N E W S H A M P E R O u r P a s s i o n , Yo u r G i f t
TEA OR COFFEE? Britons could soon have to find another pastime to fill the mid-afternoon slot as demand for the classic cuppa cools.
In fact, tea consumption in the UK has dropped by more than a fifth in the past five years, with consumers opting for more exciting hot beverages, according to recent studies. A key driver in tea’s tumble is the growth of its main rival in the hot beverage market, coffee, which has surged in popularity. While tea consumption is still two times bigger than coffee and coffee consumption per capita has not increased in the UK, Brits are spending more time in coffee shops, seduced by the sweet, milky depths of the cappuccino culture. In other words, drinking coffee is becoming a social habit and coffee shops are chosen more and more by families and women for their gatherings. Unlike big coffee chains, small artisan coffee shops are striving for excellence offering high quality coffee products which are not intended for the mass production, such as Manuel Caffé.
Sourced directly from a family-run company in Italy and exclusively imported in the UK by Hay Hampers, Manuel is a premium coffee made with selected beans manually picked one by one from plantations around the world and roasted in a state of the art plant, which guarantees consistent quality. Diverse roasting recipes are used at Manuel Caffé to get the best aromas out of each coffee variety for your espresso, Americano, cappuccino, filter or instant coffee. Despite the coffee boom, particularly of speciality coffee, the tea market hasn’t cooled entirely as it is buoyed by increasing popularity of novelty varieties, such as
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green tea, fruit tea, herbal tea and more sophisticated teas – e.g. earl grey, chai and assam – which have recently had big jumps in sales. Reflecting a growing ‘foodie’ culture in the UK, people are becoming much more adventurous in their choice of foods and drinks, and are branching away from standard products; instead, Britons are moving towards these more interesting alternatives. Is this trend predicting an innovation in the market, favouring the kind of premium products that Hay Hampers offer?
Whole leaf teas are produced with little or no alteration to the tea leaf and this results in a finished product with a coarser texture, such as in our black tea; two leaves and a bud are neatly rolled into long wiry tips that offer honey liquor with a fine and subtle taste.
Second only to water, tea is quite rightly one of the oldest drinks in the world, dating back around 5,000 years. Without any doubt, China was the first country to find out about its regenerative powers. Humidity, cool temperatures, and rainfall provide the perfect climate for production of high-quality tea. That’s why Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka, is the world’s fourth-largest producer of tea. The industry was introduced to the country by the British from China in the 19th century and Sri Lanka has been renowned for its prized tea leaves ever since. The British traditionally beloved beverage offered by Hay Hampers is a sophisticated, premium tea that comes directly from right where the tea is grown, in Ceylon’s beautiful central highlands. Shipped within matter of days of harvesting, Basilur teas keep all their goodness and freshness. Using highest quality tea leaves skilfully blended and combined with innovative, unique packaging, we offer an exclusive premium tea product. It is not just another packet of tea, but a new tea drinking experience. Black tea is usually graded on one of four scales for quality. Whole leaf teas are the highest quality and widely considered the most valuable, especially if they contain leaf tips. The scale degrades to broken leaves, fannings and then dusts.
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Plain black tea without sweeteners or additives contains caffeine and is rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidant i.e. they help protect against development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases. Even richer in polyphenols, particularly flavonoids, is green tea. Several varieties of green tea exist, which differ due to growing conditions, horticulture, production processing and time of harvest. Inspired by the Chinese green teas, our green tea is grown in breath-taking tea gardens in Sri Lanka and produced from the exact tea plant as black tea, known as Camelia Sinensis, but processed differently to obtain a lower level of oxidation.
O u r P a s s i o n , Yo u r G i f t
The intoxicating scent of orange blossom or the sweetness of strawberries and the fragrance of the forest in a fresh delicate infusion is a superb caffeine free alternative to tea.
Is it true that coffee helps you lose weight? Not exactly. The stimulating effects of caffeine can slightly, but very slightly increase your metabolism and reduce your desire to eat for a brief time, though not enough to make a dent in your diet.
Whether they are with dried fruits, herbs, spices, or other plant material, herbal teas can be served hot or cold. They are excellent for the whole family and a delicious way of supplementing your daily vitamin requirement. Discerning connoisseurs can choose among a large selection of flavours according to their taste, time of the day and food matching. Ideal for keeping fit, herbal teas have been used for nearly as long as written history extends. Documents have been recovered dating back to Ancient Egypt and Ancient China that discuss the enjoyment and uses of herbal teas. In many countries, the word ‘tea’ may only be used for leaves of the tea plant, Camelia sinensis, and therefore the phrase ‘herbal tea’ is a contradiction in terms. These beverages are therefore labelled infusion or tisane.
And does coffee cause dehydration? Contrarily, moderate amounts of caffeinated beverages can actually contribute to the body’s daily water needs. Instead, you should steer clear of excessive coffee drinking as the diuretic effect of caffeine is amplified when you exceed about 500 milligrams per day (about three to six cups). Are you a tea or a coffee drinker? Whatever your favourite drink is, there are so many myths surrounding what’s in your cup floating around. Coffee contains caffeine, tea doesn’t. Actually, all tea has caffeine, usually less than coffee, though exactly how much varies from where and how tea is grown, the size of the leaves and the processing style (roasting, aging and fermentation can all diminish caffeine). It’s even more complicated: the longer tea brewed, the more caffeine made its way into the cup. So if you need to watch your caffeine consumption, stick to herbal tisanes. How about your afternoon cuppa, will it cause insomnia due to the stimulant effect of caffeine? The caffeine you consume in your post-lunch cup is processed through the liver at lightning speed and roughly 75% of it is flushed out of your body within four to seven hours. So, if you drink your cup at 3 p.m., it’s completely gone by bedtime.
Is single origin coffee - which has recently become more and more popular - better then blends? Actually, single origin coffee may have the sweetness but lack the acidity or the crema, whereas the bitterness of one coffee can be balanced by the sweetness of another in blends. For instance, fora a good Italian espresso you need a rounded and balanced combination of 7-13 specific ratios of coffees from different origins.
Hot water or extra-hot water? Water above 90°C will extract some of the bitter oils from coffee grounds and may even scorch them. Black teas do benefit from near-boiling water to extract the full range of their flavours, while many green teas will taste sweeter and less bitter with cooler water (around 70°C). So here’s a good rule of thumb for your tea: the hotter you brew, the darker and more robust your tea will be; the cooler your water, the sweeter and milder it will taste. You can brew any tea with this in mind, see what tastes best to your palate and adjust your brew parameters accordingly.
N E W S H A M P E R O u r P a s s i o n , Yo u r G i f t
BREAKFAST TEA & COFFEE A cup of refreshing tea or mellow coffee with yummy biscuits or a little strawberry jam on oatcakes will make you start indulgently even on the most gloomy mornings. Very happy, sweet morning!
TEA & BISCUITS
AFTER DINNER
The classic complement to a good cuppa? Sweet biscuits and cakes. Original Cornish fairings, handmade choc chips biscuits, crunchy brandy snaps, fragrant Italian amaretto… the list of our biscuits is endless. Which one will take longer before falling in tea? Happy dunking!
Finish off your dinner in style. Relax and enjoy smooth Italian coffee with chocolate and biscuits. Chill out on your most comfortable armchair and let the caffeine and chocolate induced serotonin be released!
Add a swig of Vin Santo and mix in the mascarpone.
Spoon and smooth this creamy mixture on top of your sponge fingers layer.
Clean and dry your whisk carefully, and whisk the whites until they form stiff peaks – they should hold their shape when you lift the beaters from the bowl.
Make another layer of sponge fingers poured with coffee, then add the egg and mascarpone mixture.
INGREDIENTS 175 g sponge fingers 400 ml good sweetened coffee 4 large free-range eggs, 4 yolks and 2 whites 100 g caster sugar 250 g mascarpone Vin Santo or other sweet dessert wine Cocoa powder
METHOD Line a large tray (about 30 cm in diameter and 6 cm deep) with the sponge fingers, then carefully pour over the sweetened coffee. Separate your eggs, putting the whites into one bowl and the yolks into another. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk with an electric whisk on the highest setting for about 5 minutes until all the sugar has dissolved and the yolks are pale and fluffy.
Using a large spoon, gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture mixing from down upwards.
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Scatter the cocoa powder over the top. Pop the tiramisù into the fridge for 2 hours to set.