2nd Annual San Francisco International Tea Festival

Afternoon Tea Across America members meet up!
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

Mr. Fong and Mr. Pratt opening the
2012 Festival.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

My friend and I went to the The San Francisco International Tea Festival at the Ferry Building Marketplace last Sunday.  A big highlight for me was meeting up with some of the members of the Afternoon Tea Across America e-mail group on Yahoo (see photo at left)!  We had a good time, and will probably go again next year.  The festival, open to tea lovers outside the professional tea trade, involved 16 tea vendors and various experts who offered samples of their tea and tea products, gave lectures and led tea tastings.  There were about 1,000 attendees, who received a small bag of promotional handouts, a few samples of tea, and an official tasting cup, at the festival entrance.

A tea-related contest put on by Oregon Chai.

Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

This post has been sponsored by Oregon Chai.

There is a new Facebook contest happening, called Chai-brary, which highlights reading and enjoying chai as the "ideal Me Time moment."

One lucky entry will receive $1,000 to buy whatever is needed to make their reading more enjoyable. We’re also giving 1,000 runners up a $5 Amazon gift card, and all entrants will receive $1 toward any Oregon Chai product just for entering. 

also ...

Additionally, one tweet will be selected every week during the sweepstakes to receive a free Oregon Chai Tea Latte Concentrate. Please feel free to tweet often from August 25 to Tuesday, September 6 at 5 p.m. CT for your chance to win!"  Tweet #Chaibrary to @OregonChai
 to participate. 

Sounds like an interesting contest, with some fun prizes.  Let us know if you win! 

It's Iced Tea Month -- despite the rain!

Moroccan Mint tea by Nicolas Mailfait.

June is Iced Tea Month here in the United States, and while the recent rain reminds us that it's technically still spring, the month of June can experience temperatures high enough here in the Santa Clara Valley to make iced tea really refreshing.  While cold tea, served with or without ice in the glass, has been a familiar drink in the United States since the middle of the 1800s, especially in the warm Southern states, “iced” tea is generally agreed to have been “invented” – at least formally introduced – to Americans at the 1906 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.  Iced tea became a sensation and has remained a popular warm-weather beverage ever since then. 

It's time for some chai!

Masala chai in India.  Wikimedia Commons.

Chai has become a very popular beverage in the San Jose area.  Local Indian restaurants serve it, as do Starbuck's and Peet's Coffee & Tea and most other local coffee shops.  You can also buy an "instant" powdered chai, and liquid chai concentrate at some local grocery stores!  But, some may ask, what is chai?  Americans know it as a sweet, spicy, creamy hot drink, but in India, its place of origin, chai means something else.

While China is known as the “birthplace of tea,” today other nations are major producers and consumers of the beverage. India has been a major tea growing region since the mid-19th century when, as part of the British Empire, India's indigenous tea plants were cultivated to provide tea for English consumption. Tea drinking within India became widespread during the early 20th century, and the tea itself -- without spices or milk -- is still known as chai there.

Other Asian tea customs combined to influence the creation of what we know as chai. Tea was spread throughout Asia by the Mongols, unified under Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Tibetans, unlike most other Asian people groups, preferred black tea  to green tea, and they also drank it with milk or yak butter. This almost certainly influenced the British and Indian preference for milk in their tea, and caused Indian tea to be processed and blended specifically to taste best with milk. The habit of drinking tea with sugar came from the customs of Russia and the Middle East, brought to India through trade.

In India, the British method of preparing tea was altered to suit local tastes. Instead of infusing tea in an earthenware teapot, the tea leaves were added to a metal pot or kettle containing boiling milk and water. The tea was boiled with the milk and water, and sweetened to taste. When all these ideas were combined with the traditional Indian custom of using spices for medicinal drinks, the 21st century chai -- or, more accurately, masala chai -- came into existence.

Masala chai is prepared when spices such as cardamom, ginger, and cloves are added to the mixture of tea, milk, and sweetener. The combination and amount of spices, and the kind of sweetener (honey or sugar) is up to the taste of the person preparing the chai; it is sometimes said that “there are as many recipes for chai as there are households in India.” It is an everyday drink in many local Indian homes, and is commonly served at Indian restaurants.  It is delicious, and warming on a cool day!

Tea: East and West
"The History of Chai"
"Masala Chai"
"Chai" from the Merriam-Webster dictionary online

How about some tea ice cream?

Since summer just officially started, cool and refreshing beverages – like iced tea – and foods are looking more and more appetizing. Did you know that tea and chai can be used to make some really delicious frozen desserts? Many of us have enjoyed green tea ice cream at a favorite Chinese restaurant, and some small ice cream companies are beginning to manufacture it, but green tea seems to be the only flavor available. Black, white, oolong tea and chai can be made into all sorts of delicious ice creams, varied by the type and flavor of tea used, as well as a range of other flavorings.

Ice cream and tea have been around for a long time, and it may be a surprise to you, but tea-flavored ice cream has been around for a long time, too! Here is a 19th century recipe for it:

Tea Ice Cream
2 tbs. tea
Boiling water, about 1/2 to 1 c.
1 qt. cream
Yolks of 8 eggs, beaten

Put two tablespoonfuls of good tea in a tea pot, pour on enough boiling water to cover it, and let it stand for half an hour to infuse. Stir into a quart of sweet cream the beaten yolks of eight eggs, and simmer it slowly till it becomes thick. Having strained the tea, stir it into the cream, and cool and freeze it as directed. [see below for Mrs. Bryan's freezing directions.]
From The Kentucky Housewife by Lettice Bryan, 1839

Now, despite what Mrs. Bryan recommends, I would not steep the tea for half an hour! That would tend to make the brewed tea very bitter, and I imagine that the bitterness would translate to the finished ice cream. It is interesting to me that the recipe doesn’t call for any sugar; the mention of “sweet cream” refers to fresh cream that has not yet soured, which raw milk and cream does naturally before it goes rancid and becomes inedible. For a more modern ice cream that will appeal to the 21st century sweet tooth, here is my adaptation of a recipe for Scented Geranium Ice Cream:

Modern Tea Ice Cream
2 teaspoons loose tea leaves
1 ¼ cups half and half
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream

Combine loose tea and half and half in saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let it stand and cool for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small stainless steel saucepan, whisk the sugar and egg yolks until they are light and frothy. Whisk the tea mixture into the egg mixture and cook the custard over low heat, stirring continually with a wooden spoon until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Next, strain the custard into a bowl and set the bowl in an ice bath to cool. Beat the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks, and gently fold it into the cooled custard. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the chilled custard into an 8-inch square baking dish and freeze it solid; then, break it up and process it in a food processor when frozen. Remove and place the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer, and let it set overnight before serving. Makes about 2 cups of ice cream.

Electric ice cream machines and freezers make the process a whole lot easier, but if you want to serve your ice cream in a more formal manner, why not try the method that was used before the invention of even hand-cranked ice cream makers? The earlier method of making ice cream was to prepare the custard, pour it into a metal mould, which could be a simple bowl or a fancy fruit basket shape (similar to chocolate molds, fancy Jello molds, or even specialty Bundt cake pans), which was covered tightly, and set in a bucket filled with ice and salt to freeze solid. The mould would have been dipped in hot water and inverted onto a platter for presentation and serving. You can omit the bucket of ice and salt by placing your ice cream mould in the freezer, and invert your fancy ice cream shape onto a chilled serving platter for your next party!

Whether frozen in a fancy mould, or scooped into sherbet glasses and garnished with fruit, edible flowers or sprigs of mint or other herbs, what could be more refreshing and elegant than homemade tea ice cream? It makes me wish I had room inside my freezer ...

Overview of how to make ice cream
Green tea ice cream recipe
Epicurious.com green tea ice cream recipe
How to make green tea ice cream without an ice cream maker
Chai ice cream recipe
Chai ice cream recipe from Simply Recipes
Vanilla Caramel black tea ice cream recipe
Another Vanilla Caramel tea ice cream recipe
Spiced tea ice cream recipe
Apricot Earl Grey tea ice cream recipe