How To Make Delicious Iced Tea Using Gourmet Teas

According to the U.S. Tea Association, 85% of tea consumed in the US is iced. Unfortunately, the bulk of the iced tea consumed is made of low quality tea, such as the iced “tea” you find in fast food establishments. Their tea is often made of tea-flavored syrup. Many people also use low quality tea bags to make iced tea. However, you can make delicious, healthy, and original iced tea using whole leaf gourmet teas.

Iced tea is cold and refreshing on a hot summer day but it can also be a delicious, thirst-quenching way to enjoy your gourmet teas throughout the year. After all, it can get old drinking your gourmet teas hot all the time. Why not change it up on occasion by drinking your gourmet teas on ice? Not only is preparing iced gourmet tea fun, it is also a lot more flavorful and healthy for you.
The Benefits of Using Loose Gourmet Teas Instead of Tea Bags
Tea bags are full of tiny pieces of tea leaves known as tea dust. Tea dust goes stale a lot faster than the whole leaves found in loose gourmet teas. Furthermore, the flavor and health benefits can’t be compared to what whole leaf loose tea offers. To put it simply, tea bags create inferior tea. You’ll be able to enjoy a much tastier and healthier glass of ice tea by starting with loose, whole leaf tea.

Don’t be afraid to get creative! Blend gourmet teas of different flavors to your liking in order to create an original flavor of iced tea or simply pour your favorite ready-made tea blend over ice. There are several ways you can create delicious and unique iced tea using gourmet tea.. Here are some ideas you can use to make iced teas that would serve as the perfect beverage for a tea party, weekend get-together, or picnic.
The Basics
Making iced tea is very similar to making hot tea but there are a few differences. For one, you should double the amount of tea you use when you make hot tea. In order to create sweet iced tea, add sugar while the tea is steeping rather than at the end when the tea is consumed. The flavor turns out a lot better that way. After the tea is done brewing, pour it into a glass filled with ice. It is best to cool the tea immediately because the scent and flavor of the tea is preserved that way. Add some lemon or mint to the glass for tea that is refreshing and delicious.
If you need to prepare iced tea for a large group, you can also make refrigerator iced tea, which can be prepared far before the party. In fact, it takes twelve hours to brew refrigerator tea. To make it, use one heaping teaspoon of tea per cup of water. Place the water and tea in a glass pitcher and let it sit in the fridge overnight or for twelve hours. Before serving, sieve out the leaves, pour the tea into glasses, and serve.

Fresh tea tastes the best so only make as much as you are going to drink. Drink it immediately for the best flavor. Use ice cubes instead of chips or crushed ice to prevent the tea from getting too watered down.
Use six heaping tea spoons of loose tea for each quart of tea you would like to prepare. If you are using quality gourmet teas, you should be able to use it two more times to brew iced tea. The water you use should also be of high quality to make the best tasting iced tea. Don’t use tap water. You should also make sure to use good water to make ice cubes for your iced tea.

Ice Cube Tips
To prevent your iced tea from getting watered down, consider using juice or freshly brewed tea instead of water to make ice cubes. Orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, or any other fruit juice you enjoy can add a fruity kick to your iced tea. You can also try adding mint leaves to the ice cube tray before you make ice cubes so when the ice cubes melt, there are mint leaves floating in your glass.

Sangria Iced Tea
To make a refreshing, fruity iced tea, pour chilled tea over chopped up fruits like strawberries, plums, mangoes, blueberries, and other fruits you enjoy. Let the tea sit for at least thirty minutes so the flavors of the tea and fruit blend. When serving the sangria iced tea, garnish each glass with sliced fruit.
Milky Iced Tea
To create a sweet and delicious milky ice tea, blend your favorite non-fruity black tea of choice with ice, milk, and chocolate or vanilla syrup. You can also create simple vanilla-flavored ice tea by just adding some vanilla syrup to your usual glass of iced tea.

Gourmet Food Cheese, Candy, and Cookies

Gourmet food can be anything that is better than normal in quality, and is something everyone will try, even if they are picky eaters. Often gourmet cooking has more than the normal range of ingredients, but sometimes can contain just a few, carefully selected ingredients. The same is true when it comes to gourmet cheese, candy and cookies. While they can be simple in ingredients, they are elegant and luxurious in taste.Cheese:When it comes to gourmet food, cheese is often an ingredient. Cheese itself is can be a gourmet food depending on how it is served. Brie is considered gourmet, and is a popular appetizer cheese, especially when served with crackers and vegetables.Other gourmet cheese may include compound spreads that have added ingredients, such as some of the spread-able cheese spreads that have flavoring added like bacon and Swiss, or cheddar with port wine, for example.

Cheese can also be turned gourmet when made into a spread with lump crab meat, onion or garlic and served with biscotti.Cheese balls or cheese logs are another gourmet serving suggestion for cheese, where nuts are added to the outside, or cream cheese has become popular with chipped beef, onion and garlic, served as a cheese ball.The semi-soft to hard cheeses, like mozzarella, Gouda, gorgonzola and parmesans, for example, are varied in taste and variety, so you can make a gourmet gift from different kinds of cheese from around the world.Candy:When it comes to candy, the first thing that comes to mind is truffles, which are luxurious and have a smooth creaminess and variety of flavorings. Everybody loves truffles.Filled chocolates are another kind of gourmet candy, and fillings of coconut, caramel, nuts, marshmallow and nougats in different flavors are popular gourmet candies. Of course, there are some of the gourmet candies made in different regions like saltwater taffy, fudge, peanut clusters and turtles, or hard candies from around the world that are considered gourmet.Cookies:This is a sinfully wide category that can include any number of gourmet cookies. Gourmet cookies typically offer more than average ingredients, so even chocolate chips can become gourmet when they have large chocolate chunks, with marshmallows, peanuts or something else added.

Ladyfingers, turtle brownies, or heath bar cookies can be considered gourmet. There are many cookies from around the world that are served in gourmet tins and are simple such as Danish butter cookies.Some of the more recognized gourmet cookies like lemon bars, or cheesecake cookies and peanut butter chocolate chunk are traditional styles of cookies or brownies, with added ingredients to make them more rich and gooey. Decorated cookies, for example are considered gourmet, and can be topped with icing, coconut, chocolate drizzle, caramel and nuts, among other things, to make them more than a typical cookie.Whatever your gourmet fetish is, many people love gourmet cheeses, candy and cookies, no matter what time of year or day it is. With the internet, it is possible to have any kind of gourmet treat shipped right to your door. Why wait for a special occasion when you can order them anytime, from the convenience of your home, and can get your favorites for a snack or a gift basket for somebody else.

One thing is for certain, everybody loves gourmet food, especially cheeses, candy and cookies.

Wholesale Gourmet Foods - Select the right Gift Baskets

Human beings love Wholesale Gourmet food and even revere food. While animals eat for survival, human beings eat food because they enjoy it as a delicacy. No wonder, food is a thriving industry in the world! Food can also be gifted to people to express our love for them. These days there is a trend of gifting wholesale gourmet food in the form of gourmet baskets.These gift baskets are perfect for all kinds of events and occasion like holidays, weddings, anniversaries, and even birthdays. There are a variety of choices available and even buying a gift basket is a treat to the senses!You have two choices when it comes to making gourmet gift baskets. You can either buy wholesale gourmet food and make a gourmet gift basket on your own or look up some good gourmet candy baskets from the market. Many gift ships and speciality stores keep a wide variety of gourmet baskets for their customers.

These days you can even order wholesale gourmet food and gourmet chocolate baskets from the internet as well. That is one of the few ways of ordering from home and saving time, money, and gas!You can choose different kinds of gourmet gift baskets depending on the occasion. There are gourmet gift baskets which have a single thing like cheese while the more expensive ones have a combination of meats, cheese and even wine. If you want to gift gourmet gift baskets to some one then you need to know their tastes since different people prefer different things.When you can to think of anything to gift on birthday or anniversary or any occasion then these gourmet gift baskets are your best bet. One thing that every person loves is good food and tasty treats which these gourmet gift baskets abound in.What kind of gourmet foods can you gift in gourmet gift baskets?Here are some of the foods, which are top quality and can be a part of gourmet gift baskets:Coffee: No, not the instant coffee! Gourmet coffee is a class of its own. You can get some exotic flavored coffee from various parts of the world for your gourmet gift baskets.

You can even sample these before you decide on the ones you want to buy.Teas: Specialty teas from world over also make a nice addition to your gourmet cheese baskets. There are a number of varieties to choose from ranging from black to green. These can also be sampled before they are added to your wholesale gourmet foods collection.Chocolates: Chocolates are an integral part of the gourmet gift baskets. After all, how can you think of fine dining without chocolates? You can get different kinds of chocolates ranging from bitters, liquors, creamy centers, and milk chocolates for your gourmet gift baskets!Caviar: Many people identify gourmet food with caviar. Caviar can be an expensive part of your gourmet gift baskets whether it so from America or Russia. However, if you are lucky you may even get some caviar in your budget as well.Apart from these above-mentioned delicacies, you can even include different kinds of fish, meats, and seafood in your gourmet gift baskets

Chicken Paillards With Tomatoes, Artichokes and Cheese - A Quick Gourmet Meal

Before I became a writer, I taught school for a dozen years, and know how it feels to come home exhausted. Just when you want to put your feet up and relax, you have to cook dinner. You have two choices. One is to cook ahead on the weekends and freeze meals. The other is to fix quick-cooking recipes.Chicken paillards, meat pounded thin and cooked quickly, is one meal. This recipe looks and tastes delicious. This is a versatile meat and may be cooked many ways. At only 33 calories per slice, chicken is a healthy choice.According to the Calorie Count website, two slices of chicken have 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 7.1 grams of protein, and 0.2 grans if fat. If you eat the chicken skin, however, the fat content is higher.After writing for hours, I try to get dinner on the table in half an hour. Martha Stewart, in a Today Show appearance regarding her book, Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home, defines quick-cooking as a meal in an hour or less. Her cookbook contains a recipe for chicken paillards with walnuts.But some people are allergic to walnuts, which is one reason I came up with this recipe. You can make it in about 25 minutes. I use quartered artichokes, but all water-packed artichokes will work. While the chicken is cooking in the oven, cook some almond rice or white and wild rice blend to go with it. Add a salad, some crunchy bread, and dinner is on the table in record time.Ingredients14 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (two per package)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Roma tomatoes

14-ounce can artichokes packed in water

2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into strips

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup reduced fat Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts in half and place between plastic wrap. Pound until the meat is 1/4" thick. Coat an oven dish with backing spray. Lay chicken in dish, leaving an inch between the pieces, and salt and pepper to taste. Seed the tomatoes, chop, and transfer to a medium bowl. Drain the artichokes. Use half the can and save the rest for another time. Chop the artichokes and add to tomatoes. Stir in basil and olive oil. Spoon over chicken. Sprinkle cheese over vegetables. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown. Makes four servings.

Gourmet Coffee---Not Just For The Rich And Famous

You wake up to the smell of coffee brewing--but can you tell if it is gourmet coffee?Gourmet coffees, which like fine wine were once a symbol of prestige, are now sold everywhere--fine coffee houses, grocery stores and retail discounts stores. Franchises have been built around the sale of gourmet coffee in the past 20 years and many will allow you to order your cup of gourmet coffee through a drive-thru window.What caused the increase in popularity of gourmet coffees? Did everyone just decide they need a dash of mint, a hint of vanilla or an ounce of caramel? It is unlikely that the rise in gourmet coffee sales was due only to a change in our taste in coffee.Marketing and a good product is most likely the reason for the increase in gourmet coffee sales in the past 20 years. It is fashionable to walk around with a coffee cup sipping on the latest gourmet coffee sold at the trendy coffee house.Many people are introduced to gourmet coffees when they receive a gift set at Christmas or for a special occasion. These gift sets may included a variety of flavored gourmet coffees such as almond, chocolate and Irish cream.

The gourmet coffee is often placed in a designer mug that you will most use when you drink your gourmet coffee after it is brewed.Many convenience stores offer flavored coffees that are marketed as gourmet coffees, along with espresso and cappuccino. While these coffees may taste like they are gourmet, they are usually derived from coffee grounds found on grocery store shelves.That's because the real secret to gourmet coffee is not in the flavor, but in the type of coffee bean. Gourmet coffee is composed of Arabica beans, while most canned coffees are made from robusta beans. These Arabica beans will grow in mainly sub-tropical regions. Good weather is important to the growth of these gourmet coffee beans.Gourmet coffee is often identified by its name and that name can come from a variety of derivatives, include the region where the bean is grown. You may want a cup of Colombian gourmet coffee. This type of gourmet coffee gets its name from the country where it is grown.But another type of gourmet coffee, French Roast, has nothing to do with France but with how the bean is roasted.Gourmet coffee has found its way to grocery stores in recent years and you can find a variety of inexpensive gourmet coffees to try at home. Many of the packaged gourmet coffees are paired with a hint of flavor.

Favorite gourmet coffee flavors include vanilla, hazelnut, mocha, peppermint, chocolate mine, Irish Cream and caramel to name a few.Some people like to add more than just cream and sugar to their gourmet coffee. Whipped cream, chocolate chips and fruit juices are popular additions to gourmet coffees.So when you wake it to your morning cup of java, why not make a cup of gourmet coffee? Try exotic gourmet coffee flavors and add more than cream and sugar. You may find yourself addicted to gourmet coffee.

The Gourmet Coffee Bean

Because of higher retail prices we now have a wide range of various Types of Gourmet coffee Beans in our every day lives, it can be more and more difficult to discern what you're buying at the market. And that's not surprising given the sheer numbers game. From what we know, there are more than 6,000 variations in the world, with at least 25 major types of gourmet coffee beans underneath that. When it comes down to it, though, the two most commercially important types of beans are Arabica and Robusta. Arabica Types of Gourmet coffee Beans account for over 60% of gourmet coffee production worldwide. The Arabica plant is a large bush and is very susceptible to frost, disease, and pests. Because of this, its beans are more expensive. Arabica can be used in its pure form or used as the base for gourmet coffee blends with Robusta. Arabica has a delicate flavor and is used to add body to the gourmet coffee when used in blends.

The flavor of Arabica beans varies widely according to the region of the world where they are grown. Indonesian beans produce the richest, most full-bodied cup of gourmet coffee. Hailing from Java and Sumatra, the brew is a good dessert gourmet coffee and very suitable to flavoring with cream and sugar. Arabica beans grown in Central and South America offer moderate body and aroma. Most breakfast blends are made with American gourmet coffees, as are most flavored gourmet coffees. By contrast, Robusta gourmet coffee accounts for almost 40% of world production. Robusta differs from Arabica in that it's much easier to grow and is resistant to disease and weather and is therefore cheaper. However, this does not necessarily mean that a gourmet coffee blend with Robusta is lower quality than pure Arabica - gourmet coffee blends are designed to bring out the best in different flavors. Robusta has a strong flavor and is used to give 'kick' to gourmet coffee. Robusta doesn't vary in flavor as widely as Arabica does. It was first discovered growing naturally in the area now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Growers in Africa produce a gourmet coffee of medium aroma and body. If you like very flavorful gourmet coffees, you will like those from Kenya and Tanzania. Now that you understand the basics of Gourmet coffee Beans, the question turns to which Types of Gourmet coffee Beans are right for you. It really depends on with what you're planning to serve the gourmet coffee. If you're serving with breakfast or a dessert of fruit and sorbet, beans from East Africa (particularly Kenya and Ethiopia) or Mexico will best complement the food. If you're going to offer your guests light desserts like cakes, cookies, or pie, the beans of Guatemala and Colombia will warm up the food with their slight acidic tendency. With rich desserts like truffles, trifles, and tiramisu, Indonesian Gourmet coffee Beans are full-bodied and smooth enough to perfectly offset the dessert. Another key point to consider is how much gourmet coffee you'll need. These high quality beans shouldn't be bought in bulk and should instead be purchased so that you have just enough for your immediate need. They should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a week or in the freezer for up to a month.

To discover what beans are best for your daily cup of Joe, conduct a taste test. Brew several types of beans separately. Pour each in its own cup. Pick up each cup individually, smell the gourmet coffee, and then slowly sip and taste the gourmet coffees. Later, take a sip or two when it's cooled, as many gourmet coffees change flavor as they cool.One type of Arabica mean is a Kona bean, though some people mistakenly call it a third bean. Kona is extremely small commercially compared to Arabica and Robusta, but is extremely expensive and therefore important economically. Kona is really a Arabica bean grown in Hawaii.. Kona offers average bite and body but is in high demand worldwide because of its powerful aroma. These Gourmet coffee Beans are rarely blended with others because of their high desirability in and of themselves

Make Your Own Gourmet Flavored Hard Pretzels

Do you love to snack on gourmet flavored pretzels? If so, have you ever considered making them yourself? You can make your own quickly and at half the price of store bought flavored pretzels.All of these recipes require 10 minutes of preparation time and 1 hour of baking time. After you are done baking them, let them cool for 30-60 minutes before serving. I find it best to store mine in an airtight container.Here are 3 easy recipes.

Garlic Lemon Pepper

1 bag hard pretzels

1/2 c. oil

1 packet original ranch dressing mix

1 tbsp. dill weed

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

Break up pretzels and place in a bowl. Mix all of the other ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the pretzel pieces, cover the bowl and shake until all of the ingredients are mixed together. Put them in a broiler pan and bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour.

Spicy Tex-Mex

2 bags broken hard pretzels

1/2 lb. butter

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 tsp. Southwest Chipotle Seasoning

Melt butter in a saucepan. Blend in the soup mix, chipotle seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. Pour mixture over pretzel pieces and mix well. Cover and let stand until all of the liquid is absorbed. Place in a 200 degree oven and bake for 1 hour.

Nutty Onion

1 large bag broken hard pretzels

1/2 lb. margarine

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 c. crushed peanuts

Melt margarine and set aside. Break up pretzels. In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients. Let sit in the bowl for 1 hour. Place in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees.