Tea Heroes 2012 – the results!

A few weeks ago we asked you to help us choose the Tea Heroes of 2012! First of all, we want to thank you all for your responses. We’ve already contacted the winner of a Tea Discovery tea taster set, so congratulations! Now it’s time to share the results! Hopefully this will help you discover a new tea -or maybe confirm that you were right about your favourites!

OPULENT BLACK ………………….. Spice Chai (32.4%)

Beating Bristol Brew by just one vote, the invigorating and comforting Spice Chai gets to the top of your trusted black teas!

INTRIGUING OOLONG …………… Orchid (36.1%)

This oolong is so stunning that even thieves love it! Our whole consignment of Orchid was stolen and we’re currently trying to source an alternative! True story. Too much Orchid love.

GALVANISING GREEN …………. Matcha (28.6%)

The mighty Matcha gets your vote, followed closely by Green Jasmine. Once you try Matcha there’s no turning back!

ALLURING WHITE …………….. White Peony (30.6%)

This seemed to be a difficult choice! White Peony, Snow Jewel and White Whisper got nearly the same number of votes.

HERBAL THERAPY…………….. Peppermint (28.6%)

The trusted English favourite beats the exotic Mulberry by just one vote!

 

Do you agree with the results?

Poached peaches in a vanilla and Orchid syrup

We adore the sweet flavour of juicy, ripe peaches. Rich in beta-carotene and potassium, in Chinese medicine they’re associated with longevity. Poaching them concentrates their heavenly flavour and gives them a silky consistency, all enhanced by this glorious syrup with hints of vanilla and the stunning flavour of Orchid. If you’re not familiar with it, Orchid is a Chinese oolong with the scent of orange blossoms, apricots and orchids. We love it on its own, and it makes a delicate, fruity cold infusion, but it’s perfect with these poached peaches!

Silky, glossy and delicious! 

Ingredients

• 4 flat peaches
• 300ml Lahloo Orchid
• 1 split vanilla pod
• 225g caster sugar

Add the sugar and vanilla to the tea in a small pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve. Place the peaches in the pan, cover and simmer over a low heat for 5-8 minutes, or until tender, turning them once halfway through. Allow to cool and remove the skins from the peaches. Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream for a decadent desert!

Amber Welsh Rarebit

There’s cheese on toast and then there’s Welsh Rarebit. It might be a simple dish, but we think it’s one of life’s little pleasures. Its lusciousness comes from different fronts. The warm, crispy bread! The creamy, intensely flavoured topping! When served with a green salad and some tomato jam or onion marmalade, it’s a meal in itself -and it’s perfect with a pot of strong black tea.

We wanted to experiment with this traditional recipe. So we asked ourselves, what if we added our lightly charcoal roasted Amber oolong to the “rarebit”? Laura and her team worked on it and came up with this delicious variation on the classic, where the Guinness is replaced by Amber. The result? We all loved it. In fact, we all said ‘umm’ for several minutes. Interestingly, we weren’t able to appreciate the full flavour of this oolong, but we all agreed that its sumptuous notes created a depth of flavour, a savouriness that made this a comforting, more complex than you’d expect dish.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices sourdough bread
• 350g cheddar
• 60g butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 2tsps English mustard powder
• 6tbsps Lahloo Amber oolong (already infused)
• Worcestershire sauce to taste

Mix the mustard with a teaspoon or two of tea to create a paste, put it in a pan, then add the butter, the rest of the tea and the Worcestershire sauce. Add the cheese and let it melt, without making it boil. Allow to cool down and then add the beaten egg yolks.

Meanwhile, place the sliced bread in the oven for 2-3 minutes until toasted.

Spread the rarebit on top and bake for 8 minutes at 190C.

Our tip: to intensify the flavour, you can add one extra teaspoon of Amber leaves.

Original recipe from World of Mouth blog here.

Amber mojitos

Do you love mojitos? We do! And we knew there was a way of making them even better: adding our favourite ingredient (that’s tea, in case you were wondering!). The chosen one was Amber, our very chocolatey oolong from Taiwan, the one that coffee lovers adore. Its sumptuosity, light smokiness and those hints of passionfruit simply had to work in this traditional Cuban highball.

Invaluable help was provided by expert cocktail maker Charlie from Amoeba (neighbours of Lahloo Pantry in Clifton!), who incidentally hates tea… we still have to find the tea that will convert him! Crucially, though, at the end of our experiment, Charlie admitted that the combination really worked. And we couldn’t agree more! So here’s our recipe for you to try.

Ingredients

• 50ml rum
• 25ml freshly-squeezed lime juice
• 20ml demerara simple syrup (made with sugar and hot water)
• 12 mint leaves (clapped, not cut. Clapping will release mint oils without adding any bitterness. We, of course, didn’t know this, but it’s the most impressive piece of advice we received from Charlie!)
• 75ml cold infused Amber oolong. (1 teaspoon per 100ml water, cold infused for at least 6 hours).
• Crushed ice to taste.

Charlie’s tip: try freezing Amber once cold infused (extracting the tea leaves first!). Once frozen, smash it and use it as crushed ice to top your mojito!

Charlie is not too sure about adding tea to his mojitos…  

…but it works! Holly is loving it! 

Perfect! 

Old Tea Favourite: New Tea Twist. Challenge No. 2 Results

Old Tea Favourite: New Tea Twist. Did we manage to coax our volunteers out of their ‘tea-rut’?

Can they now confidently navigate their way through the exciting world of tea? Are they embracing change? Are they crying out for more delicious and new teas to discover?

You’ve guessed it! Of course they were! Read about our volunteers’ experiences here…

A) Georgia:

Self Confessed:  Breakfast tea and occasional herbal tea to make me feel virtuous! (usually when ‘over indulged’ aka: hung over!!)

Pre-Challenge: I drink loose leaf, but I mainly stick with the familiar as I have a ‘fear of failure’ which puts me off experimenting. I find temperature/infusion times a little daunting.

Experience: A lovely tea tasting experiment, thank you! Will definitely continue drinking the Dragon Pearls. I loved the tea…….mmmmmmmmmmmmm! Found the pearls ‘delicate and more-ish’ (didn’t know ‘posh’ tea could be). I could drink gallons of the stuff!

Also, I thought the English Peppermint was ‘Yowzah’! with a great minty taste and aroma. I like! I will continue with the English Peppermint.

☺

B) Ian:

Self Confessed: Have been drinking tea most of my life, and being of Yorkshire origin a ‘good brew’ is like my bread and butter (of which I have none being a vegan).

Pre-Challenge: Mixture of bagged teas-herbal/fruit and loose peppermint, fennel, rooibosh and chamomile.

Experience: The Lahloo Japanese green tea was a welcome change! Re-use the leaves several times and it tastes very natural/organic with a deep, fresh ‘after-taste’.  The spinach of the tea world – and I love spinach!

Confession: I had a Twinning’s green tea (which I had previously) but wasn’t impressed with the “staleness” compared to your green tea.

Good hint: Make sure you use the correct temperature of water, around 70C (cooled for 3 mins after boiling) for green tea rather than 20 seconds of tea bag dunking!!!

☺

C) Dan:

Pre-Challenge: An ex ‘coffee caffeine head’ who has turned to the green and herbal tea world to keep me on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, I’ve not found anything that gives me the kick I need to keep me going and give me focus. Nothing quite gets me in the zone. I miss the ‘buzz’ of coffee caffeine to get my head ‘wide awake’ but I don’t like the edgy feeling it give me physically. The caffeine jitters!

Experience: I tried Guricha green tea. It’s perfect. Tastes MAZERS! Perfect for mentally getting him going but physically keeping him nice and chilled. Really good balance of flavour. I love the taste. It reminds me of spring and freshly mown lawns. It’s lovely with a smooth, creamy texture and a calming, grounding effect. It made me want to do yoga”.

☺

D) Emily

Pre-Challenge: I’m not normally that adventurous when it comes to tea. When it comes to loose leaf tea, I’m even more unimaginative. I normally choose plain black or green tea, or add fresh mint leaves to boiling water.

Experience: When I make myself a cup of tea, it’s because I want something refreshing to drink – I’m not a big fan of plain water! Lahloo’s Orchid oolong loose leaf tea definitely hit the spot in this respect. It’s an amazingly fragrant, floral tea – but not overpowering, with a natural sweetness that I’m not used to from the teas that I normally drink.

Result: The tea won a gold Great Taste Award in 2010, and it’s easy to see why – it’s not only delicious and refreshing, but looks stunning too…now I just need to decide which one to try next!

☺

Watch out for the next opportunity to get involved in one of tea challenges…

Delicious nibbly tea time treats!

Picture courtesy of Design*Sponge

I love the Design*Sponge blog! It’s packed full of gorgeous things to make, do and eat! The recipes are really simple and they have absolutely beautiful photography. It makes me want to spend the whole day baking! You can almost smell the warm chocolatey mixture baking in the oven, can’t you! You can’t beat a tasty little moreish treat with a cup of Lahloo Tea! And these Chocolate and Spice Biscotti are just the biscuit! Find the recipe right here >

(ps a few months ago a recipe using our very own Assam Chai was featured on this stunning blog! Take a closer look here > )

Have fun!

Enjoy seasonal food: teatime apple and pear cake

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found in Marie Claire ‘Fresh’ by Michele Cranston. It’s the perfect seasonal cake for those in-between meal times – elevenses and afternoon tea!  Easy, quick to make, tasty and perfect with warming black and oolong teas. Put the kettle on!

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 50g ground cashews
• 3 free range eggs
• 125ml organic milk
• 400g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, sliced
• 250g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons ground chai tea leaves
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 pears, cored and sliced
• 3 apples, cored and sliced
• icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180c (350f / gas 4). Using 1 tablespoon butter, grease a 20cm round springform cake tin and sprinkle with half the cashew nuts to coat the tin.

Put eggs, milk,sugar,ginger, flour, chai tea and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and blend to make a thick batter.

Fold the pears and apples into the batter carefully and spoon into the cake tin. Sprinkle with remaining cashew nuts and dot with remaining butter.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, remove and cool. Put the kettle on, put tea leaves into the pot, brew the tea then pour into your favourite cup or mug. Sprinkle cake with icing sugar, slice a wedge and serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt. Now sit, relax and enjoy!

The fabulous Walnut Tree Restaurant is now serving Lahloo Tea…..

I feel very lucky that I have been treated to lunch at The Walnut Tree restaurant in the gorgeous countryside just on the edge of the Black Mountains near Abergavenny. If you haven’t had the chance to eat at The Walnut Tree, then I hope you have plans to do so as soon as humanly possible! Don’t worry if you live further than we do (about an hours drive from Bristol), they have lovely accommodation so you can sample the fantastic wine list as well as the food. Or maybe head to the fabulous Abergavenny Food Festival and make a trip to taste Shaun’s food (just remember to book).

The Walnut Tree has been a famous inn and restaurant since it began in the early 1960’s. It is now run as a joint venture between Shaun Hill (see above) and William Griffiths. The Walnut Tree offers proper dining and drinking in an informal setting. Join them for a glass of good wine and a plate of something delicious or sit and savour a full lunch or dinner in the welcoming inn.

The menu is an eclectic mix, based on Shaun’s personal taste and sound cooking techniques, rather than any particular country’s cuisine.  Shaun and his team have this year earned a coveted Michelin star in recognition of the food being served and the team serving it. Well done!

When I first contacted Shaun to introduce him to Lahloo Tea and to see if he would like to serve our tea at The Walnut Tree, I did so with some trepidation. You see I knew that Shaun also oversees the long-established restaurants at Fortnum & Mason. Especially, St James’ Restaurant where he oversees the tea menu. He really knows – and loves – his tea! He really appreciates the difference between a Golden Assam and a high mountain Second Flush Darjeeling.

I needn’t have worried. After our initial chat over a lovely cup of Jungpana Darjeeling over a year ago, Shaun enjoyed Lahloo Tea so much so, that he asked me to keep in touch. So I did! And now I’m happy to say that you’ll now be able to sip a delicious cup of tea after your meal at The Walnut Tree.

Together with Shaun we have created a delicious tea list from around the world. Choose from a pot of light and fragrant Darjeeling Second Flush from high in the Indian Himalayas, the wonderfully refreshing and digestive Orchid oolong from the Phoenix Mountains in China (superb with his sensational chocolate puddings) or a cleansing cup of Japanese green tea. Whatever you choose, it will be delicious. So when you go back or visit for the first time, sit back relax and enjoy the food lovingly prepared by Shaun and the team. Just don’t forget to ask for a special cup of tea to follow…

I bet you didn’t know that tea…

…comes from the same plant!

Tasting real tea for the first time is often compared to discovering the complex world of wine. Amazingly, all tea is made from the same plant (camellia sinensis) whether it’s black, oolong, green or white.

Like wine, cheese and whisky, tea‘s unique characteristics are influenced by the ‘terroir’ – where it’s from, what the soil is like, how high the land is and what the weather conditions are, not to mention who produced it.

Revitalising, invigorating, calming, restoring, uplifting and simply delicious, the tea sourced by Lahloo is a completely different experience to the mass-produced tea made in huge factories purely for profit rather than quality.

Lahloo teas are all about taste and provenance and they will take you on an exciting journey through your senses. Whether it’s for your morning cuppa or for tea-based cocktails, Lahloo has a tea for every occasion, every taste and every pocket.

…and it is really healthy!

You’ll find all these in a cup of tea:

Flavonoids or anti-oxidants

♥        are found in all teas but the highest concentration is found in green and white tea

♥        help fight infection as well as keeping wrinkles at bay by neutralizing free radicals.

♥        called Catechins are the most powerful; they provide protection when cancer radiation treatment is used.

♥        called Polyphenols have antiviral, anticancer and antioxidant properties

Natural Fluoride (not to be confused with chemical fluoride)

♥        is found mostly in green and white tea

♥        prevents the formation of plaque on the teeth, which in turn helps to control dental disease.

Caffeine

♥        is found in all tea. Green and white tea are dramatically lower in caffeine than black tea which still only contains about half as much caffeine as coffee.

♥        in tea does not over-stimulate the nervous system, as with coffee, but gives a light refreshing lift

Vitamins

♥        high levels of soluble Vitamin C and has been shown to help with Vitamin C absorption.

♥        Thiamine B1, Riboflavin B2, Pantothenic Acid, A/B Vitamin compound and Niacin.

♥        Vitamin A and E

Minerals

♥        Iron, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Potassium and Sodium.

Now you know! Enjoy every little healthy sip and take time to enjoy the good stuff.

Bath celebrates cafe culture

So, the UK’s first coffee festival will be held in Bath on May 15th and 16th 2010 and we are taking Lahloo Tea along. You see in our eyes, if you appreciate a really good espresso, and I mean a really good espresso, then you can enjoy a cracking cup of tea too! You wouldn’t settle for a dusty insipid cup of coffee would you, so why are most people happy to sip a dusty brew? It’s about time people expected the same from their tea leaves as they do from their coffee beans and we are going to be there to help you.

Do you know anything about tea? Is it a world of unknowns? Don’t be scared, we’ll take you on a journey of discovery and help you find your cup of tea! We’ll help you fathom out the difference between green and white tea and black and oolong tea. We’ll be on hand to help you whether you want to swap your regular old brew for our reviving Lahloo Breakfast tea or you want to find something more unique. Maybe the delicate and fresh taste of Rosey white tea could tickle your taste buds! That’s the great thing about tea, each one is so different so you can find just what you’re looking for. Intrigued aren’t you?

It’s going to be a brilliant 2 day celebration of all things cafe culture and we’re really looking forward to introducing more people to the fabulous tastes and aromas of loose leaf tea. They’ll be loads going on including expert barista sessions, roasting master classes, latte art demonstrations, as well as educational talks, films about coffee and music from the coffee growing regions. So come along and say ‘Hello’ over a cup of tea and find out just how good tea should taste.