A good choice: Snapple shows the milligrams
of tea polyphenols on its bottle labels. They
are equivalent to a cup of home-brewed tea.
Photo courtesy Snapple.

Yet a new study has found that the majority of bottled teas bought at the supermarket contain far lower levels of tea polyphenols (the specific antioxidants) than tea that is brewed at home.

In fact, says the study, some bottled tea brands contain such small amounts of polyphenols that one would have to drink 20 bottles to get an amount equal to the polyphenols found in one cup of home-brewed tea. (Learn more about polyphenols in our Antioxidant Glossary.)

The statement was released on Sunday at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The study was conducted by researchers Shiming Li and Chi-Tang Ho of WellGen, Inc., a biotechnology company in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The brands were not identified in the statement, but publication of the full study is anticipated.

The six teas analyzed contained 81, 43, 40, 13, 4, and 3 milligrams of polyphenols per 16-ounce bottle. One average cup of home-brewed green or black tea contains 50-150 milligrams of polyphenols. The teas below that threshhold contain amounts so small, the researchers say, that they likely offer little or no health benefits.

Li added that consumers buying commercially bottled teas may actually be spending money on substances detrimental to health, including sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Will this lead to consumer demand that the polyphenols be printed on the nutrition labels? We hope so! Snapple justifies its claim, “Made from the best stuff on earth,” by displaying the polyphenol count on each bottle. Most of its teas have more than 50 mg per serving, and quite a few have 71 mg—nicely into the range of home-brewed tea.

After water, tea is the world’s most highly-consumed beverage.

• Read the full story. 

• Melt a pint (2 cups) of ice cream at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
• Stir in 2 ounces (jiggers) of bourbon.
• Serve cold, at room temperature or slightly warmed.

Coffee and chocolate ice cream also work as sauces, and you can match coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur, rum or other spirit that picks up accents in your dessert.

You also can serve these sumptuous sauces in liqueur glasses as part of the dessert courses:

Add a glass to the dessert plate, serve as “chasers” to the dessert or right before coffee.

French-style ice cream does double duty
as a sauce. Photo courtesy Haagen-Dazs.

• Learn the different ice cream types in our Ice Cream Glossary.
• Find more recipes and our favorite ice cream brands in our Gourmet Ice Cream Section. 

Dixie Heat is one of our new favorite hot
sauce brands. Photo by Katharine Pollak |
THE NIBBLE.

We try dozens of hot sauces each year. Some are just hot (or scorching!), others have so much flavor that they are astonishing.

We never thought we’d be happy with a product called Louisiana Swamp Scum, but its combination of heat, smoke and vinegar is something special.

The other hot sauces have very different flavor profiles, but similarly colorful names: Dixie Delight, Dixie Heat and Happy Dogs Hot Sauce (the label features a homey photo montage of the creator’s dogs).

Put these inexpensive hot-and-tasty sauces on your gift list. The small bottles have big impact.

• Read the full review to learn more about these flavorful hot sauces.
• Find more of our favorite hot sauces, mustard, mayonnaise and more in our Gourmet Condiments Section.

Most Americans have had the pleasure of a bag of red licorice. Yet we’ve learned that red, chocolate and any color licorice but black isn’t licorice. To be real licorice—and enjoy its health benefits—there must be licorice root extract, which creates black candy.

That’s only one of the discoveries in our review of Kookaburra licorice from Australia (it’s spelled liquorice in the U.K. and its former territories). Aussies simply outdo American manufacturers in making superior licorice. It has more robust flavor, a better chew and a lower, more adult level of sweetness.

In addition to the product review, you’ll follow the story of licorice, whose roots were chewed as well as made into teas as a health remedy, by the Pharoahs, the Caesars and Napoleon Bonaparte—who chewed so much licorice root for his digestive disorders that his teeth turned black!

This seriously good licorice will win many
fans. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

• Read the full review of Kookaburra Licorice.
• Find all of our favorite candies in our Gourmet Candy Section.

Our Orka kitchen tongs go from counter
to table. (Color availability will vary.)

Over time, the fork and spoon have been joined together by some manufacturers to create salad tongs. (Food tongs comprise two arms that are hinged or otherwise joined together, for seizing, holding or lifting foods.)

But do you need separate salad tongs? Given the attractiveness of some kitchen tongs (made for cooking, not serving), we don’t think so. Handsome kitchen tongs like these from Orka can be used for cooking or serving.

We ditched the salad servers and use a pair of kitchen tongs at THE NIBBLE table. Specifically, we use these Orka 12-inch stainless steel tongs with silicone tips. They’re the same tongs used to flip or lift food. They take up less space and add a high-tech look to the table.