Friday Knows Tea

  Teacup and I were chatting the other day about fun cookie recipe ideas for masala chai, and our dear friend Hannah said "oh, like chai snickerdoodles?" Um...YES! Such a fun twist on a classic American favorite. Their chewy texture, eggy richness and cinnamon coating has earned them a high ranking in the cookie hall of fame. Honestly though? While I get the appeal, I've always felt snicks were missing that "wow" factor. My solution to the boring snickerdoodle conundrum, as for most things, is MORE SPICE! The basic cookie practically asks to be paired with chai anyway, so once Hannah put the idea in our heads, we had to do it right away. We definitely ran into some obstacles in creating these cookies for you due to the lack of baking supplies in our quarantine-shopping-wracked grocery store, but we pulled it together. We ended up grinding our own flour and sugar, which I recognize is really above and beyond the average baking project. Feel free to substitu...

When you think of a shot of caffeine, that morning jolt, that buzz in the veins, what association do you make? Espresso? Matcha? Tea, Earl Grey, hot? Probably not holly! It’s true through, the holly family has produced some super tasty rocket fuel level caffeine. We’re talking specifically  ilex  paraguariensis, ilex guayusa and ilex vomitoria, each native to one of the Americas. Each of these holly varietals offer up about 90 milligrams of caffeine per cup, about on par with drip coffee! These plants rank among only a tiny handful of indigenous caffeinated plants in the Americas, and have each played an important cultural role in their native growing regions’ histories. Let’s learn a thing! Yerba Mate (South America) For sure the most well-known of the imbibable holly trio, Yerba Mate ( eeAIR-bah MAH-tay )   is a mainstream staple in South America. The leaf of the plant is cut and dried, then brewed like tea and enjoyed socially. It's most popularly enj...