Tagged with tea

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.

Dry Leaves
Brewing

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. 

Changes in 2014 & Giveaways!

20142014 has been a busy year already and it is only going to get busier!

This year we are already have on the plate:

  • January – Getting our first mortgage & becoming homeowners
  • February – Moving in to our first home!
  • September – Celebrating our 10-year anniversary & getting married
  • October – Honeymoon to West Coast & Hawai’i
In addition to those items, I’d like to add a couple more to the list. Instead of making specific New Year’s resolutions, I’d like to make a change in lifestyle with the mantra “Active & Aware“. To me, this means:
  • Be aware of what is in my diet. Decrease meat intake and consume less processed foods. This will be a lot easier since I got a NINJA prep/blender for Christmas!
  • Actively “vote with my wallet”. Support local businesses more and be aware of what I’m spending money on. Quality over quantity. This applies to food, drink, clothes, and furniture.
  • Be aware of what I have in my life. Emotionally & Physically. Keep existing relationships active & appreciated (I’m horrible at keeping in touch with friends & relatives!). De-clutter. If I have something, use it. If I’m not going to use it, get rid of it.

To celebrate the new year, I’m having a double giveaway! I’ll give 1 prize to Facebook followers and 1 prize to blog comments.

Prize – Tea Lover

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Lots of different types of tea in loose leaf form or bags. If you prefer tea bags, a pack of empty tea bags are included as well. Teas include: Stash, Harney & Sons, Trader Joe’s, Twinnings, Numi, DavidsTea, and local company Spice & Tea Exchange.

Prize – Milk Chocolate Stash

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Godiva treats including milk chocolate covered pretzels, cocoa, graham crackers, and caramels.

Enter the giveaway below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Marmalade & Pistachio Tea Cake

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with K&K Test Kitchen. One of my favorite things about the site is the design since the colors are so well coordinated and it is appealing to the eye. I am a web designer by day, so thats one of the first things I noticed.

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This was another month where it was hard to choose just what recipe to make. I changed up my tactic this time and asked my fiancé to pick a recipe after I whittled it down to Healthy Spinach Dip, Artichoke Dip, Pistachio Marmalade Cake, or Cashew Chicken. Even though he picked spinach dip, I ended up making the cake. Next time I swear I’ll let him really choose!

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I figured this would be a great opportunity to use some of my various jams in the refrigerator, as well as my cute gingham mini bundt cake liners from World Market.  I did adapt this recipe to use what I had on hand, and it turned out no worse for it.

I had a lovely Japanese Quince jam gifted to me by my friend Stephanie that was just itching to be used in this. I have a problem when I get things that tast good. I actually don’t eat them. They’re so precious to me I always save them for later, but then they end up getting thrown away! I wasn’t going to let that happen to this jam, so I whipped 2 mini cakes up and sent her one as part of a care package.

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You can substitute the cider for any juice (orange juice is the original). I also substituted the cornmeal with almond meal, and replaced the orange marmalade with quince jam. I also mixed the pistachios with some chai sugar I picked up at Mitsuwa on a recent trip to New York to echo the cardamom in the mix.

The texture of the cake was a bit crumbly and the bottom was a little overdone (the middle wouldn’t cook all the way). I don’t think this is due to the substitutions since this same issue was noted on K&K Test Kitchen. In the future, I would recommend bumping the cooking temperature to 325 so that none of it overcooks.

Since the cake itself that was not adjacent to the topping was a bit bland, I would definitely add more jam next time so that the flavor is more pronounced.

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Secret Recipe Club