With these hot, sunny days filling most of early May, it should come as no surprise that my mind has already turned to thoughts of cool relief (of course, in the form of tea!).

Here is the first of my new recipes that are sure to delight, refresh and rejuvenate through the heat of summer:

Sweet Lemongrass and Fresh Mint Sorbet

3 tbsp Sweet Lemongrass, dry
3 cups water
3/4 cup fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup sugar

In a saucepan, bring water to a boil then remove from heat. Add herbal tea, cover, and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Add mint and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids. Chill syrup, covered, until cold and process in an ice-cream maker (according to manufacturer’s instructions).

Enjoy!

Take a look at some of the amazing excerpts from the new book Tea Horse Road below:

Probably the most significant wedding tea that was given was as a gift to the country of Great Britain in 1660, when Charles II first brought it into the country.

Previously, the mischievous Oliver Cromwell had sparked a revolution that forced most of the aristocracy to either leave the country or perish. Therefore, when Charles married Portuguese Princess Catherine, they were living in exile in Denmark.

At that time in Denmark, tea was already enjoying widespread popularity. Both Charles and Catherine were huge fans.

Not too long later, when Cromwell misplaced his head, the couple was able to return to England. They brought a chest of tea with them, which was met with thirsty enthusiasm by the British court.

This gift provoked the craze for tea in Great Britain (in which the English are still fully embroiled), who then passed along the thirst to their Yankee counterparts in the early Americas.

Charles II is often referred to as the “Merry Monarch,” which one must conclude is due to his passion for life, love and the pursuit of great tea!

Tea drinkers have had to endure a cup of plain ol’, poo-free tea, while coffee drinkers are prancing around drinking Kopi Luwak, a coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet, then …well, “passed through” its digestive tract (if you know what I’m saying).  Not only that, but these coffee drinkers were lucky enough to be paying out the you-know-what for the privilege to drink the poo-laced delicacy.

But have no fear, my brave tea drinkers, Chinese entrepreneur An Yanshi has some good news for you: you’ll be getting your poo soon enough!  He is convinced he has found the key ingredient to produce the world’s most expensive tea - panda poo.  And he’s willing to put his poo where is mouth is - he purchased 11 tons of excrement from a panda breeding center to use as fertilizer in his tea plantation in southwestern China.

And I hate to admit it, but there is a speck of good science there - pandas only absorb about 30% of the nutrients in the bamboo that they consume, excreting the remaining 70 percent.  This leads to soil which is quite rich, perfect for growing hardy tea plants.

That being said, with a pricetag of almost 220,000 yuan ($35,000) for just 500 grams (a little over a pound) - making it one of the most expensive teas in the world -  the “Panda Tea” idea (note that they’ve left an important word out of the title!) does seem to be a bit of a stinker.

I guess I’ll have to stick with my poo-free tea until they find a way to raise the economies of scale to make it a bit more tangible to the everyday tea drinker.

Oh, well… until that day arrives I’ll just have to brew up a cup of Pu Erh and just have to imagine that it has real poo in it.

(Or I could go down to my local supermarket and buy a box of the bottom-of-the-barrel crap they pass off as real tea!)

So this year I present to you a “cheater version” of this recipe, which has been thoroughly enjoyed in the Tavalon breakroom for the past couple weeks (without the optional booze, I would hope).  Since it doesn’t taste exactly the same as the original recipe, the staff has given it a new moniker, Cheggnog (which I secretly refer to as “Cheater Eggnog“… but it is still pretty good).

The major difference between this recipe and the previous is that we go back on the original premise that you have to make the eggnog from scratch, instead emphasizing that the quality of the store-bought brand is essential.

Instead of buying the bottom-of-the-barrel eggnog found in most corner supermarkets, I encourage you to try to find one in which you can pronounce most of the ingredients, and preferably is organic.

After that, you just heat and add tea!  Enjoy:

Cheggnog

4 cups high-quality store-bought eggnog, preferably organic
1 heaping tablespoon Kama Chai Sutra
Spiced Rum or Bourbon (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat the eggnog until just before boiling. Remove from heat, add tea leaves, stir and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Strain and chill for 3 hours.

Once it is thoroughly chilled, serve in a teacup with 1.5 oz of rum or bourbon (if using) and sprinkle with a bit of nutmeg.

Merry Christmas to all!

And what could be more amazing than a Sufganiyot (an Israeli doughnut) infused with tea?!

So here, for my Jewish friends and goyim alike, here is my version of a recipe I found on one of my favorite websites, Chow.com.

Kama Chai Sufganiyot with Orange-Pumpkin Buttercream

For the doughnuts:
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
Vegetable oil, for coating the bowl
1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon Kama Chai Sutra
1/3 cup whole milk
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick), cut into 8 pieces and at room temperature

For the buttercream filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
1/4 cup pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

To finish:
2 quarts vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar

For the doughnuts, first place 2 1/2 cups of flour, the cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to aerate and combine; set aside. Coat a second large bowl with vegetable oil; set aside.

Then, steep your tea leaves for 7 minutes, then strain and allow to cool to just over room temperature (anywhere between 105F to 115F).

Place the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in a medium bowl. Add the warm tea and stir to combine, then let sit until the mixture is foaming, about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add this mixture to the reserved flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and begins to form a ball.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Scatter the butter pieces over the dough and knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add up to 1/4 cup of additional flour as needed if the dough is sticky. Form the dough into a ball, place it in the oiled bowl, and turn to coat it in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Once the dough has risen, punch it down, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and roll it out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2-1/2-inch round cutter, stamp out as many dough rounds as possible and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1/4 inch apart. Gather the dough scraps into a ball and roll out and cut again. Discard any remaining dough scraps.

Cover the dough rounds loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let them rise in a warm place until puffy and about 1/2 inch thick, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the filling.

For the buttercream filling, place the butter, pumpkin, nutmeg, and orange zest (if using) in a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Add the powdered sugar and whisk until completely smooth and combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip; set aside at room temperature.

To finish:

Place the oil in a Dutch oven or a large, heavy-bottomed pot and set it over medium heat until the temperature reaches 365°F on a candy/fat thermometer. Meanwhile, fit a wire rack over a second baking sheet; set aside. Place the sugar in a large bowl; set aside.
When the oil is ready, add 4 of the dough rounds and fry until golden brown, flipping halfway through, about 2 minutes total. (If air bubbles appear in the doughnuts, pierce them with the tip of a paring knife.) Using a slotted spoon, remove the doughnuts to the wire rack. Add 4 more dough rounds to the oil. While these dough rounds are frying, use tongs to transfer the first 4 (still-hot) doughnuts into the bowl of sugar. Toss to coat in the sugar, then return to the wire rack. Repeat frying and sugarcoating the remaining dough rounds.

When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to puncture the side of each to form a pocket in the center. Place the tip of the piping bag into the pocket and pipe about 1 heaping teaspoon of buttercream inside.

Instead of that gross can-shaped glob of super-sweet cranberry sauce, here is a super-delicious tea-infused alternative your guests will be sure to gobble down!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crimson Punch Cranberry Compote

2 cups sugar
3 cups Crimson Punch
2 pounds fresh cranberries, washed
4 allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
1 large or 2 small fresh bay leaf
1 orange, juiced and zested in strips
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

In a saute pan, add sugar and herbal tea. Bring to a simmer and cook until it creates slow bubbles. Add cranberries and stir, bringing temperature to low.

Continue to cook cranberries, stirring frequently, 2 to 3 minutes. Add allspice, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaf, orange juice, zest and salt.

Cook until cranberries begin to burst and thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

Remove allspice, cinnamon, bay leaf, star anise, and orange zest from cranberries mixture and either puree cranberries in a high-speed blender for smooth cranberry compote, or leave as is for textured compote.

While this statement may seem to be a bit odd, it is for good reason: this weekend we will be the official tea of the 2011 International Emmy Awards - for the second year in a row!

That’s right, they enjoyed the tea (ahem, and tea cocktails) so thoroughly last year that they invited us back for seconds!

This year one of my newest creations (which I promise to share the recipe for after the festivities are over) - the Peachy Oolong Bellini - is going to be the champagne toast to start the whole awards ceremony.

On top of that, we will have our very own lounge in the festival, dubbed the Emmy-Winning Tavalon Tea Lounge, were we will be serving up a handful of hot teas, our ever-popular Genius iced tea and, later on in the evenings, our SmarTEAni cocktail.

I am excited, nervous and honored!

Naturally, my attention was piqued and after watching the video again, I knew I had to share!

The whole video is quite funny, but my favorite part is, of course, around the 5-minute mark when he is offered the Yerba Mate.

And before I get a torrent of emails, no: it is not a drug, and you should not smoke it.

Enjoy!