We spent much of yesterday sipping on ice-cold green tea, with lots of fresh mint.

We had an overabundance of mint from the farmers market, and couldn’t think of a better use than iced tea (mint works equally well in black, green, herbal and white teas).

To add fresh mint* or other herbs to tea (try fresh organic lavender, rosemary or sage), crush the leaves and stems lightly in your hand to release the essential oils, before adding the mint to the tea.

You can make cold brew green tea in the fridge.

 
You can also make herb tea using only fresh mint.

 
 
INFUSED GREEN TEAS

Tay Tea, one of the nation’s finest artisan tea blenders, offers plain bancha, matcha and sencha green teas, as well as these proprietary blends:

 
You can find many other flavors elsewhere, but for the best taste, Tay Tea uses only natural ingredients that infuse (petals, e.g.). Other companies sell flavors made with extracts, natural or not (blueberry and other fruit, caramel, vanilla, etc.).
 
 
TYPES OF GREEN TEA

There are different types of plain green tea, based on how the picked leaves are treated. Thanks to Ito-En for the details.

Sencha Green Tea: The most well-known variety of green tea, sencha is made from the leaves (photo #5) that are steamed and rolled (photo #4).

Fukamushi Sencha: Steamed approximately twice as long as regular sencha, fukamushi means “steamed for a long time.” The extra steaming provides a stronger taste and darker green color, and it lacks the grassy aroma and astringency of sencha.

Gyokuro Green Tea: A special production where the tea bushes are covered with cloth or reed screen some 20 days prior to picking (called “covered culture]”. By limiting the amount of light that reaches the new shoots while they are growing, the catechins from amino acids (theanine) are suppressed, resulting in lower astringency and a rich flavor than sencha. The aroma is similar to nori seaweed.

Kabusecha Green Tea: Prepared similar to gyokuro, except the bushes are only covered for one week prior to picking.

Tencha Green Tea: Tencha is mainly used to grind into matcha. Similar to gyokuro, the raw leaves (ichibancha† or shincha) used for tencha are grown with the covered culture method, and are typically covered for longer than the 20 days for gyokuro. However, after plucking and steaming, the leaves are dried without being rolled. After removing the stems and leaf veins, the tea leaf flecks are stone-ground into matcha.

Matcha Green Tea: The tencha flecks that are turned into matcha (photo #5) are stone-ground into a powder immediately before shipping, for maximum freshness. Matcha is used in Japan’s traditional tea ceremony. It was previously made from the leaves of tea bushes that were 100 years old. Modern production techniques have led to different cultivar selection.

Genmaicha: Genmaicha is sencha tea that derives its name from the Japanese word for brown rice. The soaked and steamed brown rice is roasted and popped, and is mixed with sencha in a ratio of approximately 50:50 (and thus decreasing the amount of caffeine). Editor’s note: The combination of the toasty rice and the bright sencha makes this one of our favorite green teas.

Hojicha: Hojicha is roasted sencha or other green tea. Through roasting, it becomes less bitter, and is considered has a clear, light taste and is considered easy to drink.

Shincha: Meaning “new tea,” shincha is the first picking of the season. Shincha and ichibancha are the same tea, the difference being in name only. Shincha is known for the refreshing and invigorating aroma of the leaves. It is low in catechins but also in caffeine content, and is thus less bitter and astringent than the second (nibancha) and third (sanbancha) pickings. Shincha tends to have a higher content of theanine (amino acids), which give it full-bodied flavor and sweetness.

Bancha Green Tea: Bancha is harvested from the second flush of sencha tea, which occurs between summer and autumn.

 
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*If you’re near a farmers market or specialty produce store, try the different types of mint to see which you prefer.

There are more than 600 varieties of mint beyond peppermint and spearmint. Somee varieties you are likely to find include apple mint, chocolate mint, lavender mint, orange mint and pineapple mint.

†Tea buds hibernate through the winter. In March, buds start appearing (“flushing”) and new leaves develop.

In a month, it will be time for the first harvest. Between late April and early May, ichibancha, the first flush tea, is harvested. Ichibancha is rated a top quality tea.

[1] Green iced tea with fresh mint. The red tea at left is hibiscus, one of our favorite herbal teas (photos #1 and #2 © Tay Tea).

[2] Tay Tea’s Kyoto blend, green sencha tea with cherry blossom petals.

[3] Iced green jasmine tea with lime and mint (photos #3 and #4 © Mighty Leaf Tea | Peet’s.

[4] Sencha green tea.

[5] Matcha, powdered tea leaves, is whisked into water instead of brewed like other tea (photo © Matcha & Co | Unsplash).

[6] Close up on a tea plant: bud and leaves (photo © Gryffyn M | Unsplash).

These teas are called nibancha. The reason that ichibancha has superior quality and aroma than nibancha is because the ichibancha leaves store nourishment over the winter. They also contain 3 times more theanine, an antioxidant that is a main source of taste of tea.

The reduction in theanine explains why nibancha is less flavorful and aromatic [source]. Sanbancha is the third picking, which ends in the autumn. The plants rest through the winter, and in April, the new leaves are ready to be harvested. They are ichibancha, the first flush.

[1] Fish fillet with mussels and shrimp (photo © Bamboo Sushi | Portland).

[2] Three different fish fillets, scallops and shrimp (photo © Allen Brothers).

[3] Grilled asparagus, carrots, red bell pepper, red onions, yellow squash. Here’s a recipe (photo © Taste Of Home).

[4] From top: portabella and shiitake mushrooms, plum tomatoes (seeds removed), yellow squash, multicolor bell peppers (photo © Happily Unprocessed).

A grilled fish fillet or a skewer of shrimp is delicious; but a selection of different seafood—known as a mixed grill—is even better.

If you like to toss seafood onto the grill, mix it up.
 
No grill? Broiling or sautéing works, too.

It takes more effort to cook different types of seafood. But the result—different flavors, textures and shapes—is a treat for the palate and the eye.

You can construct a mixed grill from fish only, or shellfish only. You can also have a surf-and-turf mixed grill, with chicken, sausage, steak, etc.
 
 
FISH, SHELLFISH & SEAFOOD: THE DIFFERENCE

Seafood refers to both fish and shellfish.

Shellfish refers specifically to an aquatic invertebrate with a shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean of a mollusc.

 
 
THE BEST FISH TO GRILL

These fish can withstand the heat of the grill without falling apart:

 
 
THE BEST SHELLFISH TO GRILL

Clams, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, prawns/shrimp* and scallops can be easily cooked on a grill.

Here are details on how to grill shellfish.
 
 
ADD COLOR TO THE PLATE

Grill them flat or on skewers.

 
Enjoy your mixed grill: seafood and veggies.

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*While the taste and look are similar, the difference between prawns and shrimp is the anatomical structure. Shrimp have lamellar, which are plate-like gills, and a set of claws on their front two pairs of legs.

Prawns, in comparison, have branching gills and claws on three sets of their legs, with the front pair being noticeably larger.

We’re starting our July 4th lunch with something elegant: these crunchy crostini (photo #1).

They go well with beer, wine, cocktails, iced tea, sparkling water, even lemonade.

You start with a white bean spread on toasted bread (crostini); then top the slices with just about anything.

Roasted tomatoes are delicious; but if you want to cut down on preparation time, don’t roast the tomatoes. Simply halve them, then combine with the other ingredients in Step 3.

Thanks to DeLallo for the recipe, and for their variety of quality Italian ingredients.
 
 
RECIPE: CROSTINI WITH WHITE BEAN SPREAD
& MEDITERRANEAN TOPPINGS

Ingredients For The Bean SPread

 
Plus

 
For The Toppings

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the bean spread. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and purée until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt if needed.

2. HEAT the oven to 400°F. Slice the bread and drizzle with olive oil on both sides. Bake for 10 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

3. ROAST the tomatoes. Combine the tomatoes, olives, olive oil, salt and thyme in a large bowl. Spread the mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the tomatoes start to blister. Remove from oven and top toasts.

4. COMBINE the grilled artichokes and sundried tomatoes.

3. ASSEMBLE. Spread the bean spread on each toast and add the toppings as desired.
 
 
> BRUSCHETTA & CROSTINI: THE DIFFERENCE

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*Fresh herbs have a more delicate flavor than dried herbs, so don’t substitute them 1:1. Instead, use 1-1/2 times the amount of fresh herbs as dry. In this recipe, use 2 teaspoons of dried thyme instead of 1 tablespoon fresh thyme.

[1] These vegetarian crostini pair well with beer, wine, cocktails and more (both photos © DeLallo).

[2] Close-up on the roasted cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and thyme.

[3] There are different varieties of every herb, including thyme. This lemon thyme adds a slight lemon note (photo © Good Eggs).

[1] It’s a beauty, and you can assemble it in 15 minutes (both photos © The Baker Chick).

[2] Even the slices are beautiful! You can serve it with riesling, champagne or other sparkling wine.

Need a last-minute dessert solution for July 4th (or any summer day)?

You can’t do better than this red-white-and-blue-tiful layered pound cake from The Baker Chick.

All you need do is buy the pound cake and berries, plus the ingredients to mix up the cream cheese filling (below).

It can be ready in 15 minutes!

If you want to bake a pound cake, we highly recommend The Baker Chick’s recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake.
 
 
RECIPE: RED, WHITE & BLUE LAYERED POUND CAKE

Ingredients

 
For The Filling & Frosting

 
Preparation

The instructions may be obvious: slice the cake, cream together the filling, top the layers of filling and frosting with a layer of berries.

That’s how easy it is to make this beautiful cake.

The complete instructions are here.
 
 
FLAG TRIVIA

The U.S. flag is not the only “red, white and blue.”

There are some 120 flags worldwide with red, white and blue stripes.

These include countries like France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Russia, Serbia and Slovakia; plus cities and other political entities.

Here’s the list.

July 1st is National Creative Ice Cream Day.

It’s also National Gingersnap Day.

How about combining the two with an easy gingerbread or gingersnap ice cream?

Just combine the ingredients below. For a super-Creative Ice Cream Day, use them all:

Ginger & Gingersnap Caramel Swirl Toasted Pecan Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!
 
 
RECIPE: GINGERBREAD/GINGERSNAP ICE CREAM

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SOFTEN the ice cream on the counter.

2. MIX in the crumbled cookies or gingerbread and the optional ingredients, to taste (a few, a lot, or in-between).

3. RETURN to the freezer until ready to serve.
 
 
> Gingerbread Recipe
 
> Gingersnap Recipe

[1] Salted Caramel Gingersnap Ice Cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Beach House Kitchen).

[2] This is a from-scratch gingersnap ice cream recipe. It contains no cookies, but uses the spices in them. Here’s the recipe from Momtastic (photo © Momtastic).