"Tip Tuesday" & “Greens with Chicken & Tuscan Lemon Dressing” & “Mega Mint Iced Tea”

Welcome, to this weeks blog. Did you know that Sir Thomas Lipton was born on May 10, 1848 in Glasgow, Scotland? Yes, this is the man that Lipton Tea is named for.. 

Sir Thomas Lipton

Thomas' family owned a grocery store, in Glasgow and he had an interest in the business from an early age. At the age of fourteen, with eight dollars in his pocket, he became a stowaway on a ship to America. He earned a living as a farm worker in Virginia and South Carolina. He became a grocery clerk in New York. In 1870, Thomas returned to Glasgow, and four years later opened his own grocery store. By the time he was thirty, Lipton ran a chain of stores, moved his headquarters to London, and was a millionaire. He had a keen sense of advertising and marketing that would help him put a Lipton shop in every Scottish city, and beyond.

Lipton became a household name through innovation in the tea business. At a time when tea was shipped and sold in bulk, Lipton developed tea bags. He insured that the tea bags had consistency and freshness for tea consumers. He also sold different blends to different countries, to make up for variations in water from region to region. He managed to lower the cost of tea with greater efficiency of production.

He began purchasing tea estates in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and packaged and sold the first Lipton tea. Staying true to his vision, he arranged packaging and shipping at low costs to sell his teas directly from the tea garden to the tea pot.  In 1893, he officially established the Thomas J Lipton Co., a tea packing company with its headquarters and factory in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Lipton teas were an immediate success in the United States and the United Kingdom. In recognition of his exceptional contribution, Thomas Lipton was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1898, and became Sir Thomas Lipton at the age of forty-eight. Lipton is now the world’s leading tea brand, sold in more than 150 countries.

Tea is an aromatic, uplifting beverage savored for centuries around the world from India and Ireland to the U.S.A. I am enjoying a big cup of hot steaming tea as I am writing this post. Drinking tea is my very favorite beverage. I love hot tea especially in the winter and iced tea in the hot summer months.

The traditional method of making a cup of tea is to place “loose tea leaves” in a tea infuser or a teacup and pour hot water over the leaves. After a couple of minutes of steeping time, remove the leaves and strain while serving a perfect cup of tea. Another form of a tea bag was introduced by Lipton in 1996, which has a unique design. It is called the “pyramid tea bag,” or “sachet bag,” because of its three-dimensional shape which allows more room for tea leaves to expand while steeping. 

I have two recipes this week for you; the first one is called; “Greens with Chicken & Tuscan Lemon Dressing” and the second is “Mega Mint Iced Tea.” 

“Greens with Chicken & Tuscan Lemon Dressing”

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 20 min
Brew Time: 5 min

Ingredients:
1/2 cup boiling water
4 Lipton Tuscan Lemon Flavored Black Pyramid Tea Bags
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. seasoned salt
6 cups mixed salad greens
1 lb. cut-up cooked chicken
4 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup raspberries

Directions:
Pour boiling water over Lipton Tuscan Lemon Flavored Black Pyramid Tea Bag tea bags; cover and brew 5 minutes. Remove Tea Bags and squeeze; cool. With wire whisk, stir in olive oil, honey, vinegar and seasoned salt; set aside. On serving platter, arrange greens. Top with chicken, bacon, onion and raspberries, then drizzle with Tuscan Lemon Dressing.
                                         

“Mega Mint Iced Tea”

Serves: 6
Prep Time: 5 min
Chill Time: 20 min 
Brew Time: 5 min

Ingredients:
4 cups water
2 Lipton® Iced Tea Brew Family Size Tea Bags
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
2 cups water

Directions:
Pour boiling water over Lipton Iced Tea Brew Family Size Tea Bags and mint. Brew 5 minutes. Remove Tea Bags and mint. Stir in ice water and chill until ready to serve. Serve in ice-filled glasses and sweeten as desired..

                          

There's always time for better tea, though, so here are ten tips and tricks to take your tea to the next level. Tea is only second to water when it comes to beverage popularity, so popular that it's consumed as much as coffee, soft drinks, and alcohol combined.

1. Don’t make tea in the microwave….
One of the elements of a perfect cup of tea is brewing it at the right temperature. Microwaves, as convenient as they are, simply don't give us control over the temperature of the water, so it's best to use a kettle.

2.Get the Temperature and Time Down for Steeping Tea….
Speaking of temperature, this graphic provides recommended temperatures and brew times (as well as caffeine content), while this one (above) shows temperatures and steeping times in a much more immediate way.

3. Control the Caffeine in Tea…
Steeping time also matters when it comes to how much caffeine ends up in your cup. For more caffeine alertness, steep for a shorter amount of time. For less caffeine, you can do a brief steep, pour out the brew, and then re-steep to cut as much as 80% of the caffeine.

4. Buy the Best Tea-Brewing Gear…
You don't need a special tea kettle to make great tea, but they sure come in handy, with options to set the temperature, automatically turn on or off, and sometimes even remove the tea bag. The mugs, brewing baskets, and other accessories you use can also make a big difference in your enjoyment of your tea.

5.  Buy Better Tea Leaves…
Besides temperature and steeping time—and water quality—the other most critical element when it comes to a perfect cup of tea is, of course, the quality of the tea itself. Try checking out tea houses or my favorite is Teavana.

6. Avoid Watery Iced Tea…
When it comes to iced tea, make sure you use double the amount of tea normally used so the ice cubes don't dilute your drink or use iced tea you've frozen in ice cube trays to avoid this problem. You can also cold-brew your iced tea for a stronger, smoother cup (and brewing tea in the fridge avoids the risk of bacteria like sun tea has).

7. Find the Tea Alternatives to Coffee…
I know this sounds like blasphemy to coffee lovers, but you can love both coffee and tea. Both have benefits. If you're currently a coffee-only person, though, give tea a chance with these recommendations for coffee-like teas. (They're not as strong as coffee, but they are uniquely flavorful.)

8.  Drink to Your Health…
This tip won't make your tea better, but it helps to understand how tea makes you better. (so you drink more of it!) There are so many ways tea is incredibly healthy for you even healthier than water and you can boost tea's health benefits with lemon.

9. Tea also helps soothe stress and keep us relaxed. Did you know that there's credible evidence that tea reduces the risk of heart disease, and possibly even helps prevent cancer andAlzheimer's disease? Indeed, tea is considered a super food; whether it's black, green, white, or oolong tea.

10. Tea has about eight to 10 times the polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables. Research suggests that regular tea drinkers, people who drink two cups or more a day, (that is me) have less heart disease, stroke, and lower LDL cholesterol. Many tea drinkers find the beverage soothing, a remedy for sore throats, and upset stomachs. It is easy to make, affordable, and offers a variety of flavors. 

Bonus: The Many Other Things You Can Do With Tea Besides Drink It.....
Use used tea bags or fresh tea for your body and your home. For example, feed plants with used tea bags, clean windows with tea, sooth sunburns and stop bleeding with tea bags, clean hardware floors and hide scratches with tea, freshen up small spaces with a tea bag, and maybe even get rid of warts with tea.



 

Till Next Time………

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