That dreaded time has come again: students (and some teachers) trudge back to the classroom for another academic year.

But this year it doesn’t have to be all bad - after all, there is tea.

Tea not only contains a form caffeine needed for students (and some teachers) to stay awake in class, but it also has a wonderful chemical called L-Theanine (not the Mexican wrestler) that helps promote a calm, clear focus for the brain.

Not only that, but scientific studies have found that tea actually helps fight the enzymes that kill brain cells - keeping those straight A’s coming!

That sure beats what they serve in those vending machines in the lunch room!

So stay enlightened and healthy this school year - drink lots of tea!

As tea lovers, we all know that drinking tea is good for us, but it still gets me excited to see yet another expert coming forward to reinforce this notion.

So when I went over to the Yahoo! homepage and saw a delicious cup of tea in the health feature section, I quickly clicked through.

While the article is fairly general, the information is obviously well-researched and presented in a manner that can still speak to the everyday consumer.  It discusses which 7 everyday beverages (besides water) are the best for you.  Prominently positioned on that list, as you may guess, was tea.

However, our favorite drink did not just take up one of the seven spots - not even two - but three of the top 7 healthiest everyday beverages (green tea, black tea and chamomile were all mentioned)!   That’s right, 43% of the beverages on the list can be purchased on our site!

That’s pretty impressive!

A few months ago, a wonderful young lady asked me, “Hey Chris, do you like cookies?”

Of course, the only logical response to this inquiry is, “Well, yeah! Who doesn’t like cookies?”

And that is when my now-friend Allison  - or, as she is known in the industry, Alley O’ - handed me something new.  Even better than cookies, I have since realized, are tea-infused cookies.

“Alley” makes many great organically made cookies, but by far my favorite that she offers is her Green Tea Zen cookie.

I was lucky enough to have my first bite of her new creation, as we got together to serve our products at a local Whole Foods yesterday.

The first bite is a sweet combination of organic brown sugar (none of that over-processed white stuff), chocolate and cranberries, which then fades into the familiar nutty, hearty flavor of a good Genmai cha.  All-in-all, a great cookie experience.

But what makes this cookie even sweeter is the fact that the tea that Mrs. O uses is none other than Tavalon!

And you don’t have to take my word for it, Alley’s cookies have been featured all over the place, including a huge endorsement from the likes of none other than Rachael Ray!

While Alley won’t divulge the secrets of her recipe for me to write about (word has it it is a family secret passed down through the generations), she bakes and sends the cookies as fresh as can be - chances are they’ll never make it out of the shipping box before they are devoured!

Try them now!

Tea is a beverage steeped in thousands of years of history, culture and enjoyment.

Throughout the years, it has been used as used as a form of international currency, traded for drugs to feed an addiction, and infused as a beverage in myriad fashions.

However, thanks to a little science and a great deal of ingenuity, we can say that this staple of our civilization now has a new application: one where you express your love of tea on your sleeve - literally.

Scientists at Imperial College London along with fashion designers from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design have been working to create a fabric, similar in texture to leather, but more lightweight and far more eco-friendly.

This material, which can be used to make anything from shirts, jackets, dresses to shoes, is made from - you guessed it - tea.  Here’s how they say it is made:

“It is made by combining tea leaves, sugar, water and other nutrients.  Over the course of several days, bacteria are added to the solution, producing long filaments of cellulose that clump together to form thin mats of fabric that float on the top of the mixture.

Once dried, this becomes become see-through and similar in appearance to papyrus. However, it can be treated, dyed and molded to produce different textures and effects.”

One snag they’ve run into, the article states, is that the bacteria tend to cause the “tea-shirts” to be a bit on the stinky side.  Once they can overcome this olfactory obstacle, you’ll be sure to see your friendly neighborhood Tea Sommelier rockin’ the look!

Probably one of the most common teas that restaurants and dairies try to turn into ice cream is the classic Earl Grey.  Having tried quite a few myself, I have been fairly disappointed with most of them.

They usually either come out too perfume-y (probably due to the fact that they use an Earl Grey which uses artificial flavors) or the combination of cream,  sugar and tea creates an odd aftertaste.

This problem is undoubtedly due to the fact that they are trying to replicate a cup of Earl Grey in ice cream form, rather than use Earl Grey as an ingredient to create a new flavor.

Using that idea as my inspiration, I set out to create a new ice cream flavor which used Earl Grey as a dimension of flavor, which is balanced and complemented by other flavors.

The result was clear by the amount of time the quart and a half of ice cream lasted in the Tavalon office (about 5 minutes): it was delicious and tasted completely different than any others out there.

Here goes:

Earl Grey Creamsicle Ice Cream
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk (separated into 1 cup and 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons Earl Grey Reserve
8 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange blossom water (can be found at any Middle Eastern Market, or make your own)

In a medium bowl, beat together the yolks and half of the sugar. You can beat by hand using a whisk or using a hand mixer or egg beater. Beat until thoroughly smooth and creamy. (A couple of minutes by hand.)

Put cream, 1 cup of the milk, the remaining half of the sugar, and the salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until just before it starts to simmer (do not let simmer), add tea leaves. Remove mixture from heat and let stand 10 minutes.

While the mixture is standing, prepare an ice water bath in a bowl large enough to set another bowl easily inside of it. Set aside.

Whisk in 1 cup of the cream mixture in a slow stream into the yolk mixture to temper it. Add another cup of the cream mixture; continue to whisk. Transfer the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining cream, milk and tea leaves. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180°, 5 to 7 minutes. (You can run your finger in a line over the back of the coated spoon. If the mixture doesn’t run, but stays in place on the spoon, it should be thick enough.) Remove from heat and mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and orange blossom water to stop the mixture from overcooking.

Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a stainless steel bowl set in the ice-water bath. Let cool completely, stirring until completely chilled.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

“While there’s tea, there’s hope.”- Arthur Pinero

“I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea. ” - Lu T’ung

“O Tea! O leaves torn from the sacred bough!
O stalk, gift born of the great gods!
What joyful region bored thee? In what part of the sky
Is the fostering earth swollen with your health, bringing increase.” - Pierre Daniel Huet

“Although my neighbors are all barbarians, and you, you are a thousand miles away, there are always two cups on my table.” - Ancient Chinese saying from the Tang Dynasty

“Come along inside… We’ll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place.” - Kenneth Grahame

“Strange how a teapot
Can represent at the same time
The comforts of solitude
And the pleasures of company.” - Japanese Zen Koan

As most doctors will tell you, eating more fish is usually a good thing.

However, when picking your seafood, it is important to look for a variety of aspects, including sustainability, mercury levels, etc..

Many fish are simply being consumed faster than they can be replaced, and a great deal of those fish, since they live longer lives, consume more food containing mercury - not the best thing for the human body (especially children).

Not to get on my high horse too much about the point, but if we made slightly more educated decisions at our favorite seafood joint or supermarket, the consequences would be immense.

Therefore, when I decided it was time to create a new tea-infused fish dish, I wanted a fish to that would meet these needs.

And, lo and behold, it wasn’t event that hard to find!  In fact, the aforementioned sea dweller is available in virtually any supermarket, it is one of the fastest-growing and therefore most resilient to fishing pressure, and has a wonderful sweet flavor that takes to tea perfectly!

The fish is known to Hawaiians as mahi-mahi, which literally translates to “strong-strong.”  However, this a reference to this fish’s swimming ability, not flavor - it’s mild and delicious!

Here’s the recipe:

Pouchong-Smoked Mahi Mahi
8 tsp Grand Pouchong, dry
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 mahi-mahi fillets
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place a large wok pan over a high heat.

Mix tea leaves and brown sugar in a bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Season the fish, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Put the tea mix in the middle of a sheet of aluminum foil. Place a second smaller piece of foil on top of the tea mixture and put the fillets on the top foil sheet.

Place the foil layers and fish directly onto the hot wok pan, cover with a lid and cook for about ten minutes, until the fish is cooked through.

(By the way, if you are looking for a good guide to selecting sustainable seafood, here is a great link that will answer all your queries!)