AngelsTea.com
AngelsTea.com goes live August 18th, 2009. Our teas have arrived. Our chocolate truffles are in (and they are delicious with the tea I might add)!
Angels Tea has actively been in the works for the past 12 months from designing, to labeling, to finding the perfect blend of teas, to creating a site fit for our image, and to having our products ready to be tasted by everyone out there! It has been a fun process and many people are to thank for making their individual contributions to getting Angels Tea to where it is now.
I want to let you guys know that other flavors are in the works, but right now we have four unique flavors that each stand out very boldly: Exotic Orange Oolong, Sensual Berry Rooibos, Seductive Jasmine Green Tea, and Naughty Masala Chai!
To give you a little background and insight to how the concept for Angels Tea came to be, we jump 12 months back. I was sipping on some warm tea after a hard workout and felt so relaxed and soothed as I drank my fresh loose leaf tea. I thought about it for a second and realized – even though tea does seem to be gaining popularity in the states, the teas we drink are mainly sweetened, chilled, bottled beverages. A lot of these drinks are tasty and good, but there still seemed to be a perception that loose leaf teas where you sit down and boil water and steep teas was a thing for older people. At the very least, it’s not the first thing you think of when you imagine the “young” “cool” “wild” party vibe. I wanted to change this perception and create a movement to promote health and delicious loose leaf tea in a young fresh light.
Angels Tea comes in silk tea sachets, which is the highest quality material for tea bags, so that you can drop it in your water and enjoy a delicious healthy cup of tea. Our selection of teas taste wonderful without needing to add any sweeteners or additional ingredients. Typically the tea is served warm, but you can enjoy cold or warm!
…and that’s the story behind Angels Tea. It started out as an idea and came to life this August 2009. I know that we will be working out some kinks as we first launch and that we will go through various stages of new product development and growth so bear with us and thank you for your support.
We hope you will support Angels Tea’s movement of promoting health through proper diet and exercise by remembering “It’s Sexy to be Healthy!”
- www.angelstea.com
Berry Rooibos Tea
Herbal Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
Cup of Tea
By Lynn Kessel
Until recently, I had never experienced the formalities of a high tea. My inelegant tea ritual was dunking a tea bag into a plain ceramic coffee mug. Chic, huh?
Nevertheless, I’ve always been intrigued by the custom of afternoon tea, where people sip from lovely china cups and nibble on doll-sized foods. So a recent afternoon gathering turned out to be the perfect venue for getting to know some of my cyberpals from Facebook — seven of us gathered at the Tea Cup Tea Room in Brandon.
I almost missed the place as I drove through a residential area on Lithia-Pinecrest Road. I finally spotted the tea room sign in the front yard of a converted home that sat under a canopy of grandfather oaks. I parked in the back and went inside.
Stepping inside, I was instantly struck by a setting of high-backed, velvet love seats, a fireplace and vignettes of whimsical gifts.
My gal pals and I were seated in the Cottage Garden Room, which included a sea of ivory damask-covered linens. The eatery also has two other seating areas: the Periwinkle and Shabby Chic rooms.
Our English high tea featured a three-tiered tray of rose-patterned plates filled with chicken salad croissants, scrumptious desserts and the main attraction — scones with jam and clotted cream, a rich, thick cream that’s stiff like whipped cream. And, of course, the tray was served with a steaming pot of tea.
There’s something soothingly civilized about pouring a cup of steaming, fragrant tea from your personal pot. The ritual invites conversation, relaxation and conviviality.
A few days after the luncheon, I sat and talked with owner Lynn Davis as we, well, sipped tea. She told me she always knew she wanted to run a business, but she could never put her finger on exactly what kind.
Lynn’s parents entertained often as she grew up, and large family gatherings were a “big thing.” When her children were younger, she loved throwing birthday parties and getting her neighbors together. The tea room became an extension of her passion to create, manage and entertain.
Although Lynn doesn’t divulge the eatery’s recipes, executive chef Claudia Richartz agreed to share a personal recipe for tomato-basil quiche.
If you would like to learn more about the Tea Cup Tea Room visit www.theteacuptearoom.com.
TOMATO-BASIL QUICHE
2 medium tomatoes or 1 large one, sliced 1/4 -inch thick
2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 unbaked, 9-inch deep dish pie shell
1 small onion, thinly sliced
Leaves from three small stems of fresh basil, torn if large
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups light cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cut tomatoes on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. In a small bowl, toss the cheese with the garlic. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture evenly on the bottom of the pie shell and arrange the onion on top of the cheese. Then arrange the tomato in a single layer on top of the onion.
Distribute the basil on top of the tomato and into the crevices between the rounds. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese mixture on top.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly. Add the cream and pepper and beat well. Place a baking sheet in the oven and put the unbaked pie shell on it. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the pie shell.
Bake for 20 minutes, and then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes more, or until the quiche is brown on top. Let the quiche cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before serving. If the pie crust edges begin to get too brown, take strips of aluminum foil and crimp. This will stop the edges from browning further.
Serves 6 to 8.
Author: www.lynnkessel.blogspot.com.
Source: http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/19/lets-pause-leisurely-cup-tea/
EGCG, A Compound Found In Green Tea, May Be Key Ingredient For Anti-HIV Gel For Women
(WebMD) Green tea may be the key to effective anti-HIV vaginal gels, new studies suggest.
Triggering the new studies was the recent finding that semen contains a factor – dubbed semen-derived enhancer of virus infection (SEVI) – that escorts HIV to the front door of the cells it likes to infect.
SEVI is a beta-amyloid fibril formed from a prostate protein common in semen. Other beta-amyloids are implicated in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Among the compounds that fight beta-amyloid formation is EGCG – a highly-studied molecule from green tea.
Might green tea block SEVI and fight HIV infection? Yes, find researchers Ilona Hauber, PhD, of the Heinrich-Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology in Hamburg, Germany, and colleagues.
In lab studies, Hauber and colleagues showed that EGCG degraded fibrils formed from prostate peptides and stopped semen from enhancing HIV infection. The green tea molecule did not harm human cells.
One of the “holy grails” of AIDS research has been the search for a vaginal gel that women could use to protect themselves from HIV infection during sex. Such a gel would have to cause no irritation, and the active ingredients must thrive in the acidic vaginal environment.
EGCG is stable in acidic environments, so Hauber and colleagues suggest that it would be an important addition to anti-HIV vaginal gels, possibly in combination with an anti-HIV drug.
Moreover, the researchers note, EGCG appears to have some anti-HIV activity of its own.
“EGCG, a natural ingredient of green tea, may be a valuable and cost-efficient inhibitor of semen-mediated enhancement of virus infection, and hence of sexual transmission of HIV,” they conclude.
The findings appear in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
