Where it’s not (ie, Vancouver), they keep you happy.
Basically, it’s always a good time for a tea pop.
Here’s how to make them:
Simply cold brew a jar of Maracuja Orange for 6 hours or more in your fridge. (Place 2 heaping tbs of loose-leaf tea into the jar, fill with cold water, shake, cover and place in your fridge. Give it a little shake every hour or so.) Once it’s finished brewing, shake it and pour through a strainer into another jar. Add 2 tbs simple syrup, shake and pour into your favourite popsicle molds. Place into the freezer and wait patiently.
Bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Add pineapple, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let
sit 30 minutes to infuse syrup with pineapple flavor. Strain into a small
bowl; stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub until cold, about 30 minutes. Cover and chill pineapple pieces until ready to use.
Meanwhile, cold brew Berries Galore: place 2 tbs tea into a 1-Litre jar and fill with cold water. Cover, shake and place in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
Set aside 8 slices jalapeño and 8 pieces pineapple for serving. Stir mint, lime wheels, tequila (if desired), lime juice, remaining jalapeño and pineapple, 1 cup shrub, and 1 cup tea in a large
pitcher and chill at least 1 hour.
Serve in ice-filled rocks glasses garnished with
reserved jalapeño slices and pineapple pieces.
We made jell-o! Well I guess technically jelly but that doesn’t sound quite as exciting. It was surprisingly easy, delicious and is a really healthy snack. Here’s what we did:
Pour the strained tea into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of gelatin (we used this one) and bring to a low simmer. Stir in 1-2 tbs honey and stir until completely combined.
Turn off the heat, let it cool and pour it back into a big jar, cake pan or little molds. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!
If you have a little one at home (or
more than 1), you know that anything you eat or drink is literally up for
grabs. We have learned to quickly scarf down desserts and throw back glasses of
wine. And kombucha. She loves kombucha! This, along with our goal of exposing
said little one to different flavours in her food, materialised into: letting
her drink our tea.
While this usually looks like just giving her sips out of
our mugs once the tea has cooled, we sometimes succeed at proactivity and cold-
brew an herbal tea overnight in the fridge to let her drink on its own or in a
smoothie. (See cold-brewing instructions here.) As evident by the big smile on
his face, her best little friend Tom who lives next door has been loving this
month’s Baked Apple Rooibos! His parents brew it hot and then let it cool
before putting it in his sippy cup for him to enjoy. Rooibos is particularly
good for kids because it’s so high in vitamin c and antioxidants, and also
great for digestion. So go ahead and brew a pot! You might even get to drink
some this time.
This is actually how we cold brew any tea, but cold brewing is perfect for this kind of tea as it brings out all the flavour with none of the astringency.
Step 1: Measure one tablespoon per 500ml mason jar.
Step 2: Add cold water, filling the mason jar. Tighten lid firmly and shake
well. Place in fridge for a minimum of 4 hours to a maximum of 10 hours. We loved this tea after 5 hours, but cold brewing forgives both impatience and forgetfulness.
Step 3: Remove from fridge. Feel the excitement.
Step 4: Strain the leaves as you serve the tea. Enjoy! Celebrate your awesomeness.
Cold brew is where the Venn diagram of lazy and awesome meet: little effort for a result that is flavourful, never bitter and often even better than the hot version.
You need to know how to make this if you want to be prepared for summer.
For 1 litre:
Pour 2 tbs of loose tea into a 1 litre mason jar, then fill with cold water. Cover tightly with a screw-top lid and shake well. Place in your fridge for 5 hours or overnight. Strain and enjoy!
Icy things for a teething
toddler are always great. But what about the teething toddler’s parent? Surely
this person needs a special treat as well. And wait. What about the teething
toddler’s parent’s friends and neighbours? And their friends and neighbours?
All of these people clearly need icy treats.
These popsicles are
just that…they are dark and fruity, sweetly spiked, and not the least bit
kid-friendly. The perfect treat to keep cool…both temperature-wise and
temperament-wise.
Remember to share them with your
friends and neighbours.
Crimson Berry Sangria
Pops
750 mL sweet red wine
2 cups cold-brew Crimson
Berry tea
2 apples, cored and
sliced
2 oranges, sliced (peel
on)
1 cup sliced pineapple
¼ cup simple syrup
Pour the wine into a
saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, reducing to 2 ½ cups. Add the
rest of the ingredients while the wine is still warm, place in your fridge to sit
overnight. Strain, pour into popsicle molds, freeze and wait patiently. Enjoy!
I love baking. But this heat wave we’ve been having in Vancouver has been a little less than inspiring. That, plus Bon Appetit’s collection of summer bubbly cocktails got me thinking – what if we could replace the champagne with Strawberry Champagne cold-brewed tea? The answer: YES.
Some notes: We cold-brewed the tea in our fridge for about 5 hours by putting 2 tbs of loose tea in a mason jar, filling it with water, screwing the lid on and leaving it in the fridge to cold brew. That’s it! 1 litre was enough to make 1 of each drink.
I would suggest strongly against putting the cold tea through your soda machine (if you have one) to add bubbles. It was a nice idea but…the tea exploded everywhere and the extensive clean-up process woke the baby up for several hours. #neveragain
If you do like (real) bubbly, we think you could play with the recipe a bit and add it!
Ginger fizz (the mocktail) was my favourite, but I’m a little ginger-obsessed, so…
Michael loved the Pomegranate Punch. It’s sweet and fresh and goes down a little too easily.
The French 75 was great – dry and packed a good punch.
Whatever you decide to do, let us know! Post a picture and your comments on Instagram and tag @tea.sparrow, using the hashtag #bringonthebubbles. Our favourite entry will win a free month of tea!
It’s spring! Well…practically…depending on where you live. We decided that this weather and this month’s green tea were the perfect reasons to make tea sangria.
We used this recipe from Minimalist Baker and swapped out half the wine for cold-brewed Raspberry Green tea, and it was delicious! Feel free to play with the ingredients or use your own sangria recipe, and let us know how it turns out!
Ingredients
½ apple, cored, skin on, chopped into small pieces
½ orange, rind on, sliced into small pieces, large seeds removed (plus more for garnish)
3-4 Tbsp brown sugar
¾ cup orange juice, plus more to taste
1/3 cup brandy, plus more to taste
1 ½ cups dry Spanish red wine
1 ½ cups cold-brewed Raspberry Green Tea
Ice to chill (~1 cup)
Instructions
Add apples, oranges and sugar to a large pitcher and muddle with a muddler or wooden spoon for 45 seconds.
Add orange juice and brandy and muddle again to combine for 30 seconds.
Add
red wine, cold-brewed tea and stir to incorporate, then taste and adjust flavour as
needed. Feel free to add a bit more brandy, orange juice and brown sugar. Stir to
combine.
Add ice and stir once more to chill. Serve as is, or with a bit more ice. Garnish with orange segments if you want.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours, although it’s great when fresh, and even better enjoyed in the sun with your feet up.
Bourbon iced tea!
We used smittenkitchen’s recipe and our own cold-brewed Kenyan Estate black tea from justea. Here’s the recipe, in slower motion:
3 oz cold-brewed Mount Kenyan Estate, 2 oz grapefruit juice (Trader-Joe’s), 1 oz bourbon (we tried a few and went with our family favourite, Four Roses), juice of ½ lime, ½ tbs. sugar.
Fill a shaker with ice and shake well. Fill 2 glasses with ice, pour and enjoy! Add sprig of mint if you’d like…we forgot but it was still delish.
