I know the holidays are coming when I start to see fall-inspired baking mixes such as cranberry, apple spice and of course, pumpkin. Thanksgiving is just 2 days away. Do you know what you’re making for dessert?

Why not try this simple recipe for Pumpkin Muffins infused with Art of Tea’s Chocolate Monkey? This delectable dessert tisane is made with fair trade rooibos, pink peppercorn, cacao nibs, chocolate, banana chips and apple bits. Chocolate and pumpkin in muffins are the perfect way to treat your family and friends this Thanksgiving. This recipe yields about 40 mini muffins.

Chocolate Monkey Pumpkin Muffins

You Will Need:

· Pumpkin Mix, which you can easily find at any major grocery store during the holidays

· 2 Large Eggs

· ½ Cup of Vegetable oil

· 1 Cup of Over-steeped (10-12 minutes) Art of Tea’s Chocolate Monkey

· 1 Cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

· 1 tbsp of Cinnamon

· Mixing Bowl

· 40 Cupcake Liners

· Ice Cream Scooper

Instructions:

Follow the directions on the pumpkin mix box. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay out the cupcake liners onto your muffin trays. Let the over-steeped cup of Chocolate Monkey sit for 10 minutes or until room temperature. Then, mix eggs, oil and tea in a large bowl until the batter is smooth. Add in the cinnamon and chocolate chips, and mix thoroughly. Use an ice cream scooper to transport the batter into the cupcake liners two-thirds full. Finally, place your sheets in the oven at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Perform the toothpick test by gently inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin and pulling it out.                                                                                                                                                     If the toothpick is clean, your muffins are done!

Tip: Once the muffins cool off, add your favorite frosting, and you’ll have cupcakes! I topped mine with buttercream frosting. Enjoy, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

-MELISSA CHUA

Sharing of food and drink has always fascinated me primarily as social ritual. Travelling as a stranger in desolate places, I have taken special note of how refreshments and nourishment are offered as part of cultural interaction.

The way that food and drink function on a symbolic level depends largely upon context. For instance, in a place where the mercury rarely descends below 100 degrees F, there is no more lavish gesture of welcome than a glass of ice-water, further cooled by a slab of peeled cucumber, a crushed sprig of mint leaves, and the piercingly tart juice of tiny limes.

Humans have also historically used foods, spices and seasonings to send messages of status, prestige and wealth, similar to the appeal of luxury designer goods today. Both tea and sugar have a shared history as a prestige import, and this is, in part, why sugar is conventionally part of tea-drinking in the West.

Author John Keay illuminates some of this history in his fascinating book, THE SPICE ROUTE – A History (University of California Press, 2006), where he chronicles the trade boom around stimulants (tea, coffee, sugar) as well as many other kitchen-commodities which, though familiar to us now, were once exotic beyond compare. Salt and pepper, for example, were once as valuable as precious metals.

Poor-quality tea also invites intervention. Since the 1930s, commercially produced tea-bags, filled with “fannings” which are essentially the dust from the broken remains of tea leaves, call out for cream, sugar, honey, lemon. These traditional augmentations cut the raw-feeling bitterness and mustiness of an inferior brew. Tea purists understandably rankle at this, and nutritionists warn against our current sugar consumption.

But the sugar bowl and creamer predate the modern teabag by centuries. Like the salt cellar, these containers for precious condiments once broadcast the worldly affluence of the owner, and thus occupied a place of honor on the formal dining tables of imperialist Europe and Britain.

Times change, and now premium teas from everywhere on earth are available and accessible for brewing and enjoyment. From a historical perspective, this is an unprecedented opportunity to enjoy tea in its most immaculate state.

Because we now are able to experience the freshness of tea, we also have the opportunity to shelve the sugar bowl for baking. Just as an aside—in the quest for a sugar-free alternative, have you ever had even a lovely cup of tea dosed with Stevia? A bit like sipping through a rolled-up ball of aluminum foil.

Buddhists say that life is simply a moment, and that life is comprised of moments. Art of Tea specializes in creating teas for every one of these moments, including the craving for a bit of sweetness (when you really want to go there, check out Art of Tea’s new tea-infused gourmet chocolates!).

Blending the essences of natural fruits, spices and other botanicals releases subtler, mellower and more complex sweet notes than interaction with sugar, aloe-syrup or honey, much less the yellow, pink or blue packet.

For the move from fall to winter, Pumpkin Pie (Caffeine Free), Cinnamon Fig, Cherry Amaretto (Caffeine Free), Caramelized Pear (Caffeine Free), Italian Blood Orange, award-winning Lychee Peach and Peach Oolong bring the last bit of ripeness from the harvest and orchard to the cup.

In a holiday mood, or want to get there? Chocolatey-vanilla Velvet Tea, White Coconut Crème, Coconut Cacao Puerh, Hot Sweet Cinnamon and Vanilla Berry Truffle warm as well as sweeten the palate, perfect for sharing with friends around the fireplace.

These blends open the experience of tea in its uninterrupted state—a bit like drinking real tea for the first time.

–Victoria Thomas

Have you tried our new batch of Jasmine Pearls? Art of Tea proudly offers certified organic Jasmine Pearls that are now sourced from a fair trade vendor. Being a green tea lover, I naturally gravitated toward Jasmine Pearls for its exquisite presentation and flavor. This supreme quality, organic green tea is hand-picked in Fujian, China and scented with night jasmine blossoms. The wonderful aroma of the jasmine flowers embodies the tea, which is hand-rolled into tiny pearls. As the silvery-sheened pearls are steeped in boiling water, the green tea unravels into its original shapes of leaves and buds. Jasmine Pearls brew a yellowish- green cup of mild flavor. As you indulge into each sip, the smoothness of the green tea harmoniously blends with the floral and sweet scent of the jasmine to craft a heavenly treat for your taste buds. This is definitely my favorite green tea.

Over a thousand years of traditional tea scenting techniques are still used in creating Jasmine Pearls. Green tea leaves and buds are hand selected and harvested in the spring. They are stored until summertime, when the jasmine flowers begin to bloom at night. The jasmines are meticulously picked accordingly to the color of their petals, which indicates their readiness and extent to bloom. Plucking an open flower means the scent has already escaped, but if you pick a bud too early, it may not bloom in time to impart its scent onto the tea leaves. Every evening, the tea is carefully placed on burlap and layered with fresh jasmine. Layer upon layer, the flowers open up, leaving their scent on the leaves. Every morning, the flowers are removed, and the process is repeated nightly. Once the tea leaves have sufficiently absorbed the jasmine scent, the green tea is dried and hand-rolled into little spheres about 8 to 10 mm. in diameter. Because of their beautiful shape and color, Jasmine Pearls are often called Dragon Phoenix Pearls.

-MELISSA CHUA

Earl Grey and Chocolate are two of my favorite things. Therefore I simply couldn’t resist the idea of combining them to make a CAKE!! I mean, who doesn’t like cake? It’s actually not that hard to make but requires a bit of effort since there are 3 parts – the cake itself, the ganache and the frosting. But the end result is worth it, and your friends will be happy too!

Cake mixture

· 6 teaspoons of Art of Tea Earl Grey tea (finely ground using a mortar & pestle, or any other crushing mechanism! I actually used a meat tenderizer because that was all I had on hand!)

· 1 stick unsalted butter

· 1 ¼ all purpose flour

· ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

· 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar

· 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

· 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 3 eggs

· 2 cups buttermilk

First and foremost, preheat your oven to 325°F

Grease two 9-inch cake pans with butter. I usually find that if you dust the buttered tins evenly with flour, it works like a charm and nothing gets stuck to the pan – a little trick I learned from my Mom!

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the tea powder and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tea flavors have infused into the butter. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

While the butter is cooking, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and salt and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and buttermilk until combined.

Once the tea butter has cooled, add it to the bowl with the dry mixture. Then add the buttermilk mixture too. Beat until just combined – it is ok if the batter is still slightly lumpy. It’s important not to overwork it as you want the cake to be light and fluffy.

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans and bake at 325° for 30 -35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow them to sit for at least 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans. Cool on a rack for about an hour.

Once they’re cooled, you can put a plate on top of one of the cakes and flip it over (it’s easier than lifting it and possibly breaking the cake!)

Spread the chocolate ganache over the top of the first cake. Place the second cake on top of the ganache. Using a spatula, cover the whole cake with cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

Ganache Recipe

· 4 oz heavy cream

· 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

· 1 tablespoon sugar

Put chocolate chips and sugar in a heat proof bowl and set aside.

Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to simmer. Then pour it over the chocolate-sugar mixture. Allow to sit for 60 seconds then whisk until all the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Set the mixture aside for 20 minutes to allow it to cool before putting it on the cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

· 8oz of cream cheese

· ½ stick unsalted butter

· 8 oz sifted powdered sugar

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· Food coloring, if desired!

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and beat until completely smooth! I used purple food coloring just for a little bit of extra oomph!

- Katie Kirby

The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton last April sparked interest in the British culture amongst Americans. There were a number of articles written about British traditions including highlights misunderstanding afternoon tea with high tea. They were often used synonymously. Both refer to meals with tea, but do you know the difference between high and afternoon tea?

High tea on the contrary to what some people think, does not involve high class. Rather, high tea is served amongst the working class. “High” refers to how the tea meal is served—on high dinner tables or countertops. “High” also comes from the fact that this meal is served later in the day as an early evening meal typically from 5 to 7 p.m. A high tea banquet includes a hot meal, which tends to be fish and chips, macaroni and cheese or shepherd’s pie followed by bread and jam accompanied with tea.

Historically, we believe afternoon tea started in the 1800s in England by the Duchess of Bedford. At that time, there were only two meals, a morning breakfast-like feast and a late dinnertime meal. The story goes that the Duchess felt fatigued and famished during that long meal break, so she invited some friends over to share tea and snacks. Thus, afternoon tea became recognized as the meal served to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner. Also known as “low” tea, afternoon tea is accordingly served on low tables. This light meal or snack usually consists of jam and bread and an assortment of pastries such as scones, English muffins and cakes. Loose leaf tea is served with milk and sugar. The spread is enjoyed in a sitting room oftentimes garnished with lace table cloth, doilies and a centerpiece of beautiful flowers. This tradition quickly became a social gathering mainly for women emphasizing manners and elegance. Today, people love to host tea parties that follow the theme of afternoon tea. Picture the Mad Hatter’s tea party from Alice in Wonderland, and you’ll get a better idea of afternoon tea. Here is a photo from an Art of Tea afternoon tea party hosted by Katie from Art of Tea.

How to Throw An Art of Tea Afternoon Tea Party:

1. Choose a few of your favorite loose leaf teas to showcase. I recommend Art of Tea’s Earl Grey Crème, Earl Grey and English Breakfast. Offer milk and sugar on the side.

2. Prepare a homemade or store bought cornucopia of pastries including scones, bread and jams, and cakes.

3. Choose a low table or coffee table inside, or patio table in the garden. Use a nice tablecloth. Place a doily in the center of the table. Add a vase with freshly cut flowers over the doily.

4. Bring out the fancy china and silverware—teacups, teapots, etc.

5. Don’t forget to invite your friends, and enjoy your afternoon tea, just like the Brits!

-MELISSA CHUA