Never Leaving Mint & Honey Behind!
By Guest on Sep 3 Filed In Guest Blogger, Sweet Consumers, Vacation 3 Comments
In recent years, I have made an annual trip the first week of August to the Davis Mountains and Big Bend area of Texas to spend time with some dear long time friends and attend an old fashioned Camp Meeting of 3,000 people from across Texas as well as a few other states. In addition, this year my sister was joining me near the end of the trip to celebrate her upcoming “significant” birthday. The thought of not having access to my favorite Sweet Leaf Tea, Mint and Honey, for eight days was not a pleasant one and I did not want to pack the tea in my suitcase even though Southwest Airlines takes the best care of my bags (and they fly free). I checked the Sweet Leaf Tea website for retail sites in Fort Davis, Alpine and Marfa but no luck. Since I was flying into Midland and renting a car for the drive, I checked the Midland area and found that the local HEB market carried Sweet Leaf Tea. I called HEB and explained to the manager that I needed to “reserve” six half-gallons of Mint and Honey Sweet Leaf Tea for pick-up on August 5. The manager checked his stock and then called me back to say it would be waiting for me in Customer Service when I arrived. Two days later, I flew to Midland, drove to HEB, picked up my Mint and Honey plus some other supplies and then headed for the Davis Mountains where the Texas sky is bigger and more blue and the clouds are more white than any other part of the state. We drank Sweet Leaf Mint and Honey Tea in Midland, Monahans, Pecos, Balmorhea State Park (home of one of the neatest swimming holes in Texas), in Fort Davis, Marfa and Alpine. We drank it in the car, at the hotel, in restaurants, on a cabin porch in a rocking chair, in a Camp Meeting cook shed, by the swimming pool, while watching the stars at night at the McDonald Observatory, driving through sand dunes, and even on horseback while on a trail ride. When we shared it with friends, they always said “This is really great tea! What kind is it?” And then we told them the Sweet Leaf Tea story. In the land of “Giant,” Sweet Leaf Mint and Honey is a giant of a tea.
Me & my last half-gallon of Mint and Honey Green Tea.(Texas Highway 67. Davis Mountains are in the background.)
By, Carol Childress
And We Love You, ALFIE!
By April on Aug 10 Filed In Blog Love 3 Comments
All of the Sweet Leaf Tea Marketing Tea’m has the Google Blog Searches come directly to our email, so we know what (if anything) is being said about our brand in the blogosphere. Often the searches do their job by grabbing key words like, “sweet”, “leaf”, “tea” and everything in between, but sadly, it’s not always about us.
Recently though, we had search results that ended with us finding “Coffee and Stilettos” by the amazingly passionate, ALFIE (aka, Ashley). This girl is totally down with professing her love to Granny and we are happy to accept the love! (I mean, who doesn’t love Mint & Honey Green Tea?)
Photo by ALFIE for "Coffee and Stilettos"
We think Ashley’s kind words and awesome photographs make her a winner in our book and we hope that all of you enjoy her posts too!
Update: Today our friend posted a beautiful picture of a bottle of Half & Half. It’s simple, pretty, and makes me so in love with summertime that I wanna run out of work and straight to Barton Springs for some swimming. But not before I drink some ice tea!
Sweet Love
By Guest on Jun 28 Filed In Austin, Texas, Events, Sweet Consumers 2 Comments
Anyone who knows me, knows that the way to my heart is simple: a bottle of Sweet Leaf Mint & Honey Green tea. You’d be hard-pressed to find me at a rehearsal for a play without one. So it stands to reason that the way to my heart was also one way to my fiancé Dave’s heart at the beginning of our relationship.
Dave and I first met during rehearsals for The Laramie Project at The City Theatre almost two years ago (and, yes, Sweet Leaf was present). We became friends during the run and then, owing much to chance, we were cast together in a new show just as Laramie was ending. We started hanging out at local coffee shops, studying lines for The New Jersey Book of the Dead, which was to be staged at The Hyde Park Theatre. During this time, as you can predict from the headline of this posting and his current moniker of fiancé, Dave moved from being my good friend to my leading man.
Photographer, Will Hollis Snider
At the end of the run of Jersey, I assembled my collection of empty Sweet Leaf bottles from rehearsals (some of which Dave had purchased for me); and, with a hot glue gun in one hand and a strand of sequined trim in the other, I embarked on a new craft project for my fellow cast members that would end up showing Dave just how much I cared for him. I attached the trim to the glass, tied on coordinating tags (Dave’s tag served as his first love note from me), gathered some Texas wildflowers and—voila!—vases. Then the debate: do guys—especially ones as macho as Dave—really want flower vases from tea bottles that have beads and sequins on them? The only answer I can give is that apparently my guy does. I mean, come on…it’s Sweet Leaf! A year later, I stumbled across the bottle, which Dave tucked away in a drawer full of mementos from our relationship.
So, now we’re planning our wedding and reception, and we’ve decided on a picnic theme, which captures our love of fun, outdoor get-togethers. Budget and beauty are big considerations. Well, several weeks ago, Dave and I were sitting in Café Mundi—at a read-thru for another show, Rabbit Hole—when I discovered a wedding planning solution in my hand. Sweet Leaf Blueberry Lemonade in a mason jar. How cute and perfect is that? Tie on a fun, printed ribbon, place a votive candle inside, and they’ll be beautiful, whimsical candles at our picnic that pay tribute to how our story began—a wonderful reminder of just how sweet life can be!
Photographer, Will Hollis Snider
Rachel McGinnis Meissner is a freelance writer/illustrator/actor in Austin. Befriend her and Sweet Leaf on Facebook.com.
Summertime #TeaSnacky: Panzanella with Sliced Beef Sirloin
By April on Jun 24 Filed In Food & Beverage, recipes, teasnacky 2 Comments
I decided that I needed to get back on the “eat right train” that I’ve been on until the last 6 months or so and what better time to do it than in the summer when it’s just too hot to want to eat your standard comfort food fare. Insert brainiac idea to make myself a tasty bread salad with sliced sirloin on top. Don’t worry about what drink to pair it with, just grab a bottle of sparkling water and your favorite flavor of Sweet Leaf Tea, (Citrus, Half & Half, or Mint & Honey perhaps?) and mix it up. Curious about the exact ratio? Here’s my best guess: 3/4 tea to 1/4 water-ish, but feel free to experiment and comment on what the best ratio is. You could also add some fruit juice to really make it exciting!
Anyways, for my super-easy panzanella (meant to be made with day-old bread and fresh veggies), I cheated and bought some of what I needed off of the Whole Foods Market salad bar and bought bread, that became a couple of days old by the time I used it. I like a variety of tasty stuff on my salad, so I grabbed a variety of veggies (b-b-b-beets, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, local cherry tomatoes, diced red bell pepper, black olives, artichoke hearts, mixed heirloom lettuce, spinach and cucumbers), fresh mozzarella (the Specialty Team Members at the Lamar store make some INCREDIBLE cheese), sharp cheddar, Black Forest bacon (get it from the meat counter, you’ll be glad you did), part of a crusty baguette, a balsamic dressing and a succulent petite sirloin and threw it all into a bowl and tossed.
All that's missing is the sirloin!
Black Forest bacon in mah oven
I think it’d be cool to see what YOU end up throwing in your panzanella salad. Make your own dressing, use veggies from your own garden, the sky is the limit and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
**Below you’ll find a recipe from Alton Brown that will get your culinary creative juices flowing.**
Alton Brown’s Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups French bread cut into 1-inch cubes and dried overnight
- 6 slices bacon, cooked, chopped, drippings reserved
- 2 cups halved grape tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons oil, for searing
- 2 cups halved yellow pear tomatoes or roughly chopped heirloom tomatoes
- 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chiffonade mint
- 1 tablespoon chiffonade basil
Directions
Toss bread cubes in the bacon drippings. Sear the halved grape tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of oil, cut side down, until caramelized about 5 minutes, set aside.
Combine red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl, slowly whisk in olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.
Combine all tomatoes, bread, bacon, and lettuce and dress with vinaigrette, toss well, garnish with mint and basil and serve.
Some Days You Make the Tea and Some Days the Tea Makes You
By Guest on Jun 23 Filed In Food & Beverage, Guest Blogger, Sweet Consumers 6 Comments
My husband Dave has always been a tea fanatic. It’s his way of avoiding soft drinks and other sugary and carbonated beverages. His love of tea goes so far that whenever we go out to eat, he uses his iced tea glass as a tip meter. As soon as it’s empty and he finds himself thirsty, the meter goes down. I’ve seen him shake his glass, slurp the straw, anything to get the waiter’s attention and his tea glass filled.
Since college he has always made iced tea. At some point, he realized the benefits of green tea and began refining a recipe that involves several different types of tea bags and of course a good amount of sugar. Lately he’s been experimenting with different forms of sweeteners including stevia and honey.
People always love to drink his “Green tea and mint” concoction. His giant tea pitcher even has its own spot in our fridge. I am not allowed to utilize this space even when the pitcher is empty. It must stay in the fridge to remind him to make more tea. I have put things there before only to find them missing and his giant tea pitcher in its place. Well, not always a pitcher, because several years ago Dave found Sweet Leaf Tea. He’s very, very particular about his tea. He’d tried a variety of brands but found them all to either have some weird aftertaste, too much sugar or lemon flavoring, which he hates. As soon as he found Sweet Leaf Tea, I would find a large container of the Mint & Honey tea in the fridge in the pitcher spot. I would ask why he didn’t make his own and he’d just say: “Too Lazy”.
Recently, we decided to cut back on spending and he got back to making tea. Pitcher was back in its spot in the fridge. And yet, even though I tend to be the one grocery shopping these days, I keep finding a bottle of Mint & Honey in place of the pitcher. “Didn’t have time to make mine” and “Needed something to drink” are the excuses I now get.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some Sweet Leaf, but this man has a serious addiction. And because of the fact that people are always asking for the recipe, I thought I’d share how he makes his Green Tea with Mint.
- Fill up a 2-quart kettle and boil the water.
- Pour 1 cup of sugar into a gallon-sized pitcher (I know he sometimes uses a sugar/stevia mix, but he is still testing ratios and refuses to give up the measurements).
- Place 2 tea bags each of natural green tea, natural mint tea and decaffeinated iced tea into the pitcher and then pour the boiling water over the bags.
- Steep for 22 minutes (See the nice number pattern here? 2,2,22). Basically don’t let it steep for much longer than 30 minutes.
- Pull the tea bags out and stir it all up. Then add cold water until pitcher is full.
- Pour over ice to enjoy your homemade sweetened green tea and mint iced tea!
- Dream of Sweet Leaf Tea and their delicious flavors you’ll never be able to replicate at home.
Me & Dave @ Sweet Leaf Tea party. Pic by http://annieray.net/
Post by April Stockwell
