The Crooked Tree Coffee House, St. Charles, Missouri
The Crooked Tree Coffee House in St. Charles, Missouri resembles an extra large family room with a coffee bar. The room is spacious, yet cozy with plenty of seating whether at tables or on a comfortable sofa. Both the patrons and staff are friendly and welcoming and the atmosphere is definitely child-friendly. You can also count on two parking lots, free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets for your computer, and good coffee.
The Crooked Tree has a more extensive menu than most coffee houses provide, including serving real breakfast. You can opt for a bagel, a blueberry scone or cinnamon roll, but you can also order French toast. A cheese omelet, a breakfast quesadilla, and several types of breakfast sandwich allow for plenty of choices. It is a nice change from the standard sugar and starch fare normally served in coffee houses.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Mar 11th, 2010
Review of Republic of Tea’s Superflower Hibiscus tea-Pineapple Lychee
Recently the Journal of Nutrition published a report on a study that examined the effects of hibiscus tea on high blood pressure. The results revealed that hibiscus tea lowered high blood pressure in pre-hypertensive and mildly hypertensive subjects. In short, it was so effective that it could allow some people to reduce or stop taking their blood pressure medications.
Now the Republic of Tea, a well-known tea company in Novato, California, has developed Superflower herbal teas. Although there are five different flavors, each has at its base African hibiscus, mostly from Nigeria. African hibiscus is a rich ruby-red and imparts not only beautiful color, but also a fruity flavor to herbal teas. It’s been described by some as a sort of cranberry-citrus combination while others think it more resembles rhubarb.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Mar 10th, 2010
Review: Dark Mayan Chocolate Latte, a General Foods International Coffee
Anyone who’s seen the movie Chocolat couldn’t help but be intrigued by the words “Dark Mayan Chocolate." In the film, Chocolatier Vianne seems to enchant others with the unusual chocolate recipes learned from her South American mother. She magically senses which chocolate is each person’s favorite and which chocolate will change his or her life. Her most special recipe is her hot chocolate, made with just a pinch of chili pepper stirred into each cup.
Unfortunately, General Foods seems to have missed seeing that movie because Dark Mayan Chocolate Latte contains no chili. It also contains almost no coffee at all, at least none that you can actually taste. It tastes pretty much like hot chocolate with cinnamon in it, not bad but not really good. The instructions say to use 1 and 1/3 tablespoons, (four teaspoons) and 8 fluid ounces of boiling water. This yields a weak and watery brew that while tasty has so little body it is almost like drinking chocolate water. Adding more mix just made it lumpy rather than improving texture, as did using less water.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Mar 9th, 2010
How to Make a Great Cup of Tea
It does not seem very hard to make a cup of tea; just put a teabag into a cup and pour hot water on it. Sure, if all you want is a cup of hot brown, or tan, liquid, you could do that. The question is do you want just a cup of tea, a cup of good tea, or a cup of great tea. Which tea you use and what you do with it are big factors in how your tea will taste.
You need to start with the most important part of the formula, the tea itself. While it is true that many teabags contain inferior quality tea, there are some good ones. Both the quality of the original tealeaf and the size of the leaf pieces affect tea flavor. If you want to use teabags, select a brand that has extra large teabags or pyramid-shaped. Tealeaves need room to expand when they steep, so tea companies who use large pieces use bigger teabags.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Mar 8th, 2010
