Tea Blog

This weekend, food artisans from all over the country gathered in San Fransisco to attend the national Good Food Awards. 

An effort to celebrate and share the culinary achievements in categories like cheese, preserves, coffee and spirits, the Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat. Tasty, authentic and responsibly produced, these artisan food makers (like Zhi) truly take pride in their work and are grateful for such a supportive foodie culture. This means you!

One year, Zhi hopes that they’ll have a category for tea (wink). Meanwhile, we were honored and flattered when asked to sponsor the event by providing tea to be used at the Awards Ceremony and private parties. Then, we learned that Greg Lindgren of Rye was going to be crafting signature tea cocktails with Zhi as well. Cheers, indeed! He’s been generous to share his recipe for one of the drinks they’ll be serving below.

Learn more about the Good Food Awards and see this year’s winners, as we offer a special congratulations to our Texan friends as well. Pinkies up!

The Grey Lady

Ingredients:

¾ ounce bergamot oleo saccharum

¾ ounce lemon juice

1 ounce Zhi Earl Grey liquid tea made double strength

1 1/2 ounce gin

1 egg white

Garnish: lemon twist

Instructions: Measure all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake hard to a 10-second count. Strain into a chilled martini glass, 1/2 rimmed with sugar, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Zhi is honored to have been handpicked by TakePart.com as one of their 2012 “Tastemakers,” small, food-focused businesses that are doing their part to change for the better the way our communities eat.

Editors looked at thousands of businesses across the country before selecting shops they feel live up to the Food, Inc. ethos of fixing our nation’s broken food system. They wanted to showcase independent artisans who are lovingly committed to sustainable, organic, humane products. It was a hard selection, but they finally narrowed it down to 10 cities and 100 businesses — and Austin is well represented!

For the entire list of nationwide leaders, visit their website. Zhi looks forward to visiting these foodie friends when we travel next. Do you live in these towns? Have you had their treats and agree? We’d love to hear about it!