Today’s recipe is a classic from my home state, South Carolina, named in honor of one of the state’s oldest and most exclusive social institutions: the St. Cecilia Society.

Not only is this group known for their extreme exclusivity and an affinity to all things musical (St. Cecilia was the traditional patron saint of music, after all), but also for a certain beverage that they traditionally serve at balls and celebrations.

This drink, known as St. Cecilia’s Punch, is not only one of the earliest tea cocktails on record, but also one of the first historical mentions of tea being served with ice!

Dating back to the late 18th - early 19th century, this libation still stands up well 200 some-odd years later!

Here’s the recipe:

St. Cecilia’s Punch

2 medium lemons, thinly sliced
3/4 cup brandy
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Pure Green
3/4 cup dark rum,
1/2 small pineapple, peeled, cored, sliced 1/2 inch thick, and cut into small wedges
1 750-ml bottle dry (AKA “brut”) sparkling wine, chilled
6 cups sparkling water, chilled

Put the lemon slices in a large bowl and pour the brandy over them. Let macerate at room temperature overnight.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the tea leaves, and steep for 3 minutes. Strain and let the syrup cool.

At least 3 hours and up to 6 hours before serving, combine the lemons, brandy, syrup, rum, and pineapple in a large pitcher or bowl. Chill in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, pour the punch into a large chilled punch bowl with a block of ice. Add the sparkling wine and sparkling water, gently stir.

Every year, an organization known as AABDC  (Asian American Business Development Center) holds an event in honor of Asian American entrepreneurship.

The celebration highlights the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans in business, and spotlights an group of 50 individuals who proved to be outstanding in their fields.

I’m proud to announce that among these elite few, our very own CEO John-Paul Lee will be honored at the awards dinner on June 10th, 2010!

This is not the first time John-Paul has been recognized as an extraordinary entrepreneur - you may recall that Entrepreneur magazine featured him a few years ago, as well as the American government themselves!

We lift our teacups in the air for our captain…

Congrats, John-Paul!

In a recent interview, actor Robert Downey Jr. was asked about the pressures from the high expectations critics and fans are piling upon the upcoming Iron Man 2.

“I’ve been through a lot in life,” said Mr. Downey as he slowly sipped a cup of tea, “and I don’t get afraid anymore.”   No doubt this relaxation is due to the tea’s L-Theanine absorbing into his body, keeping him calm yet focused.

He then goes on to mention a calmer, healthier outlook he’s found on life, saying “it’s tea time. Let’s relax with each other.”

It seems our favorite Iron Man is an official tea addict (a solid step forward from some of his past addictions), which is the reason that this is one of the smartest superheroes ever written!

Keep drinking tea, Mr. Downey - you’ll always be super in our eyes!

Here’s a little treat that, thanks to our friends on Wall Street, may have gotten a bad name - but doesn’t deserve it.  Called a Financier, it is actually a little cake, similar to sponge cake but denser and more moist, and really delicious.

Our version contains not only the rich almond taste that this dessert traditionally contains, but also the sweet spiciness of a good masala chai.

Bon AppeTEA!

Kama Chai Sutra Financier

2 Tbsp blanched almonds
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cake flour
1 1/2 Tbsp kama chai sutra, finely ground
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1/2 cup warm browned butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8″ cake pan. Place the almonds and 2 Tbsp of the sugar in a spice grinder and process in short pulses until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the remaining sugar, cake flour, tea leaves and salt and stir until blended. Add the egg whites and vanilla, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour in the butter and beat for 2 minutes more.

Let stand for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 week in the refrigerator (in which case, the batter should be brought to room temperature and stirred before proceeding). Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to finish cooling.

There are few desserts I enjoy more than the simple play on texture and taste found in a good tiramusu.  So it seems rather odd, in retrospect, that it took me this long to come up with the idea of a tea-inspired version of the classic dessert.

For fairly obvious reasons, I’m not using the traditionally-included espresso in this version - substituting instead with a rather potent matcha concentrate.  I call it Mucho Matcha Tea-ramisu - enjoy!

Mucho Matcha Tea-ramisu

1 pound mascarpone cheese
8 eggs
1 package lady fingers (approx 30)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
16 oz water
6 tablespoons matcha powder
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup brandy (optional)

Heat water to 180 F (until steaming with little bubbles rising).  Pour water into flat bowl and add 2 tablespoons matcha.  Whisk until foamy, then let it cool down to room temperature (then add brandy, if using).

Separate egg yolks and whites.

In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy and quite white, then whip in the mascarpone, mixing gently.

In a second mixing bowl, beat eggs whites and whip until stiff and fluffy, stir in 3 tablespoons of the matcha.

Gently fold mascarpone cream with egg whites, just enough to blend.  Do not over work!

Dip each lady finger in the bowl with matcha. Make sure to get the right amount of green tea on the lady fingers, pull it out before they become too soft.

Arrange a layer of dipped lady fingers across the bottom of the pan. Then spoon a layer of egg/mascarpone cream across the layer of lady fingers. Use about 1/2 of the mascarpone mix.

Dip another layer of lady fingers and lay them on the mascarpone mix. Put the remaining mascarpone mix on it.

In another bowl, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon matcha with the confectioner’s sugar.  Dust top of the dessert with this sweetened matcha powder.

Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving.

Every year, on April 22nd (that’s today, for those who don’t have a calendar nearby), the world takes a moment to pay a little extra attention to the planet we inhabit.

Earth Day was inspired by an event in 1969, where sparks from a traveling train fell into Ohio’s Cayahoga River.  While this would usually be a rather benign occurrence, it seems the water was so chock-full of oil and chemicals that the whole river went up in flames.

After that startling look at how terrible the effects of pollution can be, folks started paying more attention to the many ways in which the environment was being harmed and, therefore, how this could be prevented.  Thus, Earth Day was inaugurated.

So for today, this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I’ve compiled a short list of ways in which we tea lovers can help keep our Earth happy and healthy.

Dispose of disposables

Instead of drinking your tea out of a disposable cup while you are at the office or on the go, invest in a sturdy teacup, thermos or mug.  Even if the disposable cups are biodegradable, the amount of packaging you’ll eliminate on a monthly basis will help reduce waste in landfills.

Buy in bulk

Once you’ve found a tea that suits your fancy, buy it in bulk.  By buying it in larger quantities instead of the smaller packaging, you’ll be reducing the amount of packaging you go through.  Remember, even if the material it is packaged in is recyclable (like our jars are), it still takes a considerable amount of energy to turn it back into something of use!

Use filtered water

Instead of using bottled water or spring water from your office’s water cooler, invest in a water filter that you can use with tap water.   The amount of packaging you’ll reduce from bottles and the amount of gas and energy you’ll shave off from shipping those water jugs to your office each month will be astonishing!

No early retirement

Just because your tea leaves have released all the flavor they possibly could into your cup doesn’t mean their work is done.  Used tea leaves can serve a number of different purposes, from composting your garden to washing your floors.  So don’t just toss ‘em, use ‘em!

Among the many misconceptions about tea, one could argue that one of the most widely spread would be that tea has a deleterious effect on the teeth.

Doubtless that this rumor was spread from some nefarious sugar-laden organization intent on refracting the blame from themselves, but in actuality it couldn’t be further from the truth.

According to a recent study released from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and published in Preventive Medicine, researchers found that not only is tea not bad for your teeth, but it may actually strengthen them quite significantly.

Scientists found that those who drink a cup or more of tea a day were almost 20% less likely to have  20 or fewer teeth (most mouths have between 28 - 32, depending if wisdom teeth are present).

One possible explanation for this benefit of tea that was explored was that warm drinks simply wash out your mouth.  However,  coffee, which would also provide a mouth rinse, had absolutely no benefit, suggesting something else is going on.

More likely, the effects are due to a family of flavonoids found abundantly in tea known as catechins.   Catechins have been shown to eliminate many forms of bacteria, so would make sense that they’d keep your teeth healthy and strong.

However, it is important to note that these findings are under the condition that no sugar or other additives are added to the tea (we wouldn’t do that anyway, would we?).

So keep those pearly whites where they belong - in your mouth - drink your tea!

When our Union Square location first opened, customers clamored to get a particularly delectable tea drink, which was only available once the NYC ice fully melted.   So whenever I am craving a delicious, refreshing beverage that is perfect for the springtime, I dig out this “oldie but goodie” - the moTEAjo.

Here is the recipe, for all to enjoy:

moTEAjo

1.5 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
4 oz lemongreen, chilled
Small bunch fresh mint (about 10 leaves)
Lime wheel (garnish)
2 oz light rum (optional)

Muddle mint, simple syrup and lime juice with pestle, add ice, tea (and rum, if using). Stir thoroughly to combine, garnish with lime wheel.

Today’s tea-inspired recipe may seem to come from an unlikely source: one of the biggest coffee retailers online, CoffeeWiz.  However, a quick glance through their site would reveal that they are also serious about their tea selection.  Some might even say that they’ve got the best!

In fact, their resident social media maven, baker and undercover-tea-lover Vicki enjoys our flavors so much that she’s incorporated them into one of her favorite snacks!   She calls this recipe “White Chocolate Chai-Spiced S’mores,” I call it delicious.

Thanks Vicki!

White Chocolate Chai-Spiced S’mores

8 ounces white baking chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup cream
1 TBSP Kama Chai Sutra, dry
6 honey graham cracker squares (2 1/2-inch squares)
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows, or 24 large marshmallows

Put chopped white chocolate in heatproof bowl.

Put milk in a small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Add loose tea, stir, remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Return the tea-infused cream to medium heat until just simmering.

Pour the tea-infused cream through a fine mesh strainer set over the bowl of chocolate. Shake the bowl to evenly distribute the cream and let stand 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.

Stir until very smooth and let the chocolate cool to room temperature. Discard the tea leaves.

To make the s’mores in the oven, set an oven rack 6 to 8 inches from the broiler and preheat.

Put 8 graham cracker squares on a baking sheet and spread 1/2 teaspoon of the cooled chocolate over the entire surface of each square.

Arrange mini marshmallows (or place 1 whole marshmallow) on each chocolate covered graham, being sure to cover the cracker completely.

Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of the chocolate on each remaining graham crackers and set them aside.

Transfer the pan to the oven and toast the marshmallows under the broiler until deep golden brown, about 30 seconds. Keep an eye on the marshmallows - they toast very quickly!

Remove the chai s’mores from the oven and top with the chocolate covered grahams, chocolate side down. Press lightly to spread the chocolate to the edges.

Let the s’mores cool for 1 to 2 minutes before munching away!

Note: You can store the unused white chocolate chai sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can melt and pour over ice cream or stirred into hot milk for chai-spiced hot chocolate!