Tea

Tea Week: Pratico Kitchen Iced Tea Pitcher

August 11, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Pratico Kitchen Iced Tea Pitcher

It’s Tea Tuesday all week here at Style Chicks!

After a short break from the heat, the Fahrenheit is back to the mid-90s. So after my one cup of hot tea in the morning, it’s time to switch to iced tea.

Iced Tea doesn’t mean that you have to give up the great health and beauty benefits of brewed tea. That is why tea brewers like Pratico Kitchen Iced Tea Pitcher are fantastic: they brew regular loose tea, and then you can put it in the refrigerator to cool down to a nice, refreshing iced tea.

This Iced Tea Pitcher is especially suited to Iced Green Tea as the ample sized mesh strainer isn’t made of stainless steel, which alters the delicate taste of the green teas. It lets the leaves unfurl in the strainer, so you get the full taste and benefits of green tea.

Something that stands out about this pitcher is that is stays sealed once it is closed. If you are chilling your tea in the refrigerator, you can even put the pitcher on it’s side, and it won’t spill. After going through several supposedly sealed pitchers and having them leak, I’m thrilled to find one that actually stays sealed!

I like adding some fruit, especially citrus fruit, to complement the taste of my tea. It is easy to let the fruit infuse in the pitcher, and if you would just like an infused water, you can put berries or whatever you infusion recipe of choice is in the strainer to get delicious infused water!

Find this fantastic Iced Tea Pitcher at Amazon.com.

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I received this product at a discount in exchange for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and Iâ€™ll do my best to answer it!

Belated Tea Tuesday: IDAODAN Accurate Digital Kitchen Food Scale

August 3, 2016 · Leave a Comment

IDAODAN Accurate Digital Kitchen Food Scale

The StyleChicks have our share of kitchen gadgets geared towards foodies, and a high-quality digital food scale ranks amongst them because the ability to get precise measurements can make or break a cocktail, an amuse-bouche, or favorite dessert recipe. If you use gourmet specialty ingredients or connoisseur collection items in your food and drink, such as truffles, rare mushrooms or caviar, or high-end Matcha, teas, specialty oils, salts or cocoa powders, precision can be crucial. Not only are these ingredients costly, but small amounts go a long way in the overall taste of a recipe, and too much of a good thing can ruin an otherwise tasty dish.

ABOUT THE IDAODAN DIGITAL DISPLAY KITCHEN SCALE

Suitable for measuring both liquids and solids in a wide variety of units of measurement, I like that this Idaodan food scale has a large enough chrome plate to be able to place a mixing bowl directly on it for ingredient and combined ingredient measuring purposes. Using the “Tare” feature, the scale automatically subtracts the weight of the container or bowl holding the ingredients, which is especially useful to me when combining multiple ingredients. There is no point in prepping a pan or pot to cook your ingredients only to find out the combined weight or volume of your ingredients won’t fit. It is a versatile scale as it can weigh from 1 gram to 11 pounds. That is far superior to my previous food scale that had a weighing surface of about the size of a larger mug, which is limited in practicality when weighing anything that does not fit squarely into a measuring cup. This scale meets my needs from measuring delicate teas to preparing larger entree items.

USES FOR AN EXACTING PRECISE SCALE

EXACT MEASUREMENT RECIPES
Pinterest and other recipe websites are filled with tempting yet delicate recipes that are not, in fact, all that ambitious do but require VERY precise measurements, such as Macaroons. Many a macaroon attempt fails, and the aspiring Martha Stewart DIY Baker is left to wonder why. It is not that macaroons are that difficult to make, but your measurements must be very accurate: there is no “guess-estimating” in macaroons. A scale such as this one is capable of these very exacting measurements as it is more sensitive than your typical kitchen scale.

Another type of precise measurement recipe would be delicate white and green teas, notably matcha. A high-quality matcha comes in a smaller tin; it is highly concentrated, and a little too much quickly makes for a bitter drink. If the Matcha in your recipes, smoothies or tea seems too bitter despite correct brewing practices, consider measuring matcha by weight on a precise scale.

If you enjoy making copycat versions of restaurant or coffeehouse style drinks and foods at home, these often require precise measurements of key ingredients to emulate the exact taste of your restaurant favorites. For example, I find my at-home version of Starbucks drinks taste much more authentic when I precisely measure the flavored syrups and supporting ingredients.

PORTION CONTROL
This scale is also very useful to those who are concerned with portion control for weight loss or health-related food restrictions. When I was trying to lose a few pounds, I had limited success and couldn’t understand why. I thought I was consuming appropriate portion sizes until I started to measure them and found out I was way off in my estimations of portion sizing. It turned out, I was eating 2-3 times the predetermined portion size, especially on meats and starches. If like me, you feel you are adhering to a diet but you’re just not making progress, a precise kitchen scale to measure portion size is a sound investment for both your appearance and health.

GIFT IDEA
The scale has an easy to read, large LED screen display, and it comes with batteries, so it is an easy-to-use and convenient gift for your favorite foodies, bakers, and cooks.

OTHER EXACT MEASUREMENT USES
Thinking of trying some of the at-home DIY beauty recipes for hair conditioners, moisturizers, and creams you see online? These often require exact ratios of product to work. And while intended as a food scale, those with a home business or who sell items on eBay and Etsy may find the precise weighing capabilities an asset for knowing exact postage costs.

DIGITAL SCALE USE REMINDERS

1) Electron currents can interfere with the scales’ ability to calibrate and weight. This means no cell phones or microwaves immediately adjacent to the scale.

2) When you are not weighing, do not leave the bowl on the scale for extended periods of time.

CONCLUSION: The IDAODAN Digital Kitchen Food Scale is very useful kitchen item for precisely measuring portion size, for exact measurements of small increments of ingredients such as matchas, cocoas, specialty salts and oils, and for exact ratio measuring. The Tare feature is very useful as well as the ability to measure liquids and solids quickly and precisely.

Find it at Amazon.com. Style Chicks readers get an extra 10% off with code IDAODAN2Â at checkout!

IDAODAN Accurate Digital Kitchen Food Scale

I received this product in exchange for my unbiased review and received compensation for my time and effort. However, my experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Teabook Premium Tea Gift Box

June 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Teabook Premium Tea Gift Set

THE SET
This Teabook Premium Teas set is a tea tumbler with a boxed set of pre-portioned loose tea pouches that come as four each of rare Greens, Whites, Oolongs, and Reds plus a Special Collection bonus pouch of a rare tea, in this case, a specialty Red. The sampler provides a taste of some of the loose teas available from the Teabook Premium Tea service; a discount subscription card comes with the box for 20% off.

The teas are pesticide free. The tea flavors are:

WHITE: Silver Needle white tea is a delicate tea that tastes of melon, blackberries, and a warm bread sort of aroma.

GREEN: Green Bud Green tea is mild and buttery tasting, more of a mint leaf leaning than a vegetable leaf one. This tea is an authentic green, which if one is unaccustomed to greens may seem bitter. I am a hardcore loose green tea drinker, and I like this blend. I got two brews out of the same leaves. If you are a seasoned green tea drinker, you will find this to be a pure green but not bitter, slightly sweet without any added flavorings. If you are new to green teas, you may wish to add some sweetener to the first brew, or you may prefer the less beneficial but still tasty second brew.

OOLONG: Bai Hao Oolong tea (Oriental Beauty) from China is a sweet tea with dark chocolate and raspberry overtones. To me, this Oolong has a bit of a liquor taste while still being delicate and this is my favorite of the four with a very pale golden color when brewed.

RED: Sunset Red (Hunan Hong) from China, it tastes like caramel and chocolate. I am personally not much of a fan of red teas, but this one does have a certain appeal with unexpected flavors that are tasty on a red tea base.

A concern I had about these teas, especially the White and the Oolong, is would they overbrew in the tumbler since most delicate teas should only be brewed for a minute or two? These teas do not seem too bitter to me; Teabook says this is because they chose only high-quality teas. Even when I drink the tea over the course of a few hours, it does not get bitter. I can also get a second brew off of the same pouch, not as strong as the first but still tasty.

PRESENTATION
This set could make a lovely gift although the outside of the box that the teas come in does not seem very gift-like. There are tea-related quotes and sayings inside the box itself, and it does keep the tea pouches in good condition. I, however, would be happy to get this as a gift or give it as a gift for a tea lover, and it is probably something I would not have noticed if I wasn’t for examining the item for review purposes.

This set contains a quality twelve-ounce tumbler. I like this tumbler because it has a double wall so it is heat insulated and I don’t burn my hands holding it. It is relatively easy to clean considering the infusing filter that is used to keep the loose tea away from the drinking area of the tumbler. The filter is sturdy and keeps any tea “floaters” away from the brewing area with a well-designed drinking compartment underneath the stainless steel cap. The tumbler can also be used for fruit infused waters and cold tea, but it should not be put in the microwave. It is sturdy.

I especially like how beautiful it is to watch loose teas unfurl, especially the green, as they infuse in the water like a slow motion dance! Having such a well-designed filter compartment keeps even tiny tea leaves strained away from the drinking area, and makes it easy to drink loose teas.

Recommended item because it is a well-designed tumbler that doubles as a fruit water infuser, tasty tea choices, and coupon code for discounts on future tea purchases at TeaBook.

Natures Nectar Ultra Premium Natural Organic Matcha Green Tea

May 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment

The Style Chicks have long enjoyed a good cup of green tea: a tasty warm treat that does wonders for the skin, metabolism, and energy. Green Tea aids in hair growth. Green Tea contains Vitamin B, and its’ anti-inflammatory properties are significant. To get skin glowing the day before an event, we started drinking a minimum of 2-3 cups of green tea per day as was recommended in Dr. Nicholas Perricone’s 3-day “Anti-inflammatory Diet.” When you drink 3 cups of green tea in a day, your skin is luminous, dewy and glowing.

But sometimes it is tough to consume 3 cups of green tea a day when I really feel like I just want a double espresso with whip to get over my afternoon energy slump. An easy fix for this problem is to drink Matcha. Matcha tea has about half the caffeine of an espresso shot. AND it makes you extra pretty.

WHAT IS MATCHA & WHY SHOULD I DRINK IT?
Matcha is ground tea leaves which make for an intensely concentrated tea, something of a super tea, which has more than 100 times as much Polyphenols as regular green tea. One cup of matcha tea per day is enough for a jitter-free time released energy boost, glowing skin, weight management, increased metabolism and maximum health benefits. Matcha has highly concentrated green tea benefits, but you can get too much of a good thing. Drinking too much of any green, white or black tea can deplete iron in the blood, and all natural tea leaves, like anything else grown in soil, can have minuscule traces of lead. After one cup of matcha per day, you have gained all the Polyphenols, Amino Acids, and metabolism boost that you need.

A cup of Matcha in the afternoon can be an easy alternative to drinking multiple cups of green tea or a coffee substitute when you need some energy. Personally, I can use as much caffeine as I can get, but I do enjoy the energy boost from a good cup of Matcha because there is no “crash” from it like I get from some other caffeinated drinks.

HOW TO MAKE MATCHA TEA
To make Matcha tea, add 1 gram (just shy of a 1/4 teaspoon, .20 of a teaspoon to be exact) of Matcha powder to 6-8 ounces of hot but not boiling water and whisk until the powder dissolves. If you don’t have a matcha whisk, use the smallest whisk you have. Whisk the tea until you have a light froth, probably 30 seconds to a minute. To froth, quickly move your whisk in an M motion (remember: “M” for Matcha!)

A RECOMMENDED MATCHA TEA FOR DRINKING
Nature’s Nectar Ultra Premium Natural Matcha Green Tea is a ceremonial grade Matcha that is delicate and sweet without tasting artificially sweet. If you already drink green tea, you will notice it has a superior flavor of not tasting ‘vegetable-y’ or bitter, just a warm and delicate flavoring. The intensity can be richer depending on the amount of powder and water used, but this tin is a 30 day supply, 1 gram a day. Some brands are an entire teaspoon of Matcha per cup; that is too much powder for a fine grade Matcha such as this one. There is no need to over-do it with this Matcha as it has 137 times more Polyphenols than regular green tea, so you don’t need more any powder than suggested to optimize your green tea benefits. Nature’s Nectar Matcha is also organic and gluten free.

Something else I noticed about Nature’s Nectar Matcha is it is a much brighter green than the other Matcha’s I have. When I select a Matcha, I look for the most vivid green I can get not just because it makes for a prettier cup of Matcha but the colorful green means it is also packed with Amino Acids.

While this Matcha can be added to smoothies and drinks, but since it is such a high-grade matcha, I only drink it straight as a tea and use my less tasty Matchas for including in Matcha-based beverages.

DRINKING GRADE VERSES BAKING GRADE
Here is where Matcha can get tricky: a Matcha powder suitable for drinking as a tea should be a pure and high-quality matcha powder with an intentional blend of green tea leaf varieties. These Nature’s Nectar Matcha leaves are the preferred “first harvest” leaves which make the freshest tea and the highest levels of green tea benefits. A quality Matcha is often labeled as “ceremonial grade”. These Matcha powders often come packaged in a relatively smaller tin than those sold in bulk or bagged. They are also more expensive than those intended for making beverages featuring Matcha. For example, Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix is a larger container of powder best suited for use in lattes and recipes because the Matcha is pre-mixed with sugar cane, coconut and milk powders. Good in a DIY latte but not suitable as a matcha powder for tea. A pure matcha suited for drinking as a Matcha tea can be pricey but costs far less per cup than an afternoon run to a coffeehouse for a double espresso. And it is super simple to make.

Matcha TIPS and HACKS:

Once opened, store matcha in the refrigerator to maintain its fresh taste and vibrant green color.

Is your Matcha tea too bitter? Bring water to only a near boil, or wait for one to two minutes after boiling before pouring the water into your cup. Water at 194 degrees Fahrenheit (90 Celsius) and below will produce sweeter Matcha tea than when mixed with boiling water.

Need an extra brain power boost? The lower the temperature of the hot water, the more Theanine that brews. Theanine is the part of green tea that causes brain focusing and mental alertness. Can you tolerate a little extra bitterness for the sake of beauty? Then brew up a nice extra hot cup.

Matcha makes for a great pre-workout caffeine boost that will give you sustained energy without the mid-workout crash.

Natures Nectar Ultra Premium Natural Organic Matcha Green Tea

Tea Tuesday: Willow & Everett Glass Teapot Infuser Warmer

April 26, 2016 · Leave a Comment

This is a functional yet attractive piece, it hold 40oz and comes with a warmer that looks like a zippered sweater for a teapot to keep the tea warm and to make it portable.

This is suitable for personal at-home use, at the office and attractive for entertaining as it has the capacity to serve tea to five or six guests. The pot is glass and the lid and built-in strainer components are a rust-free stainless steel. The design of the strainer fitting into a funnel-shaped holder keeps loose tea leaves out of the water and allows the loose tea leaves plenty of room to unfurl and brew. I like using this with some of my loose teas that have dried fruit pieces in them because it allows plenty of room for them to expand and infuse the tea with flavor.

The stainless steel portion of the lid and strainer and funnel-shaped strainer base can be easily removed, and the glass container itself can be microwaved to reheat the tea, but delicate tea such as whites, oolong, and some greens, it may be preferable to just keep it warm with the cozy so as not to make the tea bitter with a re-heating. It is also convenient to be able to easily remove the strainer after brewing delicate teas such as some whites that only brew for a minute or two.

The only issue I am concerned about is how fragile the glass is so I will be keeping the zippered warmer cozy on the teapot itself most of the time. Makes for a nice gift for a tea lover.

Find it at Amazon.com.

Willow & Everett Glass Teapot Infuser Warmer

I received this item for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with the product, leave a comment in the box below!