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.

About one third of people are susceptible to motion sickness, and in the U.S. space program almost 50% of astronauts have experienced vertigo.

There are many techniques and tips you can use to help minimize your chances of getting motion sickness, including drinking some herbs before and after you experience motion sickness.

Note: this is from my own experience and by no means am I a doctor. Please consult with your physician or qualified health care professional if you experience severe motion sickness.

A few tips that I have found helpful:

• Stay sober – don’t start out on a car ride with a hang over. Eeee bad idea. Trust me.
• Sleep Up! Make sure you get a decent nights rest prior to taking any trips
• Reading: Not recommended as it will increase any motion sickness you might be experiencing; instead try listening to music.
• TV: Same thing as reading – try to avoid it when a passenger in a car.
• Ginger: Ginger is awesome for combating motion sickness. If you can get your hands on some ginger tea go for it, or try ginger candy.
• Peppermint: Peppermint is also strongly recommended for helping with motion sickness.

Updates:

Remember our contest is still on until Feb 28th! Just comment and you could win some matcha tea.

Because the tea shots are so compact you can now easily carry some great loose leaf tea with you wherever you go- throw it in a backpack (they are made of food grade plastic so no worries of it breaking), in your purse, car, or take it to grandma’s house. I know that Grandma will absolutely love it.

We also have our matcha green tea powder available in tea shots. You get 6 grams of premium matcha tea. What exactly is matcha? It’s green tea that has been ground into a fine powder at a stone mill. Instead of making a tea out of green tea leaves you are actually ingesting the entire leaf therefore getting many more of the health benefits than you would from a cup of tea. For those that may not be familiar with the world of matcha, this is a great way to explore this great Japanese tea ceremony tradition.  Also because each shot is sealed you can pick up multiple matcha shots and only open as much as you need – keeping the rest of your matcha stash nice and fresh.

These days matcha can be found in a plethora of recipes. I’ve had matcha pancakes, matcha cheesecake, matcha muffins and of course my all time favourite: matcha green tea ice cream. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Try adding a teaspoon of our matcha to some softened vanilla bean ice cream for an incredible homemade matcha green tea ice cream. Tip: I find using a spatula and folding over the ice cream and matcha works best.
• Make a hot (or iced) matcha green tea latte
• Add a dash of matcha to yogurt or your breakfast cereal
• Give your post workout smoothies a supercharged kick with a teaspoon of matcha
• Bake a matcha cheesecake
• Serve up some matcha pancakes
• And anything else you can think of!

Really the possibilities are almost endless with what you can do with matcha. Do you have any great ideas you want to share? Maybe a recipe that you tried and was fantastic?

 Respond and let us know how you are using your matcha and we’ll pick three random people to receive a free matcha tea shot! Our contest will close Feb 28th at midnight, so make sure you respond here by then!

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!

 So the news was bound to make the front page: Canadians are suffering from hypertension at an unprecedented rate. Nearly one fifth of adults (or 4.6 million of us) has hypertension or high blood pressure. And similar studies have been released linking hypertension to the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease later on in life. Although Canada may lead the world in treatment for hypertension there are some preventative steps that we can take to avoid going down that road altogether, or at least lessen the chances.

The February issue of The Journal of Nutrition published a study that suggests that having just three cups a day of Hibiscus tea could help to lower blood pressure formed by mild hypertension in adults.

In the clinical study 65 participants were given either 3 240ml servings of brewed hibiscus tea or a placebo.

The results?

After six weeks hibiscus tea lowered systolic blood pressure by a margin of 7-percent while also lowering diastolic blood pressure by 3-percent.

The conclusion of the study was summarized in an abstract:

“These results suggest daily consumption of hibiscus tea, in an amount readily incorporated into the diet, lowers BP in pre- and mildly hypertensive adults and may prove an effective component of the dietary changes recommended for people with these conditions”

 What Else Can We Do?

Dr. Norm Campbell, medical professor at the University of Calgary (Alberta) has a few suggestions:

“The good news is there’s a multitude of different things we can do. A healthy diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat is very effective, as is regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy body weight,” said Campbell.

I’ll raise a glass of hibiscus tea to that.

False alarm. Must have been my constant chatting as of late. Well it gave me the opportunity to test out a mouth rinse that I came across that incorporated tea.  I dug into my vaults and retrieved this great recipe that uses chai tea. The spicy notes of the chai (cardamom, anise, ginger) really help to freshen your breath.

Chai Mouth Wash

• 2 drops clove oil
• 2 drops cinnamon oil
• 2-3 tbsp vodka
• 1 1/2 cups distilled water
• 1/2 cup brewed chai tea

Combine the clove and cinnamon oil with the vodka in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Pour in the water and chai, then mix well. Use about a tablespoon at a time and refridgerate the rest. Can be stored for about a week in the fridge.

Some things that you can find at our cart include:

• Contigo Stainless Steel Mugs (rated the best travel mug on the market by Men’s Journal)
• Bodum teapots and accessories (some of the finest European teaware on the market)
• Tea shots (you have to check these out in person! They are only $2 each)
• Pyramid tea bags
• Whole leaf teas
• And many more items!

So don’t be shy! We would love to chat with you and meet some of our wonderful online customers.

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This brings up a concern that happens all too often in tea growing regions all over the world. The neglect or abuse of workers. I am especially grateful to source our teas from suppliers that work hand in hand with estates to improve the lives of not only the estate owners, but also their workers. I think that there is a real price to pay for these so called ‘cheap teas’, and if by paying a few pennies more for a subtle and smooth Darjeeling or a malty and brisk Assam you are helping to improve the lives of those workers who helped bring that cup to you I want to be part of that movement.

There are many partnerships out there, some improve labour relations, help with environmental sustainability, fair trade, and other worthwhile causes. For example, our friends over at Birds and Beans serve up ‘bird friendly’ coffee and support the work of the Rainforest Alliance. If anyone has any causes they support or know of please share!