Unless you have been living under a rock chances are that you are aware  that the launch of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is this weekend in theatres across Canada and the United States. I can’t go anywhere without hearing family, friends, strangers, or the guy at Blockbuster talking about this film. Not to mention the countless tv, radio, and billboard ads that have been flooding our homes as of late.

The media is already in a buzz about this movie, with newspapers and critics alike bestowing praise on Burton’s vision of Alice. If you want to check out a scene I’ve posted it in a previous blog.

Here at Herbal Infusions we’ve been buzzing about this movie too. And in fine tea fashion to celebrate we have blended up a fabulous Alice in Wonderland inspired blend called Mad Hatter’s tea. Its a wildly citrus blend of apple, pineapple, apricots, stevia, and either an orange pekoe oolong or black tea. It’s available right now on our website (while we have it in stock!) and also at our shop at Mapleview Mall.

Mad Hatter's Tea

Pick Up Our Flyer at Cineplex’s Silvercity Burlington

The Silvercity Burlington will be playing Alice in Wonderland starting tomorrow morning. We have teamed up to offer anyone in the area a fantastic deal: bring us a copy of our flyer (you can pick one up at the box office or print it out below) and get a free tea shot! You can also pick up some of our amazing Mad Hatter’s tea blend as we will have some on hand.

We’re looking to have some help with getting our name out to the people. So what do we  need from you? Well it’s pretty simple- place a text link, blog about us, or put our logo on your website, or anywhere else you can think of.

Quick note: We can only ship to addresses in Canada and the continental United States

Drop us a line to let us know where you’ve buzzed about us (please include a link to the site, or if you put some info about our website/blog up at a local church, supermarket, or anywhere else take a photo and e-mail it to info (at) herbalinfusions.ca ) along with your mailing address and we’ll send you a free tea shot!

What is a tea shot? Well glad you asked. It’s our awesome tasting tea packed into a food grade tube and sealed with a cork. You get enough tea for a full teapot in each shot. We retail the shots for $2 at our Burlington location at Mapleview Mall and will soon be offering them online- they have been a real hit!

Have something bigger in mind?  Shoot us an e-mail so we can discuss your idea!

Please link to either our website (www.herbalinfusions.ca) or this blog (www.herbalinfusions.ca/blog). Feel free to use our logo below to link back to either the main site or our blog.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Yeah I know, the title is a mouthful – but believe me it’s a fantastic mouthful! I was tasked this past weekend with bringing a dessert dish to our annual Thanksgiving dinner (for our American friends: here in Canada Thanksgiving arrives in October).

Since pumpkin pie is to dessert what turkey is to dinner the obvious winner here was pumpkin pie. I decided to get a little creative though. The result? Well lets just say the jury came back demanding seconds and even thirds (we won’t mention names)

The trick here is to use real chai tea

That’s right- use chai tea (not only the spices) to really make this dessert stand out. Oh and as an added bonus you get all the great benefits that are inherent in the tea leaf since its baked right into the pie.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 pie crust (unbaked homemade or frozen pie shell)
• 1 egg
• 1 can of pumpkin filling or the real deal (pumpkin squash puree)
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) evaporated milk
• 2 tbsp vanilla chai tea (its gotta be loose leaf!)
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
• dash of cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl beat the egg lightly.  Then add in your pumpkin filling and evaporated milk.

At this point you want to take your vanilla chai tea and grind it.  I used a hand coffee grinder and found it to work really and ended up smoothing out a few larger pieces with a mortar and pestle.  Either could be used to do the job, it just depends on how quick you need the pie (did I mention we were running late for dinner? ).

Add the cinnamon, ground chai tea and vanilla bean (scoop it!) or extract to the bowl.  Blend everything together really well and the pour your filling into the pie shell

Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and continue to bake for about 40 minutes.  I checked in on it every so often by poking a toothpick in the middle- if it comes out clean you’re all done!

Cool*

*while your pie is cooling this a great time to check out our other blog on how to make a London fog latte (popularized by Starbucks) or to whip up some whipped cream for your pie.  We ended up adding a dash of the ground chai to the whipped cream and it really went well with the pie.

Enjoy!

(Serves 8 so you may want to enjoy with some friends)

Many people these days enjoy Peppermint. You can find it’s unique and refreshing characteristics in gum, toothpaste, chocolate, cookies, lip gloss, candy canes, and in a multitude of beverages.

But did you know that this herb has been cherished for centuries?

Fresh Cut Peppermint

(Well, to be more precise mint has been around for centuries – but peppermint which is a hybrid of water mint and spearmint is relatively new, jumping on the scene in England between 1696 to 1750)

Dating as far back as 1000 BC The Ancient Egyptians would bury their dead with herbs and essential oils – including mint – thought to be burned as incense. The Romans also used mint frequently to aid in digestion, brewing the leaves to create a tea that helped with gastric and nerve related issues.

We have a few great teas that include this wonderful herb:

• Peppermint Dream (peppermint and lavender)
• Premium Peppermint (yep you guessed it – nothing but high quality peppermint)
• Blueberry Pom-Bomb Antioxidant Tea
• Chocolate Mint (A perfect dessert tea that is wonderful with shortbread cookies – YUM)

I’ve read and been told many differing recommendations for how much water a person should drink in a day.  Can you drink too much? How much should I drink to lose weight? These are common questions about the oldest beverage in history and a vital link to every living thing.

8 Glasses a day – is this enough?

It really depends on what your goals are.  If you are looking to maintain your current weight and be properly hydrated then 8 glasses is a good rule to follow.  However there are many variables that can alter this amount – your age, weight, and physical activities should all be taken into account.  For a 2,000 calorie diet eight glasses is about right, but if your caloric intake is less or more then it should be adjusted accordingly.  A good rule of thumb is one milliliter of water for every calorie consumed per day.

Signs that you may be dehydrated:

• Headaches, dark yellow urine, dry mouth, difficulty concentrating, and feeling sick after a workout
• Hungry – sometimes this can be confused with being dehydrated as the signals that our bodies give off for both feelings are similar in nature.  Give a glass a water a try before reaching for a bite to eat.

A kick of flavor without the added calories

Some days I find it more of a chore to try to chug back my daily water requirements.  Instead of cutting it short I prefer to reach for some quick non (or low) calorie options:

• Spa in a bottle: Toss in some citrus fruits (orange, lemon, lime slices) and fresh mint.
• Slice and dice: cucumbers and cranberries are fantastic
• Herbal Iced teas: many herbal teas taste great chilled and add little or no calories. We recommend this berry tea.
• Frozen berries: as they defrost they slowly infuse their flavors into your water – and keep it chilled longer.

Water Intoxication: Is it real?

Well technically yes, it is possible to have too much water. Also referred to as water poisoning or hyper hydration, an excess of water can break down the levels of electrolytes in your body- leading to unnecessary stress on your heart and ultimately to a heart attack.  A rare occurrence but it has happened in the past.  Sticking to 8 to 10 glasses of water a day is well within the safe zone of water hydration.

Theatrum Botanicum, 1640 – John Parkinson wrote  in reference to bathing in Chamomile Tea:

“removes weariness and eases pain to whatever part of the body it is employed”

And again in 1646 he praised Chamomile’s virtues:

“Camomill is put to divers and sundry uses, both for pleasure and profit, both for the sick and the sound, in bathing to comfort and strengthen the sound and to ease pains in the diseased.”

Fresh Cut Chamomile...Natures Stress Reliever

In May 1773 the British Parliament passed the Tea Act, meant to help out sagging sales of the East India Company (One of THE great British companies of that time….comparable to Canada’s Hudson Bay Company) 

Because of the heavy taxes imposed on tea imported into Great Britain, Britons could buy smuggled Dutch tea more cheaply than the East India Company’s tea…this resulted in a huge surplus stock that they couldn’t sell…and became a precursor to the infamous Boston Tea Party.

Hey its been a wile since posting but we’ve got a whole lotta stuff in the works!

In the meantime I wanted to share a funny story that I came across today.  We’ve seen many unique uses for tea bags- to reduce eye puffiness, help fertilize gardens, heck even abstract art.

Well it seems that the Secret Service was called in to inspect a suspicious package that sent the White House in lockdown mode.  And yep, you guessed it…the package contained tea bags. 

Hmm I wonder if the Queen had anything to do with this? 

Actually, this has everything to do with the recent tea parties that were staged all over the US earlier this week in protest of President Obamas tax payer funded bailout packages for corporations.

You can find the rest of the story here:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/15/tea-bag-toss-ends-white-house-protest/

Well its not everyday that a mega gaming corporation and a big name game publisher decide to join forces and release a game with a tea fighting superhero, but that’s exactly what they did with Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure for the Nintendo DS.

Now I must admit that I have played many games in my day, and we even own a Nintendo Wii, along with a sweet guitar (yes I *am* your guitar hero) but this announcement caught me by suprise.  Henry Hatsworth is described as a “quirky, light-hearted character” who you help explore five different worlds and fight a variety of opponents over thirty different levels. Puzzle-related challenges will be displayed on one screen, while more action-based activities will take place on the other – with the user able to switch between both at will.

The Power of Tea Time

Okay so get this- Henry Hatworth (being the English tea fan that he is) is able to transform into a super hero robot with the sip of tea.  Side note: Some days I feel like I really need a second cup of Organic Kama Sutra Chai Tea but somehow I’m still not in a mood to strap on a utility belt, hop in my teamobile and fight crime …bravo Henry!

The key to Tea Time – Filling the Super Meter
If you run out of silver hearts, you can refill the super meter by making matches in the Puzzle Realm. Refill it once (it turns green- think Japanese Green Tea) to gain additional silver hearts, and make Hatsworth younger.  If you fill the super meter again when Hatsworth is young, (the meter turns yellow- much like a nicely infused cup of Pai Mu Tan Tea) watch out because it’s Tea Time!

When you see the tea cup icon on the screen touch it (with the stylus) to activate Tea Time!  Hatsworth dons his robot suit for a limited amount of time granting him super moves to fight the evil doers.

I’m actually really excited about trying this game out, not only because its starring a wickedly cool looking English gentleman that hulks up on a good ol cup o tea, but because of the meshing of two different types of genres- adventure and puzzle games (two of my favs). 

Check out EA’s official site for more information on Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

It’s been months in the making but we are finally happy to announce the launch of our newly redesigned website and blog!

Along with the new  and user friendly layout we are also including some great new additions to our loose leaf tea and products.  In addition to our herbal tea blends we will also be offering hand made soap by the slice.  All natural and infused with essential oils these soaps have been a hit with family and friends for a few years now and we have decided to share them with our customers too.  Keep checking back in the coming weeks for additional hand made soaps (once I get the photos complete I’ll be posting them up!)

On the tea fron, our teas have been categorized now as ‘Teas for Health’ and ‘Teas for Life’.  The ‘Life’ series of teas consist of our blends that were on our old website (with a few additions) while the ‘Health’ section features all new blends meant to improve both mind and body.  Here is a quick list of some of the new Health teas for both Mind and Body:

Baby Boom Fertility Tea – specially formulated to support the entire reproductive system and help increase your chances of conceiving.

Nursing Tea for Breastfeeding Mommies – a traditional, nourishing tea that helps support healthy breast milk production and is beneficial for the digestive system of both mother and baby

Gimme a Boost Immunitea – A natural and nourishing black and herbal tea with ingredients that helps to naturally defend your body against colds by boosting your immune system.

Blueberry Pom-Bomb Antioxidant Tea – Pump up your body’s intake of all natural antioxidants and feel the difference throughout the day!

Tame the Beast Herbal PMS Tea – Our Herbal PMS tea promotes a healthy pre-menstrual cycle by temporarily reducing water retention

Kick Start Rooibos Energy Tea – A naturally caffeine free Rooibos tea that helps to promote and maintain a high level of energy without the caffeine crash.

As always please let us know your thoughts on the site and our teas! If you have any suggestions for a blend that you might like to see on our site let us know and we’ll consider it for one of our limited production run signature blends.