Happy Holidays from Coffeevines

It is that time of year when we are to gather with friends and family and celebrate what matters most, being with those we love.

Take time this holiday season to spend some time with those that make your life better and return the favor. Whether you enjoy your time together over some aromatic K-Cup coffee, therapeutic K-Cup tea, or luxurious hot cocoa, make sure sure you make some good memories.  

Enjoy the season, my friends!

Coffeevines is a retailer for K-Cup coffee in Chicago.

A Brief History About Tea

The history about tea is one that is actually exciting and interesting for both those who enjoy tea and those who do not. It gives us great information about the world we live in.

Tea was first discovered in China and has made its way across the globe with great popularity, as it holds the position of second most consumed beverage in the world, behind water and before coffee. As we know, just about every country drinks it so some extent and it has tremendous health benefits.

The history
Legend has it that tea was discovered in China during the year of 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor at the time. For a few hundred years, people consumed the beverage due to its medicinal abilities. When the Zhou Dynasty reigned, tea was considered to be almost sacred since it was used as a religious offering.

When the Han Dynasty came into power between the years of 202 BC to 220 AD, tea plants had become rather limited and could only be afforded by royalty and the rich, both for health and flavor.

Thanks to the Tang Dynasty, tea went from a drink for the rich to a common drink that everyone could afford and enjoy; the government at the time encouraged planting of tea plants and sharing the crop with everyone. Also, during this time, tea was shared with Japan via Japanese priests in China. The priests drank the tea to remain awake and meditated, thus, it was associated with Zen Buddhism. From this, Buddhists created the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Japanese enjoyed tea so much that they also started planting tea plants.

During the 1600s, tea arrived in England and was due to imports of the East India Company when Charles II marrying Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess. Tea became a drink of the royals. The aristocrats formed "afternoon tea" so they could enjoy time together for tea. Tea became rather expensive so smuggling began so the poorer residents could afford tea as well.

Years later, East India Company began importing tea to the Americas.

We are certainly glad tea came to North America because otherwise we wouldn't have K-Cup tea and other delicious forms of tea. Enjoy tea? Purchase green tea, black tea, especially some English breakfast tea? Then shop Coffeevines! 

Southern Sweet Tea from K-Cups

Hopefully you have enjoyed the K-Cup coffee recipes and our K-Cup tea recipes because we love sharing them with you! Recently, we shared a post about K-cup iced tea and people seemed to love it, so, how about a recipe to make southern sweet tea? Indeed, it does sound awesome.

As you know, we love to share recipes that do not require a lot of work, crazy ingredients, and that require you to run out to the store; all the recipes we share have ingredients that you should already have in your home (unless you ran out and are due for a grocery trip anyhow). Well, this recipe falls right in line with the others on that regard.

True southern sweet tea is made by using some black tea, putting it into a big jug of water, then placing it out in the sun to do its thing. This way is just as tasty and refreshing with a fraction of the waiting time. It doesn't require waiting hours and hours and no powdered teas, just a simple K-cup. 

The ingredients you will need for this recipe are:

• 1 black tea K-cup (I like the Celestial English Breakfast)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar or artificial sweetener (whatever you enjoy more or must use)
• 1 slice of lemon (you can do a very small wedge but a slice works better)
• a tall glass
• Measuring cup

Now that you have your ingredients ready to go, let's get started. 

1. Take your tall glass and fill it up with ice. Do it to the brim but you can hold a few cubes back if you'd prefer. 
2. Place the sugar into the measuring cup. Do not put it into the tall glass. 
3. Brew your K-cup into the measuring cup, not the glass with ice. 
4. Mix the sugar and tea together until all the sugar is mixed in. 
5. Pour the tea from the measuring cup into the glass with ice. 
6. The ice will melt in the glass so you'll likely want to add more. 
7. Place the slice of lemon on the rim of the glass, or in the glass on top, or whatever you want, it's your iced tea. 
8. Drink up! 

A convenient and easy place to buy K-cups is right here at Coffeevines :)