Party News and Ideas

Easter is a great holiday. Not only is it a religious holiday, but it is also a time for family. Whether you want to give gifts to your church family or your regular family, colleagues or neighbours, coffee is always a favourite! Gourmet coffee is even better.

Take a moment to reflect on what the Easter season means to you. You have a giving nature or you wouldn’t be reading this article, but you will find some good ideas here. After you consider the meaning and importance of this time of year for you the next thing you will want to do is to make a list of who you would want to bless with a great gift. Then start considering what each of those people might like. Giving a tasty treats has never been easier!

MMMMMM….chocolate….or maybe regular coffee. How about a chocolate flavoured coffee? Gourmet coffee is almost always a huge hit and now that we have such a diverse selection of gourmet coffee available to us there will be the perfect coffee flavour for every one of the people in your life. Now you just have to gather all these treasures up and get them wrapped and ready to go.

There are many places to shop for coffee gifts and they make a very nice addition to a gift basket or as a stand alone kind of gift. One place you may want to take a look at is whittard.co.uk. as they have a wide selection that will be sure to meet your needs. Whittard of Chelsea offers sweet treats as well. Tea and coffee equipment, china and gift ideas: so much to choose from.

Mugs have also become a very personal and tasteful gift, with many sizes, shapes and colours to choose from. Mugs can even be a collector’s item that commemorates special occasions like the upcoming Royal Wedding! Some of your friends might rather enjoy something with a vintage look or maybe some fun. Spring is here and a seasonal picture on a mug will usually bring a smile to someone’s face.

How about creating a gift basket with chocolate Easter eggs and/or marshmallow treats? Rabbits and eggs have become entangled with the Easter holidays but Easter coffee gifts can be something that will last for years like special coffee pots or hand painted china, etc. Would you consider a special basket of fruit or flowers mixed with those chocolate treats? How about short breads to delight in while having some me time and a cup of gourmet coffee?

Easter gifts don’t have to be boring. Even the way the gifts are delivered can be a change from the same old routine. Try personally delivering your gift with a sprig of spring flowers. If that is what usually happens then maybe spring (pardon the pun) for a delivery service to give the recipient the special treatment. Order your gifts online and have them shipped right to the recipients door! Your consideration of someone’s personality when selecting a gift for them is always an important part of the process. Maybe you would rather find one with a special message for the season that would inspire or edify your friends. Humour is interesting, but you may want to re-think this type of gift and make sure the person you want to give it to will appreciate your humour.

Even a nice vintage jam would be appreciated. Tea time is often coffee time these days. Biscuits, jams, coffee, gourmet coffee all fit together and can be part of the perfect Easter coffee gift. So what are you waiting for? Get shopping and get your gourmet coffee and other gifts before it’s too late.

This article is written on behalf of Whittard of Chelsea. For other information please also see tea

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Technorati Tags: beverages, coffee, Gifts, gourmet coffee, hot drinks

Orchids are among the natural world’s most stunning objects. For many among us, they bring happiness simply by their presence in our houses or our gardens. Nevertheless it must be conceded that aside from their loveliness, orchids have little practical value for human beings, with the singular exception of that estimable orchid that give us our vanilla flavoring.

If you had lived 80 to a hundred years ago, though, you might have had the chance to sip a delicious tea made from the leaves of one of a rare orchid. This drink — called Faham tea — achieved some popularity in France in the early 20th century. It was made from the pungent leaves of the Angraecum fragrans orchid (sometimes alternately recorded as the Jumella fragrans).

The rare orchid was native to the Isle de Reunion off the coast of Africa. An epiphytal species known to the locals as “faham,” the indigenous people of Reunion are said to have been the first to discover how tasty it was when made into a tea.

An article in a horticultual journal of 1924 noted that Faham tea had been introduced into France, where some people were drinking it as a substitute for “Chinese” (i.e., regular) tea. “Every work on botany of any importance similarly places it in the foremost rank of the beneficial productions of  this favored clime (Reunion),” the writer says. “One of our most illustrious writers George Sand eulogizes it in the midst of the fine description of the Island of Bourbon.” Bourbon was the previous name for Reunion, by the way.

The orchid in question was known to grow high on the slopes of Reunion, in the midst of almost inaccessible forests. The problems inherent in gathering a large supply of the plant meant that Faham tea, as a commercially viable product, was doomed to failure. Despite general agreement as to the tea’s tastiness, it was completely forgotten by mid- 20th century.

Most of us will never know what Faham tea tasted like. But if you happen to be fortunate enough to have a specimen or two of the necessary orchid, you could sacrifice a few leaves and make some yourself. To brew the tea, you first bring water to a boil in a tea kettle. Then you add some dried orchid leaves (about as much per cup as you would regular tea) to the water, turning off the heat and allowing it to steep for three or four minutes.

A circular advertising from the 1920s advertising Faham tea says:

It can be used as a substitute for tea on all occasions as it combines its tonic and digestive qualities free from the sleepless effect. It possesses an aroma of great delicacy capable of being rendered more or less pungent according to the quantity used and it gives forth a most agreeable perfume. After being drank it leaves a lasting fragrance in the mouth and in a closed room the odor of it can be recognized long after.

This beverage has the further advantage over tea which requires to be drank at the time of making in that it can be reserved for a future occasion if requisite and may either be taken cold or made hot again. Milk or spirits in small quantities, especially rum, serve to develope its aroma and lending it additional delicacy or greater strength render it a delicious drink. Lastly this valuable plant is made use of to flavor custards and ices to which it communicates its delicate fragrance.

Sounds delicious. Faham tea, anyone?

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Technorati Tags: beverages, exotic tea, flower tea, France, French tea, hot drinks, kitchen, orchid tea, orchids, Tea, teapot