English Breakfast with a Splash or Two!

posted by: Cassie Piper Social Media Coordinator for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®

When I’m in the Test Kitchen with Michelle, I am truly inspired. She took our most basic black tea – English Breakfast and created four completely different and unique variations that had me screaming summer! Not only did they taste like summer, they looked like I should be sipping these sitting in a hammock on the beach or poolside at a spa resort.

Michelle is the genius here, she created all of these recipes for you and all I had to do is pour the iced tea! Now that’s what I love about our Summer Iced Tea Video Series, she makes it so easy to recreate these at home with just a few simple ingredients that you can buy at any grocery store or a Farmer’s Market.

I just had to try the Spa Inspired Iced Tea recipe and absolutely loved the Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea.

BLOG GIVEAWAY:

Which English Breakfast Iced Tea recipe would you like to recreate at home? Leave your response below and we’ll pick 4 people at random to receive a tin of our English Breakfast tea.

*We've extended our blog giveaway so that everyone has at least a week to enter. Make sure to check back on last week's blog giveaway to see if you've won.

Blog Giveaway terms and conditions: The contest begins upon posting of the blog announcing the Contest and ends at 12 p.m.. PST the following Wednesday. To enter, you must post a comment and answer the question posed in the blog, providing a valid email address. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Contest limited to U.S. only., One contest entry per email address. Odds of winning depend on the number of valid entries received. Sponsors clock will determine winner. List of winners available upon request by contacting Sponsor. Prizes subject to change without notice. Sponsor may notify winner via email: if winner does not claim the prize within 48 hours of being e-mailed, Sponsor will pick a new winner. Prize shipped at no cost to U.S. Residents. Contest Sponsor: International Coffee & Tea, LLC d/b/a The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® 1945 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038.

*We picked our winners using the random number generator at random.org. Congratulations! We have your email address and we’ll contact you about your prize shortly.

Our Soldier of the Week: Specialist Zachary Thomas Shubinski



Steve Shubinski shows his Support from Home

 You may have noticed our stores hiding under all of that camouflage this summer as we rally our friends and family to Support our Troops overseas. For our fans on Facebook, we’ve extended the celebration by highlighting a Soldier of the Week as our profile photo. Each week we choose a service person in any branch to share our thanks within the community.

This week we have an extra special submission from one of our own District Managers Steve Shubinski. Steve has been a huge advocate of our Support from Home mission and shares his own thanks from his family and his son who currently serves our country.



Soldier of the Week



“My son, Specialist Zachary Thomas Shubinski is a member of the 222 Brigade in the 10th Mountain Division out of Ft. Drum New York.  Zach enlisted a few days after his 18th birthday and entered basic training in July of 2008.  His chosen “MOS” was a forward observer.  He was deployed to Afghanistan in January of 2010 and returned home in November 2010.  I am happy to say that Zach has developed quite a liking both for coffee and tea in the army.  In Afghanistan he drank quite a bit of Chai which is a sweetened black tea.  Now that he is home, one of his requests is for us to send him and his wife Jessica a regular supply of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee!  Thank you for your service son.  Your Mom and I are very proud of you!” - Steve Shubinski

How to Make Iced Tea, oh and Have You Met Michelle?

posted by: Cassie Piper Social Media Coordinator for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®

It’s been a HOT summer so far and it’s just the beginning of August! While looking for ways to cool down and debating on whether or not to run out to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf up the street from my house, I thought why don’t I just make a pitcher of iced tea at home? 

Sure, I’ve bought those fancy tea tins from our stores and they’ve been sitting in my cupboard for the nights I need something soothing to help induce sleep, but I had never considered making iced tea with them. Then I thought, if only Michelle Stene were here, she could show me how.. she could show everyone! And so, the Summer Iced Tea Video Series was created.

Michelle Stene is my inspiration in the culinary world. As I mention in the video, Michelle is one of our magic makers at the company aka Director of Product Development. I have to admit, I’m a little envious of her job, which to me sounds like she’s playing around in the test kitchen all day and I tease her for it in the video. In reality, she comes to work every day infusing all of her brilliance and talents into those tasty beverages you crave in our stores.

I knew she could help with this project, and sure enough she was more than willing to show me and YOU how to brew the perfect iced tea at home. Our Summer Iced Tea Video Series starts you out with the basics; how to brew the perfect black, green and fruit iced teas.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, she’ll show you some delicious and beautiful ways to take your iced tea to the next level for any sweet summer occasion. We’ve created three more videos that follow this introduction where we really focus on each unique tea profile and their complimentary flavors. Watch all three to get some great ideas for summer, plus we have some tasty tea to give away!

Michelle and I were actually a little nervous to be on camera but we would love to hear your feedback. I told Michelle you would tweet her all of your questions, so don’t forget to show her some love @CBTLMichelle.

And just for you, we have some fun tea items to give away! We'll pick 3 participants at random to receive our handy dandy tea timer.

Watch the Introduction video to our Summer Iced Tea Series below. Answer the following question and submit your response in the comments, make sure to read the terms & conditions!

Question: What is the steeping time for each tea?

·         Black/Oolong

·         Green

·         Fruit Infusion

Blog Giveaway terms and conditions: The contest begins upon posting of the blog announcing the Contest and ends at 12 p.m.. PST the following Wednesday. To enter, you must post a comment and answer the question posed in the blog, providing a valid email address. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Contest limited to U.S. only., One contest entry per email address. Odds of winning depend on the number of valid entries received. Sponsors clock will determine winner. List of winners available upon request by contacting Sponsor. Prizes subject to change without notice. Sponsor may notify winner via email: if winner does not claim the prize within 48 hours of being e-mailed, Sponsor will pick a new winner. Prize shipped at no cost to U.S. Residents. Contest Sponsor: International Coffee & Tea, LLC d/b/a The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® 1945 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038.

*We picked our winners using the random number generator at random.org. Congratulations! We have your email address and we’ll contact you about your prize shortly.

Ryan Calhoun LIVE at The Coffee Bean®

We love Ryan Calhoun and we were so excited to see him perform live at our Los Feliz location on Hillhurst Ave. It was a beautiful Tuesday evening, sunny with clear skies, just got out of work and headed straight down Sunset to see the show.

When we arrived, the StageIt crew was setting up and Ryan Calhoun sat strumming a few tunes for his sound check. Dallas and Asher completed the musical trio which was a pleasant surprise as we had only expected a solo performance. The patio at this location was the perfect setting for a hot cup of tea or coffee with Ryan singing his heart out to the crowd and the computer.

The StageIt Concert Series has made our summer in LA pretty exciting and we hope you’ve had the chance to come out to at least one performance or stream it in real time on your computer.

All of the artists that StageIt books for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® series are truly talented and Ryan proved to be no exception. The best part about this concert series is that ANYONE can join us and stream the performance live through StageIt.com so it was really cool to see everyone chatting online about how gorgeous and of course talented Ryan was, we thought so too!

So what did you think of Ryan Calhoun? Should we invite him back to play for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®?

http://ryancalhounmusic.com/

If you missed our interview with Ryan last week, check it out below. You can stay on top of our Concert Series schedule on Facebook.com/thecoffeebean or at Stageit.com/theCoffeeBean.

2011 World Iced Tea Championships

Our Tea Master Blender/Buyer David De Candia marks his score for the 2011 World Iced Tea Championships.

The iced tea was judged in the following categories:

Ready-to-Drink (RTD)Category Definition
i) Defined as pre-bottled or packaged drinks that require no further brewing or preparation.

ii) Sweetened is defined by the addition of sugar, corn syrup, glucose, honey or any other natural or artificial sweetener. No flavoring is added.

iii) Flavored is defined by the addition of herbs, fruits, spices, natural or artificial flavorings that is added to and/or intended to alter or improve the flavor of the tea. Includes flavored teas that are also sweetened.

Foodservice Category Definition
i) Defined as iced tea commercially available and sold to foodservice establishments; packaged in 1.5 or 3 gallon portion packs or Bag-in-a-Box tea concentrates and brewed in commercial iced teas brewers.

1. Filter pouch or open-brew teas are acceptable.

2. Consumer retail tea bags, entries in tins or product packaged in any way that does not meet the above definition will be automatically disqualified.

ii) Flavored is defined by the addition of any herbs, fruits, spices, natural or artificial flavorings or anything that is added and/or intended to alter or improve the flavor of the tea. Includes flavored teas that are also sweetened.

1. No sweeteners or garnish will be added to the brewed product.

Check out the winners below:

http://www.teachampionship.com/index.php/champions/2011-iced-tea-champions



Our Interview with Mark Russell

Ashley Arrison fell in love at The Coffee Bean, we just fell in love with Ashley Arrison!

Ashley Arrison will be performing LIVE in-store and online at Stageit.com as part of our Summer Concert Series. If you can make it to Encino, CA tonight please stop by and you will receive 10% off of your beverage during the show. If you can't make it, brew a cup of coffee or tea and join us online through Stageit.

Who is Ashley Arrison?

Arrison’s childhood experiences set the compass for her musical passions. From performing as an orphan in a professional theatre production of the musical “Annie,” to singing along side Justin Timberlake as a duet partner for three years, to being a finalist on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” (among the names pop culture now knows so well), Arrison’s musical destiny was also framed by the rich and diverse musical heritage that existed in her childhood homes of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.

She has worked closely with composer Jon Brion, as well as toured as country star Radney Foster’s background vocalist for many years. She is an established studio singer who has sung on albums for artists ranging from Badly Drawn Boy to Lindsay Lohan. The first single from her CD "Hearts On Parade", “Trying To Help You Out,” was co-written with Kelly Clarkson, who also lends backing vocals to the track.

We asked Ashley a few quick questions before her performance tonight:

Coffee or Tea?
Tea on the daily.

When did you first discover The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf?My husband and I fell in love 5 years ago at The Coffee Bean at Ventura and Whitsett in Studio City. We would meet there every morning and talk until lunch... We still go there every morning. Hi Colin!

What is your favorite drink from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf?Double vanilla tea latte. Bam.

If you could use any famous song title to name a drink, what would it be?
My Winding Wheel – Ryan Adams

If you could play a duet with anyone on the Stageit / Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf series who would it be?Neil Finn... or perhaps slightly more doable – the legendary Matt Nathanson.

Get in touch with Ashley Arrsion: 

https://www.facebook.com/ashleyarrisonmusic
http://twitter.com/#!/ashleyarrison

Tonight's Show:

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®
June 29 - Ashley Arrison - 7pm
16101 Ventura Blvd., Suite 180
Encino CA, 91316 http://www.stageit.com/ashley_arrison/live_from_the_coffee_bean/3180