Hello, A while back I created a blog post about tea brewing methods, teapots and teas (http://stellaculinary.com/teapots-brewing-methods-and-teas.pdf). I'm just sharing a little more random stuff on the subject that is seasonal for Spring and Summer.
This picture below shows the kind of teas I'm currently drinking and one of my favorite tea cookies. The tea in the glass is a very high quality Japanese, finely ground green tea known as "maccha" or "matcha". This type of green tea is simply produced by taking super high quality green tea and grinding it so finely it is powder. This is the variety of green tea used in the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. You don't brew this tea; you just take some and stir it directly into a cup of hot water. As a result, you end up drinking the plant matter with the tea. I love this stuff in the morning because of its taste and its powerful kick. Plus, it's also extremely beneficial to your health. The amount I use for 8 oz. is 1/8 t. or even less. You can buy it in pre-powdered for about $15-$20 USD per 1.5 oz, not cheap at all. Or, you can buy imperial quality green tea from Japan and grind it into powder form yourself for about $10-$15 per oz. of dried tea leaves.
Those two round objects on the plate are dried lemons. I buy these at my local Middle Eastern market. I buy them in bulk from these large bins. I use them the traditional way by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes, cracking them open just a little and then letting them steep via the Turkish brewing method. The result is a lemon tea with a distinct slight musky taste that I really like. Add some honey or sugar and you're all set. Don't use the seeds - they're bitter. I also make this lemon tea and refrigerate it to drink it cold on ice during the summer. You can also use these in cooking and baking.
The round cookie is a traditional Middle Eastern crispy type of tea cookie known as an Anise Ring Cookie. They're very popular in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. This is one of my favorite cookies. I bake my own. A few interesting ingredients in my version include malhab (ground sour cherry kernels) and Nigella Seed (aka, Black Seed), and of course lots of anise in seed form and finely ground.
