Tea Blog

Aromatic and subtle, this effervescent iced tea is a luxurious compliment to summer memories.

The recipe below makes a ½ gallon pitcher and can be enjoyed as a mocktail or cocktail.

Sparkling Jasmine Iced Tea

5 minutes, makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons dry Jasmine Green Zhi Tea
• 1 cups steaming water
• 6 cups sparkling water or sparkling wine
• ice
• honey syrup *optional

Teaware:

• teapot or strainer
• half gallon pitcher
• cups

Directions:

1        Fill half gallon pitcher with ice.

2        Steep 4 tbs of dry Jasmine Green Zhi Tea in 1 cup of hot water for 3 minutes.

3        Pour steeped tea into your half gallon pitcher over ice. Stir to chill

4        Add 6 cups of sparkling water or wine to the pitcher of tea.

5        Taste. You can sweeten further using a honey syrup if you like.

6        To make a honey syrup, simply melt 2 parts honey to 1 part hot water.

7         Now, your pitcher of iced tea is complete.

8         Pour over cups filled with ice and enjoy!

9         Garnish with whole strawberries.

Summer is in full swing!

Here at Zhi, we love the season’s fresh fruits and enjoy pairing them with our organic tea.

This beautiful berry infused tea will bliss out every summer get together. Once one sees how easy smashes are to make, they’ll quickly lead your menu planning for all your picnics and pool parties. Promise!

The recipe below makes a ½ gallon pitcher and can be enjoyed as a mocktail or cocktail.

Strawberry Basil White Tea Smash

5 minutes, makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons dry White Pomegranate  Zhi Tea

• 4 cups hot water

• 3 cups cold water

• 1 pint strawberries

• ¼ cup sugar or agave

• basil leaves

• ice

• 8 oz vodka or gin*optional

Teaware:

• wooden spoon

• bowl

• teapot or strainer

• half gallon pitcher

• cups

Directions:

1. Fill half gallon pitcher with ice.

2. Steep 4 tbs of dry White Pomegranate Tea in 4 cups of hot water for 3 minutes.

   • Be mindful of water temperature as to not scald the tea.

3. Pour steeped tea into half gallon pitcher over ice.

4. Add 3 cups of cold water to the pitcher.

5. In a seperate bowl, use your wooden spoon to muddle sweetener, 1 cup strawberries, and 12 basil leaves.

6. Pour strawberry smash into pitcher as well.

7. Stir to mix.

8. Taste. You can add more fruit, basil and sweeten further if you like.

9. If you’d like to make it into a cocktail, add some vodka or gin.

10. Now, your pitcher of iced tea is complete.

11. Pour over cups filled with ice and enjoy!

12. Garnish with strawberry fan.

Naughty, nice, and over ice!

This colorful thai iced tea is the best way to surrender to one’s sweet tooth. While thai iced tea is something one usually enjoys at a restaurant or tea room, here is Zhi’s recipe for you to make at home. We make it with our Austin Breakfast, making it our ‘Texas’ version. We also use coconut cream to make it even silkier, another difference to celebrate in this signature.  Let’s get decadent!

This recipe makes a ½ gallon pitcher. As you can imagine, this is a luxury drink you’ll want to share…or keep sipping on all day long.

Zhi’s Texas Thai Tea

15 minutes, makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz of dry Sweet Desert Delight tea

• 1 tablespoon dry Austin Breakfast tea

• 6 cups hot water

• 1 cup coconut cream

• ½ cup condensed milk

• ice

• 8 oz vodka *optional

Teaware:

• teapot or strainer

• half gallon pitcher

• cups

Directions:

1. Steep 4 oz of Sweet Desert Delight in 5 cups of hot water for 10 minutes.

2. When done, strain and pour steeped tea into half gallon pitcher.

3. Steep 1 tablespoon of Austin Breakfast in 1 cup of hot water for 3 minutes.

4. When done, strain and pour steeped tea into half gallon pitcher.

5. Pour coconut cream and condensed milk into hot tea combo. Stir to dissolve.

6. Chill by adding a few ice cubes to the pitcher. Stir to dissolve.

7. Taste. You can add more coconut cream and evaporated milk to sweeten further.

8. If you’d like to make it into a cocktail, add some vodka.

9. Now, your pitcher of thai iced tea is complete.

10. Pour over cups filled with ice and enjoy!

11. Garnish with star anise.

Notes:  Keep stirring! The creamy ingredients will want to separate over time. Enjoy!

This weekend, food artisans from all over the country gathered in San Fransisco to attend the national Good Food Awards. 

An effort to celebrate and share the culinary achievements in categories like cheese, preserves, coffee and spirits, the Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat. Tasty, authentic and responsibly produced, these artisan food makers (like Zhi) truly take pride in their work and are grateful for such a supportive foodie culture. This means you!

One year, Zhi hopes that they’ll have a category for tea (wink). Meanwhile, we were honored and flattered when asked to sponsor the event by providing tea to be used at the Awards Ceremony and private parties. Then, we learned that Greg Lindgren of Rye was going to be crafting signature tea cocktails with Zhi as well. Cheers, indeed! He’s been generous to share his recipe for one of the drinks they’ll be serving below.

Learn more about the Good Food Awards and see this year’s winners, as we offer a special congratulations to our Texan friends as well. Pinkies up!

The Grey Lady

Ingredients:

¾ ounce bergamot oleo saccharum

¾ ounce lemon juice

1 ounce Zhi Earl Grey liquid tea made double strength

1 1/2 ounce gin

1 egg white

Garnish: lemon twist

Instructions: Measure all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake hard to a 10-second count. Strain into a chilled martini glass, 1/2 rimmed with sugar, and garnish with a lemon twist.

After months of anticipation and loads of planning, the Zhi Tea 5-year anniversary week has come and gone. We wish every week were party week here at Zhi because we had a wonderful time with our friends and neighbors, celebrating a great half-decade of the best premium organic tea Texas has to offer.

The week began with an exclusive blending party, where Zhi’s own Dr. Oolong led attendees in mixing their very own Zhi Tea creations. We also had a full day of free tea that concluded with a private tea tasting, offering varieties of green, white, rooibos, and oolong teas for our friends to enjoy. The low-key gatherings ended with a flower arranging class led by Austin’s Ikebana.

Friday night marked Zhi Tea’s very first cocktail party, which featured a diverse array of tea mocktails and cocktails to please every palate. Homegrown brands like Kickin’ Kombucha, Texas Sake Co., and Paula’s Texas Orange served up some exciting new flavors to combine with Zhi teas. Plus, local band E is for Eagle brought down the house with plenty of original tunes and some fun covers to keep the crowd engaged.

Our final anniversary event, the Austin appreciation picnic, was an afternoon potluck gathering where participants baked, simmered, and stir-fried various tea-infused dishes to share with everyone involved. Guests voted for their favorites and prizes were awarded to the top four plates of the day.