Brewing Instructions
It's quite simple! For each cup of tea, use one teaspoon full of tea leaves, more if you you like your tea stronger, less if you like it weaker. For black teas and herbal teas, pour boiling water* over the tea leaves and let them steep. Each tea comes with its own brewing directions, but black teas are generally steeped between 3-5 minutes and herbals between 8-12 minutes. After the tea has steeped, pull out the brew basket/filter/tea ball or push down on the plunger of the tea press to keep the tea leaves from steeping longer.

Please note that green and white teas should be made with very hot but not boiling water - bring water to a boil and then let it cool for 5-10 seconds before you pour it onto the leaves. Green tea made with boiling water often becomes bitter and looses its sweetness.

* If you are making tea at the office and do not have access to boiling water, you can substitute very hot water from the faucet or microwave. The hotter the water, the better it will extract the flavor from the tea leaves.

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Iced Tea/Sun Tea

Just about any our teas can be made into a delicious Iced Tea. Generally, the stronger and more full-bodied the tea, the more flavorful the ice tea will be. But we also have customers who love our lighter, more delicate teas chilled over ice.

To make any tea into an ice tea, you can either brew it double strength (i.e. 2 tsps of tea per cup) and pour the hot tea over ice to chill it OR you can brew the tea regular strength and chill it in the refrigerator for a few hours before you enjoy.

If you do not have a tea pot or tea press that allows you to steep several cups of tea at a time, boil water in a pot on the stove, add your tea leaves and turn off the heat. Let the tea steep according to the directions on your package (each one of our teas comes with brewing instructions) and then just strain through a brew basket or other fine strainer.

To make Sun Tea, add the appropriate amount of tea to a pitcher of water, cover and set it outside in the sun or inside on a sunny window sill. Let the tea steep for several hours, until it reaches the desired strength. Strain, add sweetener to taste and enjoy! For any of our teas that contain mint, add a sprig of fresh mint for an extra treat and add slices of lemon or orange to any of the fruit teas.

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Chai Original/Herbal

Chai originated in northern India, parts of Nepal and Tibet as a very special kind of tea. Chai generally combines exotic spices, milk, sweeteners and strong black tea and is as individual as the person making it. You can use whole milk or skim milk, cow's milk or soy milk (we like Plain Silk Soy for a rich creamy taste) and use sugar (brown or white), artificial sweeteners or honey (we like orange blossom honey) to give it sweetness. How much you use is up to you and your taste buds; there is no right or wrong way. The recipe below is our favorite and that's what you've tasted if you have had our chai at our booth at one of the gourmet food or craft fairs in New England.

To make one cup of chai, pour 3/4 cup of boiling water on 1 teaspoon of the chai mix and steep for 3-5 minutes. Strain, then add 1/4 cup of milk and about 3/4 teaspoon of honey or sugar to taste.

To make several cups of chai, it is easiest to boil the mixture on the stove. For each cup, boil 6 oz. of water. Stir the packet of Chai blend to mix tea and spices, then scoop out 1 level measuring teaspoon of Chai blend for each cup and add to water. Boil for 3-4 minutes, and then add 2oz. of milk or soy milk per cup. Bring mixture back to a boil for a few seconds, then strain, add 3/4 tsp. of honey per cup and serve. Add more honey to taste. Enjoy!

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Mint Tea Moroccan Style

Unlike in much of the Western World, mint tea in the Middle East is served in glasses, with or without handles and with lots of sugar. Despite the heat in many of the countries, mint tea is served piping hot, not iced - the rationale being that hot tea will make you sweat which in turn will cool your body more efficiently than a cool beverage could.

To make our Moroccan Mint tea Middle Eastern style, pour boiling water over our tea blend (1 tsp per cup) and several small fresh sprigs of peppermint or spearmint - I use 2-3 sprigs (each with several leaves) for a 5-6 cup teapot. Let tea steep for 4-5 minutes (if you like it stronger, leave it longer, but green tea has a tendency to get bitter when over steeped) and strain. Add 1 tsp of sugar per cup and stir well. Garnish each tea glass with another small sprig of mint and pour the tea from up high (so there is a long stream), so it frothes a little in the glass. Sip and Enjoy!

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Port O'Call Marinade for fish and poultry

Quite by accident we discovered that our Port O'Call ginger tea makes a wonderful marinade for fish and chicken: We were making tilapia fish one night and wanted to spice it up with some ginger and lemon grass when we looked at the tea container of Port O'Call with its ginger, lemongrass, sweet basil and orange peel it makes a wonderful base for a marinade! You can substitute different kinds of fish or poultry in the recipe below and vary the amount of lemon juice depending on how tart you like it.

Ingredients
4 Tilapia filets
2-3 lemons or limes
3 heaping tsp of Port O'Call tea blend
Salt
Pepper
Water

Wash and dry tilapia filets and place them in a shallow dish. Squeeze the juice of 2-3 lemons or limes into a separate container, and stir in the Port O'Call, add 4 pinches of salt and a little pepper; and add enough water to make at least 1 cup of marinade. Pour over the filets. Marinate in the refridgerator for 30-45 minutes turning the filets once.

Sauté filets quickly on medium heat - we like to turn the heat down and add the marinade to the pan for even more intense flavor. Let the fish stew a bit and bring the sauce to a boil.

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Scones/Teacakes

Preheat oven to 350°F. In small non-stick sauté pan, mash half the strawberries. Cook on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until juices dry up. Set aside to cool. Mash remaining berries; Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in wheat germ. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and water, then mix. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold in strawberries and nuts. Turn into greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Yield: 1 loaf.

Position a rack in the middle of an oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C)

In a bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir until well blended. Drop the butter cubes into the flour mixture and, using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in currants.

Remove the zest from the orange: Using a fine-holed grater and holding the grater over a bowl, grate the zest (orange part only) from the skin of the orange. Be sure to include all the zest clinging to the grater. Add 1 cup of cream to the zest and stir to blend. Use a wooden spoon to quickly stir the cream-zest mixture into the flour mixture.

Form the soft dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, knead the dough 4 or 5 times, then roll out (or pat with your hands) into a 9-inch square about ½ inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the square into 3 strips each about 3 inches wide. Cut each strip into 5 triangles. Place on ungreased baking sheet about ½ inch apart. Brush the tops of the triangles with cream.

Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-6 minutes, then serve warm with butter and homemade jam.

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