Hi Noelene

Just letting you know that our Tea Tasting yesterday was a HUGE success. It turned out that your Blackberry and Orange Tea was so popular we couldn’t keep up making batches of it!

Thank you again for sending us your tea, it was a wonderful day.

Melissa Richards
Senior Library Assistant
Moreton Bay Libraries

Community and Cultural Services
Moreton Bay Regional Council
Caboolture District

There is nothing that makes men rich and strong but that which they carry inside of them. Wealth is of the heart, not of the hand.

John Milton

Read all about it at www.teasoftheworld.com

Keep your teacup and your cupboards filled. Shop on-line for your favourite flavours and discover new ones that may pique your curiosity.

Each and every one of them, Australian Fruit Tea Company has a range of classic black teas - black tea based flavoured with the essential oils from the skin of the fruit providing a hint of your favourite fruit to the best quality leaf tea grown without herbicides and pesticides.

You can buy them on line at www.australianfruittea.com.au; www.australianfruittea.com or your local woolworths store nationwide.

Be sure to watch out for NEW ….Australian Green tea based fruit teas …. coming soon.

Healthy tea innovation grows category - Editorial from Retail World - January 2009
The Australian Fruit Tea Company will launch its new green tea fresh fruit teas into Woolworths stores nationally this year.

The new teas are green tea flavoured with natural fruit flavours and oils which will be rolled out to stores in May.

Available in a range of six, the new flavours include: Grapefruit, Orange, Mandarin, Mango, Passionfruit and Peach.

The range was launched after Australian Fruit Tea Company found consumers loved drinking green teas due to its health benefits , but found green tea can not always be easy on the palate, according to Australian Fruit Tea Company Managing Director, Noelene Wilson.

When green tea is delicately flavoured with natural flavours and oils extracted from the skin of the fruit, it makes a world of difference to the taste. We will also have black tea based fruit teas ( tea bags) available from May 2009. Our black tea based fresh fruit teas are very European in style and we often have European customers tell us how good they are, Ms Wilson said.

The Australian Fruit Tea Company is a chemical-free manufacturing and wholesale tea company, which specialises in the manufacture of full leaf gourmet fresh fruit teas with a strong emphasis on fresh fruit tea with healthy natural flavourings.

Ms Wilson founded the company in 1994, after collaborating with a horticultural research company to create the perfect fruit tea.

The tea had to be the best quality, with the addition of real fruit and natural fruit flavouring which contain oils extracted from the fruits skin. In other words, it had to be a natural product and it had to be unique.

Our teas are free of artificial preservatives, colours, flavours and our natural flavours contain no propylene glycol or tiacetine, she said.

Australian Fruit Teas - all natural, premium ceylon black tea, naturally flavoured with the essential oils from the skin of the fruit. PLEASE USE YOUR NATURAL PRODUCT QUICKLY ONCE OPENED.

Australian Fruit Teas - premium fresh fruit teas available on line today. Buy fresh fruit teas, premium black tea (ceylon tea grown without the use of herbicides and pesticides) with a hint of fruit, flavoured naturally with the essential oils from the skin of the fruit and fresh freeze dried australian fruit pieces (no additives or colours).

REMEMBER TO USE YOUR NATURAL PRODUCT QUICKLY ONCE OPENED.

Combine herbs for interesting combinations. Good - - options include: chamomile or alfalfa and mint; lemon herbs (like lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon balm) and mints; sage and lemon herbs; peppermint and elder flowers; hibiscus and lemon verbena or rosehips; alfalfa and mint; clover and spearmint; licorice root or spearmint and rosemary.
Other good combos include green teas and apple juice; - raspberry tea and orange juice; and lavender with mint and grape juice.
Use iced teas to boost your immunity or address health - issues. Sipping iced teas throughout the day is a great way to reap the most health benefits from the herbs.
Include spices in your teas for added depth. Cinnamon, - cloves, cardamom, allspice, and ginger are good bets.
Citrus enlivens almost any iced tea. Use fresh lemon or - lime juice, slices, or peels, and/or granulated lemon.
Chill your serving glasses ahead of time, and prop a piece of - fruit (a strawberry, lime, orange, or lemon slice) on the edge.
Add frozen fruit to your drink. Whole strawberries, - raspberries, or blueberries are fun.
Add edible flowers (organic violets, nasturtiums, rose petals, - and scented geraniums, for example) to your ice cubes.
Combine an herbal tea with your favorite black, green, - white, or oolong tea - like Darjeeling and peppermint, Earl Grey and lemongrass, green tea and chamomile. Of course, all teas are delicious iced! (You may want to pour any leftover warm tea into a pitcher in the refrigerator
to serve iced another time.)
To dissolve your sweetener, you can make a syrup by - cooking the honey or sugar in a bit of water (or juice) and stirring for a minute or two. Then add the syrup directly to the batch of sun tea, once brewed.
Serve herbal iced teas with complimentary treats,
- like lavender cakes or cardamom scones, anise cookies
or gingersnaps.

AFTERNOON TEA

A Summer Tea Menu

Summer is a lovely time to give a small tea party with family and friends. Pick a bouquet from your flower gardens for your centerpiece. If you have a vegetable garden, send some of your harvest home with your guests along with a small bouquet. The cherry recipes use dried cherries, but if you have fresh cherries (and they are plentiful in Australia at this time of year) be sure to place some in a pretty bowl for guests.

Herbed Quiche Appetizer

Ingredients:
10 eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 pound Swiss cheese, grated
1 can sliced mushrooms (8 oz.)
1/2 cup butter — melted
1 tablespoon minced herbs—oregano, parsley, minced
garlic, basil, chives, chervil, etc.
salt and pepper to season

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl, beat eggs, cottage cheese, flour, baking powder and seasoned salt. Stir in cheese, mushrooms, butter, salt, pepper and the herbs. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish. Bake uncovered 15 minutes at 400 degrees . Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 35-40 minutes. Cut into bite-size squares. Serve hot or cold.

Mini Onion Tarts

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup butter cracker crumbs
1/3 cups butter
2 cup chopped sweet onion
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. minced fresh parsley

Combine crumbs and two-thirds of the butter in a bowl and mix well. Press the mixture on the bottom and up the sides of mini muffin tins. Heat remaining butter in a skillet, over medium heat, add onions and sauté for 10-12 minutes, until tender and just beginning to caramelize. Divide onions among muffin cups. Now combine milk, eggs, and salt and whisk well. Pour over the onions into muffin cups. Divide the grated cheese between muffin cups and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and gently remove from muffin tin. Garnish with minced parsley and serve warm.

Cherry Scones

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup Half and Half — plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon almond extract

Soak cherries in hot water for 10 minutes and then drain and set aside. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk, sour cream, cream and extract. Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Mix in the cherries and then knead the dough lightly on a floured surface just until dough can be handled. Shape dough into a ball and pat into a 6-inch circle on a greased baking sheet. Cut into six wedges and brush with beaten egg white and then sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cherry Cheese Spread

Ingredients:
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup water
2- 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

In a small heavy pan simmer the dried cherries in water until water is reduced to about a tablespoon. Remove pan from the heat and cool. In a medium sized bowl, beat the remaining ingredients together with the cherries and water once they have cooled. Serve with scones or crackers.

Cherry Tea - Australian Xmas Tea is full of cherries - Available on line only

Ingredients:
6 cups water
1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
4 tsp Australian Fruit Tea (any flavour but particularly good with Raspberry and Strawberry)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Boil the water, remove from heat and add your tea. Brew for 1 minute and strain leaves away. (You must remove the leaves or the tea will overtake the delicate fruit flavour). Pour into a teapot with the juices. Serve in cups warm, or over ice. This is easily doubled.

Enjoy your summer with Australian Fruit Tea.

Lemon Balm Punch - Try this on its own or over Australian Fruit Tea Lemon/Kiwifruit
Serve this easy and economical
party beverage with floating
slices of fresh lemon in the punch
bowl or a slice or two of
crystallized ginger in each glass.
2 Tbsp. lemongrass
2 Tbsp. lemon balm leaf
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. honey
2 cups natural ginger ale
lemon slices (optional)
1 Tbsp. crystallized
ginger, sliced (optional)
Make sun tea with lemongrass,
lemon balm leaf, and water.
Strain and add honey and
ginger ale.