urbàna tea blog
fresh thoughts, meditations and ramblings re. tea
if the thought of a grilled pimento cheese sandwich paired with darjeeling tea puts your salivary glands on overdrive, pick up the january issue of southpark magazine, on charlotte newsstands now. or, you can flip through the pages on-line at southparkmagazine.com. with urbana’s lounge on the cover, dwarfed by a tea-filled bodum pot, the feature article offers a guide to pairing southern culinary delights with eastern teas – balancing some less-than-healthy foods with our favorite healthy beverage. mouthwatering photos also include a krispy kreme donut paired with pu-erh, red velvet cake with houjicha green tea, and other tempting combinations. the article was written by our former teabar tender lindsey goodwin, who now calls portland, oregon home but still remembers southern cooking fondly.
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Flowering teas make beautiful holiday decorations, but here’s another use: a cocktail that’s pretty as a poinsettia! Happy holidays from all of us at Urbana Teas & Tonics!
FLOWERING TEA COCKTAIL
Ingredients
½ oz. Triple Sec
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Tequila
1-1/2 oz. Tea (1 Flowering Tea)
Splash of Syrup
1 Lemon Wedge
Ice Cubes
Instructions:
1. Brew one flowering tea (use 1.5 oz water for one bloom) for 10 minutes. Chill for use.
2. Pour the rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec, syrup, flowering tea infusion and lemon wedge into a shaker with ice cubes.
3. Shake well. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
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specialty coffee retailer’s november issue – the annual tea issue – focuses on four u.s. tea purveyors, including urbàna.
“we are honored to be included in this publication and to be featured alongside tea greats like san francisco’s samovar and d.c.’s teaism,” says urbàna owner nancy goodwin.
urbàna is featured for its unique approach to in-store retailing of tea. the spa, with full-service teabar that also sells wine, opened in 2006 in charlotte, north carolina. a second location opened in april in the lake norman area of charlotte.
goodwin notes that although many coffeehouses have a small shelf dedicated to tea, urbàna sells 100 teas but has never carried coffee. “we did think about a coffee scrub for the spa at one point,” she says, “ but with 3,000 teas in the world and no shortage of scrubs and lotions that contain tea, we’ve remained loyal to tea in our spa services.”
the november issue of specialty coffee retailer is on-line at: http://digitalmagazinetechnology.com/a/?KEY=specialtycoffeeretailer-09-11november#page=15
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Looking for some balance in your life? Let us introduce our limited supply of Ayurvedic teas, perfect for balancing the five elements, as well as improving metabolism (who doesn’t love that?). Pitta tea is fire-balancing; Vata blend is air-balancing; and Kapha tea is earth- and water-balancing. All three of these caffeine-free tisanes are beautiful to behold and create a true cup of calm. Don’t know your Ayurvedic mind and body type? Discover your dosha by taking a quick quiz at http://www.bindi.com/quiz.asp. Then call 866.5.URBANA, mention ‘Dosha Discount’ to receive 20% off your order, and we’ll ship it straightaway. (The Pitta, Vata and Kapha blends are regularly $2.50/ounce; free shipping on orders over $40.) These blends are not available on our website, but we’re waiting for your call!
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at the recent world tea expo, we had the pleasure of seeing tea master sen so’oku perform his art of “modern teaism.” in an interview with our tea sommelier on world tea news, he said tea “changes according to lifestyle. the older generation has its own lifestyle, which is more traditional, but the younger generation has a busy, contemporary life. they have to have their own ideas about tea.” agreed! although we don’t follow teaism (an approach to matcha preparation that borders on religion), we believe modern tea should suit the lives of the people who subscribe to it. soon, we’ll be introducing a program for tea-to-go at our new birkdale location, and we’ll add a fantastically portable tea infuser we found to our online offerings.
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spring has arrived, the birds are singing … and we’re tweeting, too! follow us on twitter for updates on our daily taste teas, our online half-off teas, teabar news, twitter-only specials and more at urbanatea on twitter!
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you may remember that tea and chocolate have a lot in common. did you know that they also make fantastic pairings? two years ago at the world tea expo, we learned from expert pearl dexter that there are three ways to look at tea and chocolate pairings. the first is a “friends,” teas and chocolates with similar characteristics. the second is as “lovers,” teas and chocolates that compliment each other through their differences. the third happens when both combine — pearl called it a “perfect match.” when pairing, remember that it’s all subjective — eat and drink what you love! — but to get you started, here are a few of our suggestions for tea and chocolate pairings:
white chocolate’s friend, organic silver needle — the subtle sweetness of both plays across the tongue. this is especially appealing if your white chocolate has honeyed notes like our silver needle white is known for.
white chocolate’s lover, ceremonial grade matcha — delicate sweetness and bold astringency couldn’t get more different, yet this pairing heightens the sense and plays up the nuances inherent to the chocolate and the tea. a white chocolate with tart berry notes can add a new dimension of flavor to this already adventuresome pairing.
white chocolate’s perfect match, organic darjeeling second flush muscatel — the delicate sweetness of both works with the depth and complexity of the darjeeling black tea for a perfect pairing.
spiced milk chocolate’s friend, cha cha chai with a splash of milk (or soymilk) — the spiciness, sweetness and creaminess all overlap in perfect harmony.
milk chocolate’s lover, organic spicy ginger yerba maté — spicy, bold and daring meets sweet, rich and classic for an ideal love match.
almond milk chocolate’s perfect match, almond cookies — green tea is a wonderfully refreshing foil for milk chocolate, but almond cookies brings magic to this pairing by highlighting the chocolate’s sweetness and nuttiness. delicious!
raspberry or strawberry dark chocolate’s friend, chocolate & strawberries — the richness of black tea and chocolate combine with the tartness of berries for a treat you won’t soon forget!
dark chocolate’s lover, serenity — it doesn’t get any more relaxing than chamomile, lavender and chocolate. dark, decadent chocolate is complimented by bright, playful floral notes for a “lovely” pairing.
spicy dark chocolate’s perfect match, vanilla cream – the richness of deep, dark chocolate and bold, black tea meld together, while spicy notes and vanilla make for an unexpectedly dynamite match.
what are your favorite tea and chocolate pairings?
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we’re reading “the way to tea: your adventure guide to san francisco tea culture.” not only does it lavishly illustrate sf’s blossoming tea scene with gorgeous (and abundant) photography, the text is informative and poetic. one of our favorite quotes: “like wine, each tea has its own characteristics and disposition. even more interestingly, that character is influenced by the water used in tea preparation, the person brewing the tea and the pot in which it is brewed. so each time a tea is brewed, it can and will manifest a nuanced variation.” we couldn’t agree more!
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stressed out? experts suggest relaxing over a cup of tea, or dropping caffeine in favor of botanicals (a.k.a. “herbal teas”).
apparently, a chemical unique to tea and a rare type of mushrooms used only in some asian cuisines contain l-theanine. it is shown to increase alpha waves in the brain — the waves responsible for increasing left-right brain connectivity and non-lateral (creative) thinking. it’s also shown to elevate mood and (with the caffeine in tea) cultivate a sense of focused calm, or what some people describe as “zen.” no wonder buddhist monks often drink matcha (a concentrated source of l-theanine and tea’s many other nutrients) as a meditation aid! l-theanine is also unique in that it is a stimulant and a relaxant, so some studies show it helps you stay alert but won’t keep you from falling asleep when you’re ready. unlike caffeine, its effects are long lasting — many say they feel l-theanine’s effects for about six hours — and it doesn’t induce a crash like so many get from colas and coffee.
if teas’ caffeine levels are still too much for your shaky nerves, try a soothing botanical. our favorites are tranquility (the name says it all), blueberry (antioxidant-rich and totally relaxing) and golden chamomile blossoms (a real “knockout” botanical). be sure to also check out rooibos, a nurturing, caffeine-free herb from south africa that makes for some great blends, like chocolate spice, macadamia nut and rooibos chai. find your favorite and wash your worries away with a pot of tea…
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apparently, the days of espresso-and-red-bull fueled techies are fast fading. now, the cool technorati drink tea. digg.com founder kevin rose told wired magazine, “it’s one of those things where you want to turn to something really natural and from the earth — and from something that isn’t going to give you a big crash. once you start consuming tea it makes sense: this is the best of all worlds.” we couldn’t agree more! rose’s current favorites include pu-erh and green tea. we find that a lot of people who are switching from coffee initially prefer black tea because of its relatively high caffeine levels, bold taste and natural added flavors, like rich, warming spices and soothing vanilla. regardless of your coffee preferences, we’re sure you can find something to meet all your coding, tweeting and white-board-writing needs after you read more about making the switch from coffee to tea on our blog. enjoy!
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