4th of July - The Tea Kitchen

Tea Recipes

Everything You Need for a Patriotic 4th of Tea-ly

July 1, 2023

With the 4th of July just around the corner and the temperatures reaching the 90’s, we are more ready than ever to celebrate. It’s almost time to gather with your family and friends and start the cook out. America loves to celebrate the 4th of July and we love getting into the red, white and blue theme each year! Since we are lovers of tea, we thought we would spice up your typical 4th of July snacks with some tea infused and tea pairings for the holiday.

Hibiscus Iced Tea

Hibiscus tea is a favorite iced tea among many and seems to be sold everywhere these days. It has a beautiful reddish-deep-pink color to it which fits right into the patriotic theme we strive for during the holiday! 4th of July tends to get pretty hot and a tall glass of this iced tea is sure to quench everyone’s thirst! If you want to add a bit more of the theme to this, add frozen blueberries to the pitcher before serving. Not only will this add color but it will keep the tea colder for longer!

Sweet Tea Jello Shots

These Sweet Tea shots are so cute and would make the perfect addition to any cook out celebration or to pass around at your party.

What you’ll need: 1/2 ounce of loose leaf black tea, 1/2 cup of whisky, 4 cups of boiling water, 1 cup of sugar and 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin.

Start by boiling your water. Once boiling, pour the water into a pitcher, then add your black tea and sugar. Stir well.
Let Tea steep for 20 minutes, and strain tea. Sprinkle the gelatin envelopes over the tea, and let the gelatin bloom for 15 minutes, until completely dissolved. Stir well, and add Whiskey. Stir to combine so that tea and gelatin are well mixed.
Line a baking sheet with your shot cups/glasses. Pour the gelatin mixture into the shot glasses. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Garnish with a lemon wedge, serve, and enjoy!

Iced Tea Popsicles

Is there anything better than a Popsicle on a hot summer day? It’s pretty hard to beat. This iced tea popscile is the perfect treat to have for your Fourth of July! You can get as creative as you want with this recipe and choose whichever tea you want! The recipe below calls for black iced tea but feel free to switch it out for whatever flavor you are feeling that day. These tea popsicles are slightly sweet, infused with lemon and easy to make. You will need popscile molds for these so be sure to order them beforehand! If you are reading this and want to make this the day of, paper cups will work in a pinch!

What you’ll need: 1/2 ounce of black loose leaf tea, 2 cups of cold water (yes, cold!), juice of 1/2 lemon and sugar to taste.

Place the tea and cold water in a bowl and let steep overnight (or for at least 4 hours)
The next day, strain the tea. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar until dissolved. Taste and adjust with a bit more of either or both lemon and sugar to suit your tastes (tip: both flavors will be less apparent when frozen)
Pour the tea into your popsicle molds (or paper cups) and freeze for 1 hour
Let these freeze for at least 3 hours. To release the popsicles from the molds, run the molds under warm water for just the briefest of moments. Then devour!

Charcuterie Board

There is nothing better than a charcuterie board any time of the year. The sweet and salty snacks that fill the board pair perfectly with any tea! To stick with the patriotic theme, try to add as much red white and blue to the board as possible! Here are some ideas for the themed board: raspberries, sausage slices, salami, strawberries, cherries, brie, burrata, gruyere cheeses, blueberries, figs and blackberries.

Cucumber Avocado Tea Sandwiches

Which tea lovers don’t love to snack on finger food? These cucumber avocado sandwiches are so easy to make and incredibly light and refreshing! Inside of these cute sandwiches are:

2 ripe avocados, kept cold in the fridge
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill

For these small sandwiches in particular we suggest using white bread. Although it may not be the healthiest on the shelf, it is that tastiest! To assemble this tasty snack, start by cutting the crust off the bread. Then add your avocado, lemon and salt into a food processor or blender. This will assure that the spread is creamy and smooth! Finely chop your cucumber with a knife and add to the mix. Next, add your mint and dill. Finish by spreading the mixture on to your bread and cutting the bread diagonal twice to create triangles. Plate and enjoy!

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Tea History & Culture

History 101: The Boston Tea Party

June 20, 2017

As you celebrate the 4^th of July, take a few moments to think about how tea is responsible for the freedom you enjoy every day. We’re talking of course about The Boston Tea Party, an event that moved the American colonies one giant step toward revolution.

The year was 1773. Tea was extremely popular with American colonists. But what wasn’t so popular? Taxation without representation. Both the Stamp Act and the Townshend Act forced Americans to pay taxes to the British government on items such as paper, paint, glass, and tea without any voice in their own government.

In 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which granted the East India Company a monopoly on tea imports to America and reinforced the pre-existing tax on tea.

In December 1773, three boats containing East India Company tea docked in Boston’s Griffin Wharf. Angry Bostonians met to discuss the situation. Taxes on the tea were due within 20 days of the ships’ arrival. Paying the tax was out of the question for these fed-up colonists. Led by Sons of Liberty front man Samuel Adams, the riled up colonists at first attempted to peacefully and legally resolve the situation by getting the governor’s permission to send the ships back to Britain without paying for the tea. When that didn’t work, and with less than a day before the tax was due, it was time for a party:

On December 16, 1773, hundreds of colonists dressed in disguise as Mohawk Native Americans and descended on the three ships—the Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor. Dressing as Native Americans had significance beyond disguise: it signaled to the British that they now identified as Americans, not as Brits.

In three hours, the protesters dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. Collectively, the chests contained about 90,000 pounds of tea—enough to fill 18.5 million tea bags— and their destruction amounted to a loss of about $1 million in today’s currency.

W.D. Cooper. “Boston Tea Party.”, The History of North America. London: E. Newbury, 1789

The Sons of Liberty instructed protestors not to destroy anything but the tea. Careful attention must be paid not to damage the ships themselves or to steal any of the tea—that would be off message.

When the British government got wind of the demonstration, they were incensed. So incensed that they punished Massachusetts with a series of acts known as The Intolerable Acts in 1774.

These acts instituted the following policies:

1) Boston’s port would remain closed until the East India Company was reimbursed for their losses in the Boston Tea Party.

2) The British government beefed up its control over Massachusetts’ governing bodies, replacing elected officials with royally appointed ones and taking away citizens’ right to assemble without the royal governor’s approval

3) British officials could no longer be tried in Massachusetts criminal courts

4) If asked, colonists would now have to house British troops in their homes

Massachusetts residents reacted to the Intolerable Acts with outrage. But they’re weren’t alone: Other colonies expressed their fury, knowing that they could be next. Widespread concern over British control prompted representatives from the colonies to convene the first Continental Congress in early September of 1774. This congress would discuss ways to counter British tyranny, and ultimately declare American independence on July 4, 1776.

And over two centuries later, we can trace it all back to tea!

The First Continental Congress | John Trumbull [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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