matcha Buttercream Frosting (yes, please), Truffles, poached eggs, cookies and more.  My family is in for so much green goodness they might just develop a Kermit-like complexion.

Be sure to visit MatchaSource’s shop for Matcha utensils, bowls, teas, etc.

Matcha Buttercream FrostingMatcha Buttercream Frosting

Filed Under: Beverages, Health and Fitness, Reviews, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Fidalgo Bay Coffee – You Can Taste the Class

February 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Fidalgo Bay Coffee

There are certain things in this world that I consider myself to be an expert on: Raising daughters, cooking, Dean Koontz books, herbs, chocolate, polar bears, and coffee. Definitely coffee. The girl knows her coffee.

Whenever my husband (Michael) is near Murray, Kentucky, he stops for a cup of coffee at the Fidalgo Bay Coffee Shop. One morning, however, the cup proved too flimsy for the lid (or his “golf grip hand” was too strong) and coffee went all over him and his ipod. Not a completely happpy ending.

He mentioned it on his business blog. I believe it was more of a “Watch out for this type of thing before it happens to you” type of thing than a gripe fest.

Months later, he had actually forgotten about it. We had been back to the coffee shop quite a few times and always enjoyed their delicious coffee and friendly baristas.

A few weeks ago, however, Michael got an e-mail from someone with Fidalgo Bay. She told him that they had seen his post, were very sorry, and would like to send him something to make amends. She asked for his address, but he was thinking that everything was cool and that she didn’t need to send anything. THEN, the man that I love so dearly realized that she would probably be sending coffee and he coughed up our address.

I didn’t even have to hit him on the back.

I’m here to tell you that when Fidalgo Bay makes amends, they make amends. In addition to two gorgeous travel mugs featuring their beautiful logo, they sent:

  • 12 oz. bag of Organic French Roast Whole Beans
  • 12 oz. bag of Daybreak Blend Whole Beans (What I’m drinking at the moment!)
  • 12 oz. bag of Organic Cafe’ Selvanica Whole Beans
  • 12 oz. bag of Sunset French Whole Beans
  • Box of Numi Breakfast Blend Organic Full Leaf Tea Bags
  • Box of Numi Gunpowder Green Organic Green Tea Bags

It was Christmas in January!

My oldest daughter and I are huge fans of the Fidalgo Bay Breakfast Blend tea (a black tea with a personality so strong he can substitute for a cup of coffee at a moment’s notice).  The caffeine is higher in this tea, so when we do grab a cup of Breakfast Blend instead of coffee, our body doesn’t seem to realize the switch.  It’s brilliantly convenient when we simply don’t want to make a whole pot of coffee.

I’m equally thrilled with the Numi Gunpowder Green Tea. I’m already a huge fan of green tea, but I’ve had trouble getting my husband to drink it.  Whenever I offer some to him, he just crinkles his nose and makes a face like I just offered him pickled squid.  But get this:  He tried the Gunpowder Green tea and now even requests a cup of this green tea!  It does have a extra special taste and can win anyone over to team Green.

Speaking of green, I LOVE that these teas, as well as many of Fidalgo Bay’s coffees are organic.  Just what does that mean, you may ask?  I’ll let the words on the bag of  Organic French Roast explain:

Beans are allowed to ripen slowly under a canopy of shade trees, which provide a natural habitat for animals and migratory birds.  No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used.  Each harvest is hand-picked and sundried in the open air to preserve the natural character and earthy flavors of these special coffees.  Even the pulp residue reproduced during the drying and milling process is composted and recycled into organic fertilizer for future plantings.

This is a costly process.  That’s why we pay a premium to farmers who are dedicated to preserving these high quality, socially responsible farming traditions.  It’s a commitment you’ll savor with every cup of our Nature’s Crest organic coffees.

Fidalgo Bay Daybreak Blend Coffee Everyone’s a winner – the farmer’s, the farmer’s families, the coffee drinkers, and Fidalgo Bay, of course, who secures some AMAZING coffee and a stellar reputation.

Fidalgo Bay coffees are very, very special. They have a spirited personality, an intoxicating aroma, and a remarkably delicious flavor.  I just ground the last of the Daybreak Blend this morning.  Fidalgo Bay Daybreak Blend has a fresh, rich, nutty flavor. It’s easily one of my favorite coffees I’ve ever enjoyed.

I also love the Fidalgo bay Sunset French Coffee.   It’s a bold, rich, coffee with a strong sense of itself.   Before I brewed a pot of this beautiful coffee, I read on the bag that it had a “Smokey Finish.”   A million question marks marched around my head  – A smokey finish..what??? After I tasted my first sip, though, the question marks turned into exclamation marks and they stopped marching and started dancing.  There is a delightfully delicious smokey finish and it’s one you and your own dancing exclamation marks would have to experience for yourself.

Actually, you’ll want to experience all of Fidalgo Bay’s coffees because, I can honestly tell you they don’t seem capable of making a disappointing or even average coffee.  I only wish they were available in grocery stores!   However, they do have a website, which means you can buy online – and we all know how easy that is.

Visit Fidalgo Bay Coffee today and order a couple of bags of their rich, delicious coffee.  Then watch for your delivery and prepare to be blown away.  You don’t drink Fidalgo Bay Coffee, you experience it.

Filed Under: Coffee, Coffee Reviews, Introduction, Reviews, Table Talk, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Gorgeous Starbucks Global Mugs Would Make a Great Collection

January 18, 2009 By 2 Comments

Nobody loves Starbucks like I love Starbucks – I’m totally comfortable with that claim. Not only do I frequent each of the three Starbucks in Owensboro (I like to spread the love), my kitchen echoes my sentiments. You can always find several bags of Starbucks coffee beans on the counter, Starbucks mugs in the cabinets, tumblers, and (of course) the full or half full coffee, tea, or latte that I’ve recently snagged.

I just found these gorgeous mugs online, at the Starbucks website – yes, I even stalk them online. It occurs to me that they’d make a great collection, so.. um, yeah… I’m going with that idea. Click through to see the rest of the gorgeous mugs they have. Starbucks is the reason, you know, that drinking coffee is so vogue, classy, and even sexy.


Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. NY Global Series Mug
Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. NY Global Series Mug

Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Chicago Global Series Mug
Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Chicago Global Series Mug

Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. San Francisco Global Series Mug

Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. San Francisco Global Series Mug

Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Hawaii Global Series Mug
Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Hawaii Global Series Mug

Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Seattle Global Series Mug
Starbucks Coffees 12-oz. Seattle Global Series Mug

Filed Under: Coffee, Coffee Reviews, Dishes, Kitchen Decor, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Starbucks London Fog Latte and Apple Chai Tea are Darn Good

January 2, 2009 By 12 Comments

Back to back Starbucks posts? A new personal best.

The husband and I went to Owensboro’s main Starbucks tonight to see if they had the new teas yet. They did – they’re just marvelous like that. I tried the London Fog because if they’re clever enough to come up with such a great name, I’m game. The London Fog is a Latte that uses Earl Grey tea as the main ingredient. It’s like a Chai Tea Latte, but at the last minute Earl Grey substitutes for the Chai. I love Earl Grey tea dearly, so I loved the London Fog dearly. It’s really, really good.

My husband got the Apple Chai tea and it was fantastic, too. It tasted like a cross between Starbucks’ Apple Cider (which is Heavenly) and Chai Tea (also Heavenly). Both drinks were as good as I’d hoped they’d be.

Filed Under: Coffee, Coffee Reviews, Reviews, Table Talk, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: ,

Starbucks Turns Over a Couple of New Tea Leafs

December 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Starbucks Logo Starbucks is doing their part to help all of us keep those healthy New Year’s Resolutions. Tuesday, they announced that they’ll offer three new tea-based lattes and two nondairy tea drinks on Saturday as part of a campaign for giving customers healthier choices.

All but one of the new drinks is less than 200 calories for a “tall” drink (12 oz). The new varieties include the Black Tea Latte, the Vanilla Rooibos Latte and the London Fog latte. These will join the Chai Tea Latte, which I enjoy several times a week – including last night!

Starbucks will also launch new Tazo Tea Infusions – nondairy drinks made with Tazo black chai tea and fruit juice. One will be a Berry Chai Infusion, made with berry and black currant juices, and the other will be an Apple Chai Infusion, made with apple juice.

“The same way we transformed American coffee culture, we want to deliver an exceptional tea experience for customers with our new Tazo Tea Lattes and Tea Infusions,” said Michelle Gass, executive vice president of marketing and category, said in a statement.

Thisi is another delicious effort that Starbucks is making to give its customers healthier options. They’ve already introduced more whole-grain, low fat breakfast offerings, including an instant oatmeal that has been hugely popular…. and Heavenly!

Filed Under: Beverages, Coffee, Tea, Tea Reviews Tagged With: ,
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