Gill and Barbara Johnston

Matcha powder, originally and traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony, is finding its way into American beverages and gourmet dishes.

Included in lattes, shakes and smoothies, matcha provides a joyous amount of tea benefits. Considered the healthiest of teas, matcha is the only form in which the ground full tea leaf is consumed. Matcha can be used in cakes and pastries, chocolates, green tea ice cream and other sweets.

Traditionally, a tea master will measure the matcha with a chashaku (bamboo spoon) and place it into a chawan (serving bowl). Hot water is added, and the mixture is whisked with a chasen (bamboo whisk) until you see fine bubbles.

When we began roasting in the ’80s, we chose to purchase shade-grown coffees.
Coffee trees that are shaded by a canopy of larger and taller trees native to the region are known as shade-grown coffees. The soil is rich and not bleached by equatorial heat, which produces a higher quality coffee.

Later, that same coffee became bird-friendly coffee because the birds had a place to roost in the canopy of trees. We love birds like anybody else and continued to purchase shade-grown coffees.

Then, it became Rain Forest Alliance coffee because no trees were cut down to make room for the coffee plantation. We love trees and the birds in them, but really just like shade-grown coffee.

Waking up and preparing your cup of tea in the morning is a ritual many people cannot live without. We find peace in the simple things that we do to insure our well-being. Tea is contentment. ... Drinking tea, desires diminish and I come to see the ancient secret of happiness: wanting what I already have, inhabiting the life that is already mine. -- Anonymous

Selecting the type of tea that best suits your needs can require a bit of research. Teas are separated into two categories. The first category is the true tea plant, camellia sinensis, which offers the tea lover many different possibilities, including white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh teas. The second category is the world of tisanes, or herbal teas. This category includes herbs, botanicals including fruits, nuts and flowers, spices and flavorings. More tea lovers are combining these two categories, thereby creating teas with various health benefits and more visually appealing teas.

Coffee has a rich and ancient history. Legend has it that a goat herder in Ethiopia first noticed that his goats had the jitters and were a bit cranky. Goats are about the only animal that could have digested the bright green and red ripe berries growing on the coffee tree.

The rich brew has grown from its humble beginnings with goats, traveled the silk roads of Asia, shipped across oceans to the New World, cultivated to new heights, fetching at times hundreds of dollars for a pound of the aromatic mystic. Today in fad America, you can have this strangely fulfilling brew with your biggie fries and a cheeseburger, or maybe a nut-encrusted cream-filled chocolate bag of mini donuts.

Receiving the recent 51-page study from the Fourth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health gives me the opportunity to share the health benefits of tea. As I have mentioned in previous articles, when I speak of tea, I am referring to the Camellia sinensis plant. Please do not confuse tea with a tisane; those are herbal infusions and are derived from herbs, botanicals, spices and flavorings.

At the above symposium, world-renowned scientists, botanists, doctors and dieticians reviewed their studies on the effects of tea (Camellia sinensis) on the human system. Also represented were organizations such as the American Cancer Society, American Medical Women's Society, American Society for Nutrition, American College of Nutrition, and the Tea Council of the USA and the Linus Pauling Institute.

Maybe you did not get what you envisioned for Christmas, and the chrome-plated tire inflator with the Mp3 player attached, that chimes The Yellow Rose of Texas on the hour is the same kind of gift you always get from your Aunt Tinesy, who lives next to a Six Flags Park in Texas. Maybe you should have been a bit more obvious when hinting at what you really wanted, which was the professional, extra-boosted, chrome-plated espresso machine with the integrated grinder and pressure gauges that you saw at the I-95 truck stop near Daytona.

Fortunately for you, this contraption and many more on the market did not land in your lap Christmas morning. The home espresso bar seems to be hotter than ever with many models out there proclaiming they are the ultimate piece of genuine handcrafted machinery by the Cappuccine monks in the hills of Italy.

As you shop around for that perfect holiday gift, do not forget the value of fresh-roasted coffees and fresh-harvested teas. They create a healthy, vibrant and comforting gift.

In the world of tea, Camellia Sinensis reigns, the only true "tea" as all other teas are actually tisanes or herbal infusions.

White teas are the premature buds and leaves of the tea plant. These teas create a light amber infusion and have the greatest antioxidant properties as they are lightly processed.

Never boil these teas, which are best prepared in water at 175 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Steep for one to three minutes. These teas were once considered almost caffeine-free, but scientists have discovered the premature buds also carry caffeine, used as the plant's natural defense to ward off insects.

Dark roasted coffee has more caffeine than light and medium roasts. It is actually the opposite. The lighter roasts have the most caffeine. At the higher temperatures for the dark roasts many of the nuances of the coffee are burnt off, including caffeine. If you want a kick in the morning ask for the lighter roasts. If you want a major kick in the morning tell your barista you are in a hurry and call her “sweetie.”

“The doctor says I need to lay off of caffeine because the acids eat at my tummy.” The culprits of acid stomach are di-caffeinol and tannic acids. The culprit di-caffeinol is not roasted out until the bean goes through what is called “the second crack.” If the color of the coffee is mahogany or darker, it probably has been in the roaster long enough to burn off the di-caffeinol. The color test is safer than asking your coffee purveyor if their coffee has gone through its second crack. The other culprit, tannic acid, comes from brewing cheap or stale coffee.

This time of year is what we refer to as “The Holiday Marathon.” Starting the middle of October, we find ourselves inundated with Harvest Festivals, Trick or Treat events, Thanksgiving meals, Christmas parties, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and, of course, it all wraps up with that wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration.

In honor of all of these events, we would like to share some coffee and tea recipes that most anyone can prepare in the comfort of their personal kitchen. Let us remind you that these recipes are best prepared with fresh products and that goes most emphatically with fresh-roasted coffee beans for the coffee recipes and fresh-harvested teas for the tea recipes.

The general populace does not know what a barista is, what they do and where to find them. It is not a barrister, the nefarious land shark known by many as a lawyer. I have two or three that have voracious appetites. A barista is the person who creates a specialty coffee such as a cappuccino or latte. You might think that there are dozens of these just in Nassau County, but to be exact, only two or three coffee establishments employ the services of a barista. Which means that you are probably getting a professional milk steamer rather than a barista.

Why should you know if a barista and not a milk steamer is serving you? The same reason you should know if your hairstyle is being done by a beautician and not your gardener. A great barista can create a perfect puck whereas a machine or a milk steamer cannot.