See Health Benefits of Green Tea

How about Green Tea Broth with Udon Noodles

Sonoma Syrup Co. created in 2002 by life resident of the Sonoma, California, Karin Campion.

She developed the idea for the company when she was experimenting with ingredients from her kitchen garden and simple syrup. Growing up in the region known for world-class blending and ingredients she uses these principles with her syrups.  Hand crafted in small batches, these simple syrups can be used in coffee, tea, cocktails, sorbets, sodas, and lemonades or cooking.

To try this product line, I took home the Grenadine No. 28 and made a Tequila sunrise and of course everyone’s favorite Shirley Temple.  This product did not disappoint, my one Tequila sunrise turned into two…

The Grenadine from Sonoma Syrups uses over 45% pure pomegranate juice.  The syrup is thick with a deep red/brown color, exactly like the outside of a pomegranate.  The syrup is not sweet and taste like the fruit that it is make from but with hints of vanilla.

This is nothing like the red liquid that is passed as Grenadine in your local grocery store.

CMB also carries Sonoma Syrups Co., Olive Juice, Sweet & Sour, Classic Simple Syrup, Mint Infused Simple syrup, Vanilla Bean and Meyer Lemon. Priced between $7.95-$11.95.

Sonoma Syrup Company Website

There are 24 individually wrapped teas in the beautiful frosted box. You get 12 different teas ranging from green, black, tchai and fruit flavors. The teas are specially selected for their taste when iced but are equally nice when had hot. Kumsi say “Allow 2 sachets of Kusmi tea to infuse for 3-4 minutes in ¼ of a liter of simmering purewater. Pour the infusion into a 1 liter pitcher, ¾ filled with ice cubes, and mix well. Your Kusmi tea is ready to drink!.”

But I found an even better way to do it is to maybe put a sachet into half a liter, let it cool then put in a covered container in the fridge over night. (Covered because liquids evaporate). You can even leave the tea bag in, as long as it’s not green tea because that goes bitter if it’s over brewed. This way in the morning you have strong cold tea that you can then ice and dilute. I even carry the tea around in water bottles during the day and it makes for a much more interesting beverage than water, is inexpensive and is good for you.

My favorite teas are the Imperial Label and Sweet Love. There’s definitely something for everyone in here. A few times I have put sprigs of mint and peppermint from the garden into my teas as well. They are so flavorsome though that they are excellent by themselves.

Thanks to Kusmi, I’ve curbed my caffeine addiction and found that inviting people around for afternoon ice tea is a nice and wholesome means of socializing. I’d highly recommend this to the iced beverage connoisseur. $21.95 a box of 24 tea bags

about the author

This was blog post was written by Michelle Doyle who is from Ireland and has been in the states for a few months.  She is an aspiring artist who’s interests include food, art, film cycling! She is on the staff in the store.

So, what is HOTLIPS…It’s a family owned business in Portland that makes sodas the old fashion way- with fruit.  These sodas are made by cooking down fresh fruit in open kettles, straining the seeds out and then adding cane sugar, organic lemon juice and carbonated water. Finally, the sodas are bottled in 80% recycled glass, which are also from Portland.

These sodas are definitely all about the fruit; unlike commercial sodas that contain “Natural” flavors, these sodas are thicker and contain pulp.  Yes, I said it, actual pulp! If you are wondering where the fruit comes from, check the ingredients on your bottles label. The blackberries in the soda, I just enjoyed were from Ayers Creek Farm in Gaston, OR. The sodas are sweet with an intense punch of fruit flavor.  No need to feel guilty about drinking- extra bonus, no caffeine.

We carry 4 flavors; Black Raspberry, Raspberry, Pear, and Blackberry
$2.95 each

Bitters are a highly aromatic product made by distilling down herbs, barks, roots or plants.

CMB features the Fee Brothers Bitters in 8 flavors that will brighten up any drink. It will be fun challenging your friends to create new cocktails using Fee Brothers Grapefruit, Traditional, Peach, Mint, Lemon, Celery, Rhubarb, or Aztec bitters. Mixing the flavors adds layers and dimensions to your cocktails and it  can even be added your favorite food recipes.

Fee Brothers, a four-generation business located in Rochester, New York, produces  beverage ingredients that include cocktail mixtures, bitters and flavored syrups.

Summer is not over. Grab some bitters at CMB and get your party started!

Fee Brothers sold at our store for $7.95  Fee Brothers is also included in our  Summer Cocktail Basket available online for $79.00.

Strawberry Gin Muddler

• 3 Strawberries
• 3 Basil Leaves, torn
• 1/4 of a lime
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1.5 oz London dry gin
• 2 Dash Fee Brothers Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters

Throw the strawberries, basil, sugar and lime in a pint glass and muddle until the juice and oils are extracted from the lime and the basil is incorporated. Add the gin and 2 dashes of Old Fashion Aromatic Bitter, put over ice, and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Take the top off of the shaker and pour the whole thing, pulp and ice included into a glass. No need for much garnish, as the strawberry and basil muddle makes for a nice looking cocktail. Recipe is adapted from “The Noble Experiment.”

Fentimans was originally established in the 1900’s, once again curiously one of my favorite eras. Victorian charms when recipes were simple, pure and dreams of America so large.
Elixirs, Aroms and tonics made of roots and natural extracts, rarely seen today are truly the bewitching botanical apothecary healers of an era gone by. I am simply not sure if it is sentiment or fruity sediments which measure the mark of Fentimans goodness.

During the holiday season, I had only slightly “tied one on” as the Brittish say for a teeny tiny hangover! I remembered researching that and burdock and dandelion could do wonders for your ever livin, a bit too much the night before liver. Breezing through the store I saw a confidant, cool, houndstooth-three piece suited up Fentimans cola winking at me. Being so befuddled I thought I just love a foreign accent! Upon closer observation, I noticed there was an array of naturally gorgeous and botanically brewed mixers too.

I was feeling fairly mixed up already, and then I remembered the saying “Hair of the dog that bit you” Realizing, I could not possible get more woozy, I decided to try to make out whether this was a Benjamin Button or Daniel Day Lewis.

I decided to save Fentimans “Curiousity Cola” and Sunny Yellow “Victorian Lemonade” for another day and go with the Dandelion and Burdock. The spiced enchantment of this naturally fizzy beverage was so alluring, with its unique flavor profile and pretty aubergine cool coloring. This apocryphal elixer is said to be heaven sent as in inspiration to Saint Thomas Aquinas, he intuitively knew which herbs and plants to mix as an aid to clear thinking for his meditation.

So long Ben and Daniel, Im on the mend. Delicious it was and is! It certainly gave me a pert alertness and got me on the way to work.

Crafted in the North of England. Crisp, refreshing, and are botanically brewed, they leave a natural and tasty bit of unfiltered sediment on the bottom on each bottle. A very “adult” soft drink! Also fun to mix with spirits for unique summer cocktails!

In 1900 Thomas Fentiman was approached by a fellow tradesman for a loan – a deal was struck, as in those times an Englishman’s word was his bond. All that was required was a handshake and some security – in this case a recipe for botanically brewed ginger beer. The loan was never repaid, and so Thomas Fentiman became the owner of a unique and rather original recipe for success. Fentiman’s soda’s are available in 6 varieties: Seville Orange Jigger, Victorian Lemonade, Ginger Beer, Curiosity Cola, Shandy, a traditonal English non-alcoholic mix of lemonade and beer (the alcohol is brewed away in production to the 0.5% level), and Dandelion and Burdock, which is a vintage recipe made with all natural ingredients and finished with Aniseed.