Happy New Year!

We're not sure about you all, but we're still recovering from the holidays!  So, this is a belated "Happy New Years": best wishes and good health to everyone for the new year.  Of course, there's yet another new years holiday coming soon - February 18 for Chinese New Years - which we'll be celebrating in a big way, so stay tuned for details on our party plans.

Last month was much busier than we ever anticipated.  We ordered a lot of teas for the holidays, and then some more, but still we nearly ran out of most everything in stock!  By December 24, our shelves were bare.  This, coupled with a shipping delay in San Francisco Customs and a strike in Sri Lanka (welcome to the global marketplace!) caused our shelves to remain empty through the second week in January.  But, shipments have arrived, and we're fully stocked again, save for a few of our delicious Earl Grey teas.  Those should be coming in by Tuesday of next week.

We have some new teas as well.  We'll start to introduce those in this newsletter and future issues.  In short, they're delicious and good for you!

No Tango this Friday

Due to a conflicting event, Tango Night will not be held this Friday, January 26, at Té.   Next Friday, though, on February 2 through the rest of the year, come in our shop between 9 pm and midnight for an elegant evening of tango dancing and music.  We're always baking some special Argentine dishes for this night, and enjoy our teas or BYOB ($3 corkage fee per wine bottle).

Ningxia Berries?

One day last month a customer came in, asking if we had Ningxia berries.  Huh?  Though Connie is Chinese, she hadn't heard of them.  So, one evening, we decided to do some research.  A quick search on Google got us an immediate answer: Connie saw the Chinese writing (in pinyin, "gouqi"), said, "oh, those" and then immediately disappeared toward the freezer.  She came back with a bag of berries.  We've been eating and cooking with these berries for years -- they're delicious when cooked with chicken -- but had no idea of their fame! Yes, the Ningxia berry (named for a region famed for growing a particularly healthy variety of the berry), also known as the Goji berry, has been promoted recently as one of the best "superfoods" today. In fact, in the last 2 years, it has been heavily hyped on the Internet.  I guess we're not on the health hype email lists.  Thankfully :)

This, though, got us really curious - why would folks be interested in this obscure berry we've been eating for years and years.  So we decided to do some research.  Goggle again gave us a lot of information: a lot of hyped-up marketing on the goji  berry juice and a number 1 superfood.  Why, you can even live to 237 years old eating just this berry!  Ok, we exaggerate.

Cutting through all the hype, though, we were still impressed.  The goji berry, also known as the "wolfberry" (yes, we can see why this wouldn't work as as marketing name!) has some very impressive nutritional properties.  Very, very impressive. It is very high in antioxidants, much higher than pomegranate,  and is loaded with several essential minerals, amino acids, carotenoids and the like.  A nice-sized handful of these berries will give 10% of your daily calcium requirements, 18% of zinc, 32% vitamin C, 91% selenium, and 100% daily requirements for iron and riboflavin (vitamin B2).  And, one of the richest sources of Zeaxanthin (a carotenoid) in nature.  Wow!

And it is delicious!  They are processed like raisins, and have a similar sweet taste and consistency.  Eaten raw, they make a nice snack.  Chinese, though, typically use them in herbal recipes and dinner dishes, like Connie's goji chicken. And, yes, of course, they make a good tea.  In fact, an ancient name for the berry is the Duke of Argyll's Tea.   This Duke introduced the plant to England in the 1730s, and the wolfberry plant -- which is in the family of boxthorns -- is used in hedgerows throughout the UK.  Birds are attracted to their red berries.  Smart birds!

We won't hype the goji berry as a "superfood", but we do agree it is very delicious and very good for you.  We're experimenting with the goji in our teas, and have found a recipe that has been well received by our customers: Berrylicious tea, a mixture of goji berries and cranberries.  Ahh, another East/West blend!  So, next time you're in our shop and need an anti-oxidant and mineral boost, try a hot brew of Berrylicious.

Chinese New Years

Get ready for the date: February 17 party at the Té House!  Yes, we will be closed on Sunday, February 18, the first day of Chinese New Years (its an important day for our families, so we don't want to miss out on the family activities), but we will have a special party on Saturday.  Special foods, treats for the children, a professional lion dance, and a mahjong tournament are all in the works.  More details in our next newsletter.  In the meantime, sign up at the shop for the Mahjong tournament.  It's a great chance to play this challenging game, or learn more about it, and have fun!  Connie's promising some prizes too to the winning players!