Green Apple Green Tea

The Granny Smith Apple is without a doubt the crunchiest, most delectable, most flavorful and most wonderful variety of apple known to humankind. Don’t you agree? There’s a lot of history to back up that enormous claim. Granny Smith apples were “discovered” around 1865 by Marie Ana “Granny” Smith, an English immigrant to Australia. The apple we know and love today is thought to have come originally from a wild European variety, (Latin: Malus sylvestris). As the story goes, Marie found a wild seedling growing down by a creek bed on her farm. She showed the unique green apples to another local farmer who encouraged her to propagate them for commercial distribution. A number of years later, in 1891 to be exact, “Granny Smith’s Seedlings” took top prize at a local agricultural fair. And why not? Tart and sweet with a perfect crunch, Granny Smith apples are, as we mentioned earlier, the most delicious apples know to humankind!

Well, you know what we like to do with delicious fruit right? Blend it with tea. So without further ado may we introduce Granny Green Apple green tea! This easy drinking blend is based on a Sencha style leaf manufactured in Hunan Province, South Eastern China. The tea is produced by skipping the fermentation process used to produce black tea. First, freshly plucked leaves are steamed after plucking and bruised by machine or hand. Next the leaf is pan-fried or basket fired - a process that gives the tea its distinctive glossy look and feel. Senchas typically have dark green, needle shaped leaves and produce a pale green to yellow, very bright, smooth cup with a sweetish finish. The natural sweetness of the tea makes it the perfect complement to our dried Apple pieces and natural fruit flavorings. The finished product is light with grassy undertones, tart notes of crisp apple and subtle layers of honey. Brew a cup today and raise a toast to everyone’s favorite Granny!

Hot tea brewing method: : When preparing by the cup, this tea can be used repeatedly - about 3 times. The secret is to use water that is about 180°F or 90°C. Place 1 teaspoon in your cup, let the tea steep for about 3 minutes and then begin enjoying a cup of enchantment - do not remove the leaves from the cup. Once the water level is low - add more water, and so on and so on - until the flavor of the tea is exhausted. Look at the pattern of the leaves, they foretell your fortune.

Alternatively as with all top quality teas, scoop 2-4 teaspoons of tea into the teapot, pour in boiling water that has been freshly drawn (previously boiled water has lost most of its oxygen and therefore tends to be flat tasting), steep for 2-4 minutes (to taste), stir (virtually all the leaves will sink), pour into your cup but do not add milk or sugar since green tea is enjoyed ‘straight-up’.

Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.]