THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


Also visit our main website, TheNibble.com.





How To Brew Iced Tea

tea-forte-iced-tea-230
[1] It’s iced tea season; brew a batch (photo © Tea Forte).


[2] Here, a Chemex drip coffee carafe has been repurposed to brew iced tea (photo © Regis Hari Bouchard | Unsplash).


[3] Don’t forget green tea, also delicious iced; and herbal tea, like the hibiscus and chamomile teas above (photo © Sun Basket).

Pitti Palace Ice House
[4] The domed ice house in of the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy, the main seat of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany. It is set on a shaded slope in the Boboli Gardens behind the palace, half-sunk into the ground.

 

As the weather grows warmer, our thoughts turn to iced tea. (June is National Iced Tea Month, June 10th is National Iced Tea Day).

Even though fine brewed tea continues to grow in popularity—and tea is the second most-consumed beverage in the world, after water—about 80% of the tea sold in the U.S. is bottled tea, generally consumed cold.

That’s an expensive way to consume tea, not to mention millions of bottles going into the landfill.

It’s time to B.Y.O.I.T.: brew your own iced tea. Save money and save the planet.

Keep a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge as a calorie-free beverage. In fact, keep two pitchers with two different types of tea—Earl Grey and Assam teas, peach tea and passion fruit tea, or any black and green teas.

We also keep the 16-ounce plastic water bottles that we pick up along the way, refill them with iced tea.
 
 
HOW TO BREW ICED TEA

You need to make iced tea stronger than regular tea to compensate for dilution from ice. Even if you don’t use ice, the coldness of refrigerated tea can suppress some flavor components; so stronger is better.

Another tip: The better the tea quality, the more enjoyable the tea. Some mass supermarket brands don’t have the best flavor (our favorite brand is Bigelow), and many people add MORE sugar to make the drink taste better.

Try making iced tea from the best tea, and see if you can enjoy it without sweetener. Eliminating sweetener allows you to taste the complexity of fine tea.
 
Ingredients Per Quart*

  • 4 to 5 tea bags or teaspoons of loose tea
  • Tap or filtered water
  • Optional garnishes: lemon, lime, mint sprigs
  • Ice
  • Sweeteners of choice
  •  
    Preparation

    1. PLACE the tea into a pitcher or clean quart bottle for brewing. If using loose tea, enclose it in a tea ball/spice ball for easy clean-up.

    2. BOIL 2 cups of cold water (tap water or filtered). Pour the boiling water into the pitcher and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags or strain the loose tea into another pitcher or receptacle. Add 2 more cups of cold water and refrigerate.

    3. SERVE over ice with optional garnishes. We make our ice cubes from brewed tea so the tea never dilutes. Just pour room-temperature or chilled tea into an ice cube tray.
     
    _____________________

    *We brew two quarts at a time in a 64-ounce pitcher.
     
     
    ICED TEA TIPS

  • Superfine sugar dissolves more easily in cold liquids than regular table sugar. You can purchase superfine sugar, or pulverize your table sugar in a spice grinder.
  • Think beyond the sugar and try agave nectar (also called agave syrup). It has a more elegant sweetness than sugar (which can be cloying), and mixes easily into cold beverages. While agave nectar contains virtually the same amount of calories as other liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup, it is far, far lower on the glycemic index.
  • Try giving up sweetener by adding fresh lime or lemon juice.
  • Plan for an iced tea party—a great way to socialize indoors or outdoors.
  •  
     
    THE HISTORY OF ICED TEA (AND ICE FOR DRINKS!)

    While drinking tea dates back thousands of years, ice to keep foods cold was available only to the wealthy few, who could afford ice houses.

    During the winter, the ice house, built in a shaded area, sometimes below ground, would be loaded up with ice and snow and packed with insulation such as straw or sawdust. The original purpose was to store perishable foods in the warm months, but the ice could also be used to cool drinks or make ice cream and sorbet.

     
    The earliest remains of ice pits found are from the seventh century B.C.E., with references suggesting that the techniques were used before the 11th century B.C.E.

    During its heyday, commercial ice houses would store tons of ice for purchase. Still, ice houses only existed where there was a source of natural ice.

    In 1806, Frederic Tudor, a New England entrepreneur, came up with the idea to export ice on a commercial basis. Barges of ice covered in sawdust were shipped in ancient times to hot places like the Middle East, but only on a minuscule scale, for kings and other people of great wealth.

    Tudor’s first shipment was to the Caribbean, and the “Ice King” ultimately shipped ice all over the world. Tudor invented an entire industry, the ice trade.

    Now to the invention of iced tea.

    The drink didn’t appear on the scene until 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

    An Englishman named Richard Blechynden was trying to sell tea as a refreshment, but the weather was very hot and no one was buying. As necessity is the mother of invention, he added ice to the tea, and the new refreshing drink was born.

    In homes fortunate enough to have ice boxes cooled with a block of ice, pieces of the block were chipped off to cool drinks. The Domestic Electric Refrigerator, produced in 1914 by Fred Wolf, contained a simple ice cube tray.

    By the 1920s and 1930s ice cube trays were commonplace in refrigerators. The home electric refrigerator didn’t arrive until 1930. Those who could afford it upgraded from an ice box

    Here’s more history of iced tea.
      

    Comments (2)

    RECIPE/PRODUCT: Black Eyed Peas Cocktail & Black Sugar

    To celebrate the new Black Eyed Peas E.N.D. tour, Bacardi, official spirit of the tour, has created a commemorative cocktail.

    It may not be the easiest thing to make because of the need to find black sugar; but if you’re a Black Eyed Peas fan, as we are, it’s worth the effort.

    THE BACARDI V.I.PEA COCKTAIL

    Ingredients

    – 2 parts Bacardi Superior rum
    – 1 part freshly squeezed lime juice
    – 2 teaspoons black sugar
    – Cubed and crushed ice
    – Garnish: 4 black-eyed peas on a skewer, lime slice

    Preparation

    1. Place all ingredients into a shaker and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
    2. Fill shaker with half cubed ice and half crushed ice. Shake vigorously until chilled.
    3. Double strain into a chilled or frozen coupette glass or a martini glass.

     

    bacardi-V.I.Peas-cocktail-230

    Join the Black Eye Peas in a V.I.Pea
    Cocktail. Photo courtesy Baccardi.

    About Black Sugar

    Black sugar, an unprocessed (raw) sugar made from pure sugar cane juice, is a common ingredient in Asian cooking. It is almost black in color.

    Like other unrefined sugars (turbinado, for example), it is healthier and has more flavor than processed white sugar. The nutrition and flavor come from the molasses, calcium, iron, potassium and other minerals that are components of unrefined sugar. Compare it to other raw sugars, such as demerara, muscovado and turbinado sugar (see our Sugar Glossary for all types of sugar).

    In Japan and Taiwan, lumps of black sugar are eaten as candy (as well as made into various hard and soft candies). If you’re in a restaurant that serves lumps of turbinado sugar with coffee, chew on one and you’ll get the idea. Black sugar and fresh ginger are made into a popular addition to ginger tea.

    The finest black sugar is produced in Okinawa, Japan, although Taiwan and China also make it. Look for black sugar in Asian markets.

    Comments off

    GOURMET GIVEAWAY: “Spaghetti” Book By Carla Bardi

    It’s not spaghetti, but you could try to fool
    your friends! Photo by Katharine Pollak |
    THE NIBBLE.

    We love a good joke—especially around April Fool’s Day. So when we were handed “Spaghetti” by Carla Bardi, we were wondering why someone was giving us what looked to be a spaghetti package from a supermarket shelf.

    It took us a minute to realize that it’s a spaghetti cookbook, which contains more than 130 ways to prepare a plain box of spaghetti.

    The recipes are creative and generally easy; the photos are tempting. The pasta is varied—not just spaghetti but bucatini, linguine and ziti. The gimmick is cuter-than-cute and sure to delight any home cook.

    • THE PRIZE: Two winners could cook spaghetti a different way every day for more than four months with this cookbook. While we’re a few days late for April Fool’s Day, you can still keep it in your kitchen cupboard next to actual spaghetti boxes to fool someone rooting around for pasta. Plus, it’ll be right where you need it when you’re wondering what type of pasta dish to make for dinner. Approximate Retail Value: $14.99.
    • To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Best Reads Section and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, April 12th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck! 

    Comments off

    GOURMET GIVEAWAY: Cooperstown Cookie Company Shortbread Cookies

    Take me out to the ball game, but forget the peanuts and Crackerjack. Instead, bring along the buttery shortbread cookies from Cooperstown Cookie Company. The rich, traditional shortbread cookies, a NIBBLE favorite shortbread (read our review), are made in the regulation size of baseballs (3″ diameter). They’re made by hand and baked in small batches, just outside of the world baseball capital of Cooperstown, New York.

    Fresh, light and fragrant with butter, these cookies melt in your mouth. They are all natural with no preservatives or additives—just flour, butter, sugar, pure vanilla extract and salt. They hit a home run with us!

    This Gourmet Giveaway prize is packaged in two tins along with tricky baseball trivia questions to try to stump baseball nuts. Perhaps a cookie is their reward?

    • THE PRIZE: One winner will enjoy a Cooperstown Cookie Company gift tower and a National Baseball Hall of Fame Collectible Tin, each containing 12 bite-sized, vanilla-flavored shortbread cookies. Take them to your next ball game or munch on them anytime you need a cookie fix. Approximate Retail Value: $31.98.

    Forget playing ball. Let’s eat some cookies!
    Photo courtesy Cooperstown Cookie Company.

    • To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Cookies, Brownies & Bars Section and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, April 12th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
    • Learn more about Cooperstown Cookie Company, and find out how to enter to win the ultimate Cooperstown baseball weekend at CooperstownCookie.com.

     

    Comments off

    TIP OF THE DAY: Easter Candy Giveaway

    chick-igourmet-2010-230

    You were great, but it’s time to go!
    Photo courtesy iGourmet.com.

    Easter was great, but now you’re surrounded with leftover jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, buttercream Easter eggs and more.

    Good as they were, do you want to consume those calories?

    Our solution: Bring the Easter candy to your workplace, school or anywhere else you hang out. Share the wealth: People will appreciate your largesse, and you’ll save thousands of calories.

    You can leave the goodies next to the coffee machine, distribute them to colleagues or set them in a common place (the reception desk or lunch room?).

    You’ll feel good that you didn’t succumb to polishing it off, had fun passing the candy along and that you made others happy.

    If you’re a skinny chocoholic you can ignore this tip.

    Comments off

    The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures
    RSS
    Follow by Email


    © Copyright 2005-2024 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. All images are copyrighted to their respective owners.