Tea Blog ~ Tea Reviews ~ Tea Products ~ Gift Ideas for Tea Lovers ~ Book Reviews
I’ll know soon enough because I plan to order several sets.
This set is available for less than $15, making it an ideal Christmas gift for the tea lover on your list AND an ideal addition to your own tea collection.
See Modern Double Wall Glass Insulated Teacups for a closer look and be sure to check Amazon for many other gift ideas for tea lovers.
Seriously, if they don’t have it, no one does.
The Tea App on iTunes is under $2 and any tea lover will love everything about it.
The first thing that stood out to me were the beautiful images. There’s something downright relaxing about the colorful tea pictures and they never fail to leave me craving a cup of tea even more than normal.
There are even extra bits of tea information dispersed throughout the app. For example, do you know which tea is called the “champagne of teas?” It’s one of my favorites!
Different brewing methods are discussed in addition to the different teas.
Methods:
by Miryam Quinn-Doblas, MS, RD (creator of EatGood4Life), to review on Crazy Tea Chick. As someone who collects cookbooks, writes tons of cookbook reviews on her food blog, and happens to be obsessed with tea – this book and I are getting along famously.
In addition to outstanding recipes, which we’ll get to in a moment, the author includes a lot of wonderful information, including:
The section on which ingredients pair best with matcha is as fascinating as it is extensive.
From the Inside Cover:
A Beautiful Collection of Recipes Featuring One of the World’s Most Popular and Powerful Superfoods
In The Healthy Matcha Cookbook, food blogger and registered dietitian Miryam Quinn-Doblas explores the various ways matcha powder—a main component of green tea—can be incorporated into everyday recipes to give your immune system the boost it needs to keep you healthy.
The health benefits of matcha powder far exceed those of green tea in drink form. The more than sixty recipes in this cookbook are easy to prepare and feature fresh, high-quality ingredients that aim to incorporate matcha powder, a powerful antioxidant, into the diet.
If you want to feel better, have more energy, and decrease the amount of toxins in your body, The Healthy Matcha Cookbook is a great resource that will help you restore and strengthen your mental and physical health. This is a beautiful guide that offers home cooks of all levels the chance to transform meals into satisfying, wholesome, healthy food using one of the world’s most popular superfoods.
Recipes Include:
I love the recipes to distraction, the information is priceless, and the book, itself, is gorgeous. What I love most may be the fact that the author took the extra time to label her recipes “gluten free, dairy-free, and vegan.” When you either choose to or have to follow a particular diet, you come to LOVE cookbook authors who go out of their way to help you in an area that, quite frankly, can be pretty tough.
Throughout the cookbook, gluten free options and tips are provided and, again, I greatly appreciate it a lot.
Make no mistake about it, however, you will love The Healthy Matcha Cookbook whether you have to follow a specific diet or not. These are off the chart healthy and delicious recipes and the book is a must have for all foodies and tea lovers.
The Healthy Matcha Cookbook would make a perfect gift idea for any and all tea lovers in your life – just be sure to grab a copy for yourself. You’re going to love this cookbook!
If you order from Amazon soon, you can have copies of the book before Christmas. Click any of the links above or the image below!
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Rachael Ray Orange Whistling Tea Kettle
I love the tea lovers in my life. Not only do they show remarkably good taste in their favorite drink, they’re incredibly easy to shop for. Whether it’s Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, anniversaries, or birthdays, you always know the way to a tea lover’s heart – through their tea cup!
Below are the Top 10 Gift Ideas for Tea Lovers, according to The Crazy Tea Chick. You simply cannot go wrong with any of these.
1. The Bonavita Digital Electric Gooseneck Kettle. (pictured above) This beauty takes the guesswork out of brewing the best tea you ever had in your life. Easy to use, handsome to look at, and (quite frankly), one of the things in my kitchen I value the most. You can read my Bonavita Digital Kettle Review or simply click here to see it on Amazon.
(pictured above) are some of the most beautiful tea glasses I’ve ever laid my tea loving peepers on. They’re sold in a set of 4 and would make a perfect gift idea.
and I’m obsessed with everything about them.
, pictured above, is a best seller on Amazon – making me one of MANY who use it daily. Packaged along with some great matcha (see below!), this would be a gift your tea lover will use for years.
is as good as it gets for making outstanding matcha at home.
on Crazy Tea Chick yet, but I wouldn’t take anything for mine. It’s beautiful and insanely useful for making fresh brewed tea. It comes in a sturdy box, perfect for gift wrapping and any tea lover will cherish it as much as I do mine.
– I mean, how could I not? Mine is orange (like the one shown at the top of the post) and it’s used so frequently, it has a permanent resting place on the stove. This perfect whistling tea kettle is also available in Blue
and Red.
, pictured above, are perfect for tea and/or coffee lovers. As someone who answers immediately to both, I’m more than a little crazy about them. The beauties are sold in sets of four and are just gorgeous.
A whole new world opens up!
Whether you add a few boxes to a gift bag, use them as the basis for a gift box, or stuff some into a stocking, great quality loose leaf tea is THE perfect gift for tea lovers in your life.
I 110 percent recommend that you visit the two tea companies below and do a little shopping. I’ve had dealings with each and promise you that you’ll be blown away. I’ve written tea reviews for several of their teas on Crazy Tea Chick and have quite a few more scheduled to publish in the coming days. Everything they offer is perfection. When you place your order…. be sure to order some for yourself. Trust me.
BONUS Tea Gift Idea:
Tea Time is a perfect book for tea lovers. Read my Tea Time Review or simply hurry over to Amazon to buy the book. Filled with tea facts, history, legends, tales, and countless tea recipes – any tea drinker will love this beautiful book.
BONUS Gift Idea for Tea and Coffee Lovers:
is essential – as in, it’d be nuts to try to live the latte life without one. Click through the link for more information.
The beautiful Tea Ceremony Set Bowl and Whisk Green/Brown
The Matcha set features utensils used for a traditional tea ceremony: Tea bowl, tea whisk and tea scoop.
Click through for more information. This is gorgeous!
Want to know how to make traditional Japanese Matcha? Click the link for a video from DoMatcha.
I have recently fallen head over heels in love with tea-related videos. I’ve always been MAD about cooking videos but the obsession with tea videos is a fairly recent thing. Look for a lot more tea videos to be added to the tea blog because I’m pretty sure you’ll become as hooked as I am.
The video below is from DoMatcha (makers of extraordinary Matcha). In this video, DoMatcha host Calli O’Brien shows how to whisk up a traditional matcha.
Find DoMatcha 
Matcha Whisk Holder (similar to the one she uses in the video above):
Matcha Accessories (Bowls, Whisks, Sets):
These mints are exclusive to Teavana and come in a beautiful container sporting the wonderful Teavana logo.
Click through for more information!
DoMatcha Organic Matcha (Outstanding!)
I am a huge, huge, huge fan of green tea. Hot green tea, iced green tea, green tea frappes, green tea lattes, green tea with lemon, green tea with honey… If it’s green tea, odds are I’m going to be wild about it. Given my love of green tea, I wasn’t surprised that as soon as I tried matcha green tea I was completely hooked. I fully expected to love it.
What I didn’t expect was the reaction my youngest daughter had. The only tea she has ever been a fan of is black tea – as long as it is as sweet as it can possibly be. She doesn’t care for green tea whatsoever (silly girl!). Given her strong, relentless feelings toward green tea, I was hesitant to offer her any matcha green tea – after all, it’s green tea in its truest, strongest form. There’s no way she could possibly like it.
Wrong!
I fixed her a mug of hot matcha tea one afternoon and, by the time evening rolled around, she was ready for another. Oddly enough, she’s as wild about the taste of matcha tea as I am. Even more surprisingly, she doesn’t even want it to be very sweet – this from a girl who adds sugar to her iced tea not with a spoon but with a measuring cup.
Just mark it all up to the magic of matcha – or to be more specific, the magic of GOOD, high quality matcha: DoMatcha Green Tea, Organic Matcha.
DoMatcha Description:
Domatcha organic 2nd harvest matcha is 100% authentic Japanese matcha, directly from the uji region in japan where matcha originated 800 years ago. The organic 2nd harvest matcha is harvested in august each year. The leaves are shade-grown and only the finest top leaves are chosen. Compared to the leaves picked in the first flush of spring these leaves are more ‘mature’ and have a slightly more astringent flavor. Organic 2nd harvest matcha is ideal for lattes, blender drinks, frappes and smoothies. .The DoMatcha organic 2nd harvest is very high in catechins especially those extremely powerful antioxidants, egcgs. Use one half to one teaspoon per serving.
There are many Matcha powders on the market, but make no mistake about it – they are not all equal. Buying organic, authentic Japanese Matcha isn’t just the smartest approach, it’s the only one you should even consider. My own personal experience tells me that DoMatcha is an excellent choice.
One of my favorite things about DoMatcha (besides the excellent quality) is the fact that they have a very informative website (DoMatcha.com) with instructions, information, videos, and step by step tutorials. The website is as beneficial for those of us who have been enjoying Matcha for years as it is for those who are new to the Matcha experience.
Learn more about DoMatcha DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha, 2.82-Ounce
If you want to truly enjoy Matcha at home, I highly recommend the following inexpensive products (pictured above):
Chasen (Green Tea Whisk) and Small Scoop for preparing Matcha
OXO Good Grips 3-Inch Mini Strainer
I’ve been a tea lover for many years – in fact, there’s little doubt in my mind that I had sweet tea in my “sippy cups” when I was a toddler. It’s the Southern way, you know. I fell in love with green tea when it hit the scene years ago, too. I prefer mine sweetened with a little honey or Truvia and never object to a little mint in my green tea.
In addition to my favorite teas (black, green, chai..), I’ve made Matcha (think of it as the strongest Japanese Green Tea you ever met) part of my daily life. My afternoon or evening cup of hot Matcha tea with honey is something I very much look forward to each day.
Like a lot of people, I began drinking Matcha because of its AMAZING health benefits but I continue drinking Matcha because I love it.
DoMatcha DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha, 2.82-Ounce
Unfortunately, Matcha is really difficult to find in stores (impossible has been my experience). However shopping for it online couldn’t be any easier – especially when you use Amazon.
One suggestion I would make, however, is to buy Matcha in a reusable tin (like the one shown here). You want to keep it as fresh and protected as possible.
To make a cup of hot Matcha tea, simply put 1/2 t- 1 tsp of DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha in a Matcha bowl or cup. Add 1 oz. of hot water and stir to make a smooth paste. Then add more hot water and whisk to a froth, or add milk for a Matcha Latte! As I said, I like to add honey to mine, but you may enjoy it without any sweetener at all – OR you may want to go with sugar or Stevia. If you Do add sweetener to your Matcha, don’t feel like you’ve broken any unwritten code of ethic for tea drinkers. Matcha has, shall we say, a VERY strong personality and distinct disposition.
Frankly, I think it requires a little “softening” with sweetener, but I’ll let you make your own mind up.
1 tsp Matcha powder
2 tsps. Sugar or 2 pkts Truvia or Stevia (I use 2 pkts of Truvia and LOVE the results)
1 Cup of Milk (whole or 2%)
A little Cool Whip for the top.
Optional: You can add a splash of vanilla syrup (found in most coffee and tea aisles) along with the other ingredients if you want it to be a little sweeter. I read somewhere that Starbucks (in their HEAVENLY Green Tea frappes) uses a “Melon” syrup. I’ve never seen one in stores… if I ever do, I’ll be buying it by the gallons.
Directions: Put a cup of ice into your blender. In order, add the Matcha powder, sugar, vanilla syrup (if using), and milk.
*** I’ve made these frappes with sugar, Stevia, and Truvia and… for reasons that I couldn’t even begin to explain… using two packets of Truvia is my favorite way to go.
