I haven’t done a Friday Tea and Chocolate post in quite a while – ok, let’s be honest: I haven’t posted much of anything in a while.
But that’s ok. Sometimes you need a break from things in the summer. Plus, it has really been so hot that I haven’t done much tea drinking at all. When it’s really hot, like it has been all summer, I don’t really enjoy iced tea that much – all I want to drink is water with maybe some fruit in it.
I did experimented with making my own iced chai lattes at home. Not all chai teas work in an iced version it would seem! I found some of my spicier mixes with chilli in them did not do well cold. But I hit on a version that I really liked using Stash’s Double Spiced Chai. I would brew up a big mug in the evening, just adding honey or sugar (but no milk) while it was hot – this was the key to get the sweetener to dissolve and mix well with the tea. Then I would stick it in the fridge over night and pour it over ice in the morning and then mix it with vanilla soy milk. Delicious. And much much cheaper than buying them at a cafe!
But summer is drawing to a close and seeing as we’re finally expecting some rain today and the rest of the weekend it seemed appropriate to get back into tea. I thought I would share a few tea links that made me smile this week.
- The Tea Time Toss from Thirsty For Tea. What a cute idea for helping you decide which tea in your stash you should dive into! I also wish more cafes did this – it would make my decision making process much easier!
- Jasmine Green Tea Lemonade from Tea With Me. Heather has long been one of my favourite fellow tea lovers and I do enjoy her blog so much. This looks like a refreshing iced tea to try.
- The Tilted Cup and Silicone Tea Strainer. Ethan bought me this on one of his many road trips this summer and the silicone tea strainer is genius. Because it fits snugly on the side of the cup, the strainer is perfect for using on my really big mugs where my metal in cup tea strainer is too small to balance on the rim.
- Chocolate Codex. It can’t be a proper Tea & Chocolate Friday without some chocolate so I wanted to share a new website that I know has been a labour of love for my friend Jasmine (you might know her from The Blenderist) and her partner Chris. If you want to learn more about the nuances of chocolate you have to check out what they’ve built!
That’s it for this week. I hope you’re enjoying a hot cuppa somewhere out there!
Never had tea & chocolate before!? Sounds like an interesting combination…
Whoa, that Chocolate Codex site is cool! I’m bookmarking that for later so I can take a better look.
I’ve been looking for a new tea strainer for awhile now, so I’m definitely going to check out the silicone one you mentioned. I’m a total tea addict and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one 🙂 Great post!
I must admit, I don’t like chai latte or any tea lattes, but your photo looks super delicious and creamy! I am going to pretend that it’s a creamy iced coffee 🙂
Chai lattes are my absolute favourite addiction. (Cough don’t ask me how many times I go to Starbucks.) Yet I haven’t found that perfect one for iced nor hot at home either. Everything bought seems to be to sweet. May have to buy a box of Stash to try and make it my goal to come up with the perfect blend this fall.
Also love the chocolate site – you know you’ve worked at a chocolate store too long when you start to recognize all the names lol
Ha ha… love the captcha device there… What if I can’t add or subtract? LOL
I love ice tea, honestly. I used to be all about cream in my coffee, but NEVER with tea. I’m not sure why. I prefer to have my tea cold brewed using loose tea. What I do is set my loose tea into a juice jug, fill it with cold water and let it rest on my window sill for a couple of hours until it is nice and brewed.
I have some gunpowder green tea that I bought from Chinatown that is lovely, and I have recently gotten into Earl Grey loose tea and it makes a wonderful iced tea.
Your featured image looks sooooo yummy; reminds me of Thai iced tea with its orange hue. I’m a huge fan of chai myself, and always looking for ways to have it iced in the summer. If you’re interested, way back I wrote a post with a recipe for the chai syrup you can make at home, which can be added to milk at your leisure! http://toughcookieblog.com/homemade-chai-syrup/
I love the tea toss idea – it would be a good way to get through the once-in-a-while teas in my over-stuffed tea cupboard. And that cup and strainer combo…I am thinking of excuses for getting yet another mug and strainer…
I’m a chai lover of any kind! It’s usually my afternoon pick me up in the winter. I’ve never tried any iced tea though. Cold tea just seems wrong to me for some reason (even regular old iced tea). Love that you threw a doodle in there!
Renee
I totally need to start making iced chai teas at home! They’re one of my go-to drinks in a cafe. I’m not a huge tea drinker but I love them in as a latte! And if I can have chocolate at the same time…sign me up!
I love your chocolate & tea posts. Such a great pairing 🙂 I agree – as a tea blogger myself, I recently found Heather’s blog and it quickly became a favourite of mine, too. happy steeping & sipping!
Thanks Lu Ann! I’ve visited your blog several times and really enjoy it. Heather is lovely. I’ve had the pleasure of having tea with her in real life to and she’s equally lovely in person 🙂