Posted by nicole

Fleur de Sel Caramels

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I finally got to knock something off of my bucket list! My fiancé and I have been wanting to make caramels for a while, especially after we used our candy thermometor to make some crunchy toffee this past winter.

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had the delight of perusing Lynsey’s site, Lynsey Lou’s. I had several recipes I wanted to try out from this southern gal’s recipe index before I spotted the caramels: Blueberry  Lemon Cupcakes with Pomegranate Frosting, Cheez-it Crusted Chicken, Homemade Marshmallow Creme, Brown Butter Caramel Cookies, and  Garam Masala Muffins.

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These caramels, by way of Barefoot Contessa, really hit the spot. I am quite picky about the texture of my caramels and like them on the soft side, but not too runny so that they get all over your face. I would bring these to room temperature before eating, lest you crack a tooth! Next time I might try cooking them a little less so that sugar doesn’t harden up quite so much, as well as experimenting with some flavors.

If you’re feeling up for it, you can dip some of the caramels in chocolate. It was messy, but well worth it (hence the lack of photos).

Check out the other Secret Recipe Clubbers below, or head on over to Lynsey Lou’s.

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Absinthe Suissesse

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One of my new favorite drinks, and a go-to when starting the evening, is the Absinthe Suissese. It’s only fitting since it is a classic New Orleans recipe and I was born in Louisiana. The interesting thing is that I actually discovered this drink in a local Washington, D.C. bar that had undergone a renovation and menu revamp, Firefly through an article on Serious Eats.

Since the Absinthe Suissesse is off the menu at Firefly, the bartender knew that I had read the Serious Eats article when I asked for it.

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The Absinthe Suissesse is a classic New Orleans recipe involving absinthe, anise, orange flower water, and an egg white. Harris relished the opportunity to demonstrate his egg cracking ability and remarks that it’s great with breakfast or brunch.

The Absinthe Suissesse—loosely based on the Suissesse Cocktail in Stanley Clisby Arthur’s Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em from 1937—was widely available in 19th-century New Orleans saloons. It is a classic New Orleans brunch cocktail (my kind of city!) that is creamy but light with notes of anise and almond.

The way we make it is even lighter because we swap out the dairy with almond milk. This ups the almond flavor and goes well with a dusting of nutmeg on top.

Black Tea Banana Bread

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had the pleasure of being assigned Ros’ blog, The More Than Occasional Baker. Now, this is my kind of blog! I have a major sweet tooth and prefer baking over cooking. Unfortunately, this made it extremely difficult to choose which recipe I wanted to make since everything looked good to me.

I was choosing between Pineapple Tarts, Earl Grey Tea Cookies, Bananas Foster Crepe Cake, Ginger & Chocolate Oat Cookies, Pistachio, Yogurt, and Elderflower Cake, No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites, Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows, Madelines, White Chocolate & Macadamia Cookies, and Earl Grey Tea Banana Bread.

In the end, I went with whatever recipe I had the most ingredients for. I didn’t have any more Earl Grey tea on hand since we used it all up making Lavender Earl Grey Truffles for Christmas a while ago, but thankfully my friend Stephanie had just gifted me with a whole box of Thai Black Tea that I swapped in.

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To continue the Thai-tea theme, I drizzled some thinned out condensed milk on top. The cake was quite dense, which I think was a result of the containers I baked them in (I had this issue with some zucchini bread I baked in these containers) as well as the fact that I just mashed the bananas instead of mushing them to a pulp and substituted yogurt for the sour cream. I also used some of the wet tea leaves to use in the bread itself since I liked the color and texture contrast.

Check out the other Secret Recipe Clubbers below, or head on over to The More Than Occasional Baker to see what she’s whipped up recently!

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NYC Coffee & Tea Festival 2014

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This past weekend I went to the New York City Coffee & Tea Festival with my friend Stephanie. We were given press passes from Starfish Junction Productions and booked our transportation.

Fellow tea-lover Stephanie was travelling over 8 hours from Pittsburgh (and I was 5 hours from DC), so I was worried that the festival would be a waste of time or lame. We weren’t able to make the VIP session on Saturday (due to travelling), but we got there around noon Sunday and we were so happy with the festival!

I think it would have been even better if we made the VIP session since my only complaints were: too crowded at times and more food needed.

Tea tasting at Yezi Tea

One of my favorite things about the festival was learning about new teas, tea companies, and meeting the people behind the teas. A great example of this was Yezi Tea. After walking through aisles for a while and snacking on a crepe, we happily plopped down on two stools in front of this booth and watched them prepare their teas in traditional Chinese style. We paged through their impressive booklet of what teas they have and sampled around 10 different teas and learned about their company and different teas.

Yezi Tea - Long Jing, Da Yu Ling, Jin Xuan

Unfortunately, we fell in love with almost all of their teas. Stephanie & I have a soft spot for Taiwanese tea and I especially love oolongs because they’re so nostalgic for me.

Together we got: Da Yu Ling Oolong, Jin Xuan Oolong (Milk Oolong), Tie Guan Yin High Grade (Goddess of Mercy) Oolong, Wen Shan Pouchong Oolong, Gao Shan (High Mountain) Black, Long Jing High Grade (Dragonwell) Green, and Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Pearl) Green.

Another company that really connected with us was Ajiri Tea. It was one of the first companies we visited and we were drawn in by the packaging.
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Ajiri Black Tea with Ginger

Here is some more information:

Women in the Kisii region of Kenya design and handcraft each label using dried bark from banana trees. […] Each label is unique, and often features a scene from day-to-day life. Inside of each box of tea is a twine made from banana tree bark and decorated with bright paper beads. The women hand cut, roll, and lacquer long, triangular strips of colored magazine paper to make the beads, and twist dried banana bark to make the twine.

In Kenya, it is especially difficult for women to find employment. […] Currently, five different women’s groups, totaling over 60 women, are creating artwork for the Ajiri Tea Company.

After hand-picking our favorite labels for coffee, I also picked up some Kenyan Black Tea with Ginger. Once I found out the profits went to educating orphans in Kenya, I felt even better about my purchases.

Jeni’s Tea – Buddha’s Palm

Before we went to Yezi, we stopped by Jeni’s Tea. They had put their loose leaf tea into wine glasses for smelling purposes, which I thought was a great idea. They also had a lil’ old Taiwanese Grandpa in the corner measuring out teas with a scale, which was endearing (and cute!). We tasted some of their teas (Stephanie got some Gao Shan Mountain Tea and Bao Zhong I believe), and I zeroed in on a nice, red oolong named “Buddha’s Palm”. Their packaging was very beautiful, though the tea was a bit expensive. I also thought it was a bit odd that their logo didn’t match the aesthetic of their packaging or the elegance of their tea, and since they don’t have a website, it is nearly impossible to find out more about their teas.

Chai Diaries – Kashmiri Green Chai & Chocolate Kisses
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Chai Diaries – Press Package

Though we met with them at the tail end of the festival, I really enjoyed learning about Chai Diaries. I talked with the owner about their teas, Ami, and loved the flavorful and strongly scented teas. I picked up some Passionfruit Oolong, Kashmiri Green Chai, and Chocolate Kisses. I was given some teas to sample, including Blood Orange, Assam, Darjeeling Second Flush, Dragonwell, Jasmine Green, and Masala Chai. I was drawn by the youthful, colorful packaging, as well as the owner/founder’s passion for her tea.

Joseph Wesley – Press Package

I was instantly drawn to Joseph Wesley’s tea. We swarmed to the booth like moths to a flame. The packaging is simple, colorful, elegant, and modern. We both enjoyed meeting and talking to Joseph and learning about his teas. Stephanie picked up some Lapsang Souchong and I received a few samples, including: Dian Hong Congfu, Bai Lin Congfu, and Lapsang Souchong. I tried a little bit of the Bai Lin Congfu (#6) today and it was a very pleasant cup of tea!

A&D Damn Fine Tea – Chinese New Year & Caravan Blends

What really surprised me is that so many of the teas were close to me! Damn Fine Tea (pictured above) was a pleasure to talk to and they’re actually located in Maryland. Stephanie & I both were drawn to their friendliness as well as their great artistic packaging. I had to grab the limited edition Chinese New Year Yunnan Gold Tips tin, as well as the smoky smooth Caravan smoked tea. Stephanie nabbed the Mount Gray which I fully intend on pilfering from. The whole vibe of their stand reminded me of a Wes Anderson film in a quirky and artistic way.

In addition to Damn Fine Tea, Capital Teas (Maryland/DC/Virginia), and Sahpat Teas (Maryland) were also representing the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

Fashionista Tea Tasting
Fashionista Tea – Press Package
Sahpat Teas – Toasted Almond & Fruity Sangria
Zenzeu – Pina Colada Green, Champagne Blanc, Chai Wedding
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Samples
Chai Mookie Chai Blends
Moon River Baked Goods
Hernan Mexican Hot Chocolate

I met some great companies and tasted some amazing teas and coffees while I was at the festival. I do wish there were some more food options (other than a $10 crepe), since tasting all the teas and coffees can lead to some caffeine jitters. While it was a bit over-crowded at some points, I really enjoyed myself in the afternoon once the crowd had cleared.

Gift Bag

If we would have got there earlier or went both days, we might have been able to attend some of the informative seminars or workshops. But, maybe it’s for the best because then we would have spent more money and not been able to explore New York on the other days.

Regardless, Stephanie & I both enjoyed dumping our loot out onto the floor and seeing each other’s piles. We then, in a post-trick-or-treating Halloween-style, proceeded to swap and barter with each other.

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The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company: Lychee Burst & Jasmine Passion

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One of the great things about the Steepster community is not only keeping tracking of the teas I have in my cupboard but also finding out about new teas and tea companies.

One of the new companies I’ve discovered is The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company. From the name I thought they would only have a few teas based from dried persimmons, but they are a full-grown company that has many teas!
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About The Persimmon Tree®

The Persimmon Tree®, whose mission is to “enrich people’s lives through the pleasure of tea” (a motto I can get on board with) is a little different than most other tea companies I’ve encountered.

Their teas are “hand-blended and organically grown”, but some are also fair trade which makes me feel even better while sipping on them. They also have an emphasis on the health benefits of tea, as well on the sustainability of the tea process because their “passion is to instigate and experience positive change through the simple things.”

You can head on over to their Facebook or website to learn more about them, or browse their teas.

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Lychee Burst Tea

I don’t usually reach for lychee teas because they can be too astringent. This one is just right. It’s pleasantly juicy and fruity without tasting artificial orfloral. It is clean and the two stars (lychee and black tea) really shine through.

I would highly recommend this tea for those that have been burned by off-putting lychee flavored teas. I can’t find anything wrong with this tea and I enjoy drinking it. I love when teas that smell good have a matching taste, which this does.

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Jasmine Passion Tea

This tea is more floral and delicate than the lychee burst. The first taste and smell is the green tea and jasmine. The end of the sip is sweet from the passion fruit. I could see this getting a little astringent if overbrewed, but I brewed it just right & it tastes well balanced.

Dry Leaves
Wet Leaves & Brewed Tea

Disclaimer: I was given these teas by The Persimmon Tree to review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.