We were quite young when we first learned about Stash Tea. It was in the early 1970s, and in those days, in the Northeast, there were few natural food stores. Yogurt was still a cult food eaten by “health nuts” and people in Greek and Middle Eastern communities. In these days of the hippie, we thought that the name paid homage to one’s stash of illicit substances.

The tea, which we ordered from a catalog back then, was great, and we just learned that we were wrong about the name.
 
 
STASH TEA HISTORY

Things were more progressive in Portland, Oregon, when The Stash Tea Company was founded in 1972. It started in the basement of a suburban Victorian house. There, surrounded by loose teas, herbs and spices, a trio of friends set out to provide better tea than the large brands offered.

They started with quality loose tea, and named the company for the special reserve of precious teas that many sea captains kept “stashed” onboard for their personal use.

The fledgling company quickly became a player in fine teas. One partner had a mail-order marketing background with Sears, one had worked with Frito-Lay, and the third had management experience at a natural foods store.

Offering a better tea alternative to the category monster Lipton and its competitors, Stash made a profit in its first year, mostly by selling to natural foods stores.

The customers there appreciated a brand that tasted better than the bagged tea brands then available.

By 1975, the company began marketing tea bags and a complete line of traditional, specialty blend, and herbal teas to restaurants and through mail-order catalogs. Restaurants and other segments of the foodservice industry became the company’s bread and butter.

Stash Tea launched a website in 1995 with the advent of e-commerce, making their teas available to customers nationwide.

After 21 years, the founders sold the company to Yamamotoyama Co., Ltd., a 300-year-old tea company based in Tokyo.

They then founded another startup, Tazo Tea, which they eventually sold to Starbucks for $9.1 million.
 
 
STASH TEA TODAY

Today, Stash Tea ranks among the top five specialty tea companies in the U.S. It sells a complete line of specialty teas: some 200 teas, tea accessories, and tea gifts.

 
So head online to check out your favorite teas and discover new ones. Send someone a tea gift.

Head to StashTea.com.

The line is certified kosher by KOF-K.
 
 
WHAT WE DISCOVERED

We spent some time on the Stash Tea website—a wealth of options and opportunities for discovery.

We first discovered their Double Bergamot Earl Grey black tea bags, which are so much more intensely bergamot than the brands we’d been using.

Ditto with the Super Irish Breakfast Tea and the Moroccan Mint Green Tea.

We also discovered a delightful selection of tea infusers for loose tea, including the cat in photo #4, plus a dog, a duck, a llama, a hedgehog, a narwhal, a sloth, and a unicorn. Check them out!

So treat yourself. Make a cup of tea and relax on StashTea.com for your break.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA BAGS
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA

[1] Time for a tea break. We’re heading to our “Stash” (all photos © Stash Tea).

[2] Peach Black Tea and White Peach Oolong Tea are Stash staff picks.

[3] There are 8 varieties of chai and dozens of flavored and herbal teas.

[4] There are delightful loose tea infusers, including cats and dogs.

________________

*Lipton remains the leading brand of bagged and loose leaf tea in the U.S., with sales of $218 million. Bigelow tea ranks second with $189 million. Twinings of London is third with $93 million, followed by Celestial Seasonings with $88 million. Private-label brands account for about $100 million [source].

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage worldwide, second to water. In 2018, global tea production amounted to about 5.8 million metric tons. China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia were among the main tea producers in 2019, based on volume. China was responsible for the majority of total tea production with 2.8 million metric tons. Pakistan was the leading tea importer, with about $590 million worth [source].

[1] A quickie pizza for breakfast uses ready-to-eat naan flatbread instead of a pizza crust. The recipe is below (photos #1, #2 and #4 © Frigo Cheese).

[2] Add bacon, breakfast sausage or other topping(s) to the pizza.

[3] Campari tomatoes are similar in size to plum tomatoes, but with a round rather than oval shape (photo © Burpee).

[4] Frigo’s fresh mozzarella.

[5] Breakfast pizza with eggs and pancetta. Here’s the recipe (photo © DeLallo).

National Pizza Week begins the second Sunday in January, and you can start it off with pizza for breakfast— All of the pizza holidays are below; and check out these pizza statistics.

This is a speedy recipe because it switches out ready-to-heat-and-eat naan flatbfread instead of pizza dough. You can also use a small prebaked pizza crust.

The recipe is courtesy of Emily Ellyn, Retro Rad Chef and Frigo Cheese. Here are more of Chef Emily Ellyn’s recipes.

> The different types of flatbread.

> The history of pizza.
 
 
RECIPE: FLATBREAD PIZZA WITH CHOICE OF TOPPINGS

Some breakfast pizza recipes are topped with an egg, and you’re welcome to do so here. We recommend frying the egg separately and adding it as a garnish. Otherwise, after the crust is golden and toppings are browned, crack two eggs over each naan. Return them to the oven and bake for another 2-4 minutes more, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny (photo #5).

You can also substitute sliced hard-boiled eggs.
 
Ingredients

 
Garnish

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Brush the naan flatbreads, bubbly side up, with the olive oil and sparingly season with salt. Then, place the naan on a sheet tray or pizza stone.

2. DIVIDE the marinara sauce and spread it over the tops of the naan. Top with the mozzarella and tomato slices. Add any additional pizza toppings, as desired.

3. PLACE the naan pizzas on the middle rack and cook for 10–15 minutes or until the mozzarella becomes melty and the crusts are golden brown.

4. REMOVE the pizzas from the oven and top them with the freshly ground black pepper, fresh basil and oregano. Slice and serve them with shredded Parmesan cheese and dried chili flakes.

Mangia!
 

THE YEAR IN PIZZA HOLIDAYS

Whether you get takeout pizza or make your own, mark your calendars for:

Struggling through diet after diet in the 1980s, we ate a lot of salad. In those days, before the wide distribution of artisan vinegars and olive oils, we preferred “diet” salad dressings to generic oil and vinegar. The brand with the widest choice was Walden Farms: zero calories, zero carbs, zero fats. Not to mention, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, keto-friendly, and certified kosher by OU.

While we embraced it at first, we grew tired of the overall flavors. But that was then.

Now, Walden Farms has improved its line of salad dressings—very good flavor and a lot of them, for dressing, marinades, and recipes. And still zero calories, zero carbs, and zero fats. We tried them and were impressed!

All of the salad dressings now have natural flavors with improved taste and texture on the inside and a label design on the outside.
 
 
ZERO-CALORIE FLAVORS FOR EVERY PALATE

What dazzles us is how many choices there are: 22!. How many dressings can fit on the grocer’s shelf? They’re all available on the Walden Farms website.

 
Discover more at WaldenFarms.com.
 
 
THE 5 MOST POPULAR SALAD DRESSING FLAVORS

According to The Association for Dressings and Sauces, Ranch is the most-popular dressing flavor in the country (Here’s more about ranch dressing). The runners-up:

 
 
RECIPE: ASIAN TOFU OR CHICKEN SALAD

This recipe (photo #5), from @TheVeganMomma, uses Walden Farms’ Sesame Ginger Dressing—zero calories, zero net carbs, zero sugar and fat—for this tasty, low calorie salad. She made it with tofu; we substituted chicken. You can use both!
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

Just chop up the ingredients, add dressing and toss.

[1] Italian is the second most-popular bottled dressing in the U.S., after Ranch (all photos © Walden Farms).

[2] Toss mixed steamed vegetables with zero-calorie Walden Farms vinaigrette and top with grilled fish.

[3] The most popular bottled dressing in the U.S.: Ranch.

[4] Make Buffalo wings with zero-calorie Walden Farms BBQ Sauce and Blue Cheese Dressing.

[5] This tasty, low-calorie Asian Sesame Ginger Salad can be vegan with tofu or meaty with chicken. The recipe is below (photo © Vegan Momma | Walden Farms Facebook.