Many people say there’s nothing more American than apple pie. However there is another sweet treat that’s one hundred percent red, white, and blue. From coast to coast, Americans are wild about iced tea. What many don’t realize is that although it’s based on an Asian brew, iced tea is an American innovation. Iced tea’s popularity can be traced to the heat wave of 1904 when tea merchant Richard Blechynden decided to serve tea over ice at an exposition in St. Louis. Americans have since perfected different methods of making iced tea, along with several innovate recipes. Black teas from Ceylon, China and Java are most commonly used to make iced tea. Flavored teas such as lemon green tea, peach black tea, Formosa oolong,... »View More
Do you enjoy cinnamon? Here is a spice that we can enjoy, and that is also healthy for us. Cinnamon was one of the first commodities traded regularly between the Near East and Europe. Surprisingly, cinnamon is a small evergreen tree. It is the bark that is processed which turns into the ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks (or quills) we are used to seeing. Its active and healthful components are cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate and cinnamyl alcohol which are derived from the essential oils in the bark. Ceylon and cassia are the two most popular varieties of cinnamon, even though there are hundred of varieties. Cassia, the stronger of the two and the less expensive, is more common in North America. Both cinnamons are an excellent source of trace... »View More
Many people say there’s nothing more American than apple pie. However there is another sweet treat that’s one hundred percent red, white, and blue. From coast to coast, Americans are wild about iced tea. What many don’t realize is that although it’s based on an Asian brew, iced tea is an American innovation. Iced tea’s popularity can be traced to the heat wave of 1904 when tea merchant Richard Blechynden decided to serve tea over ice at an exposition in St. Louis. Americans have since perfected different methods of making iced tea, along with several innovate recipes. Black teas from Ceylon, China and Java are most commonly used to make iced tea. Flavored teas such as lemon green tea, peach black tea, Formosa oolong,... »View More