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Filtering by Tag: Tea And Coffee

Tea Time! 11 Places To Buy Great Tea in Connecticut

Features Ingredients Tea And Coffee TEA Specialty Market Breakfast Shopping Best of CT

April Guilbault

It is the most popular drink in the world-are you surprised? Beyond coffee, beer, and even sodas, tea reigns supreme with over 159 millions Americans consuming it each day and 2 billion people drink it every morning around the globe. White, green, black, oolong, pu’erh, herbal; the variety of flavors within these types is almost endless and there is so much to be explored. There are teas for different times of day, flavor palates, health benefits and even ailments (rumbly tummy? Ginger!). If you haven’t started exploring the wide world of tea, it might be time. Tea-time, that is.

P.S.-The prize for the country that consumes the most? Turkey, followed by Ireland. The UK comes in third. Who knew?

Here are 11 spots for great tea in Connecticut. Happy shopping!


Cross Culture Kombucha Opens Kombucha Taproom and Brewery in Danbury

Restaurant Ingredients Brewery Tea And Coffee Danbury Openings

Kristin L. Wolfe

Cross Culture Kombucha just opened its doors in Danbury. It’s the first Kombucha taproom and brewery in the state, and they’ve been welcomed with open arms and growlers ready to fill. The light, effervescent drink has been around for ages but has most recently seen the limelight as a non-alcoholic alternative; one that is both really delicious and packed with healthy goodness.


Latte Art Throwdown at NEAT Westport. And The Winner Is…

Ingredients Coffee Tea And Coffee

ellen bowen

I had no idea.  Like most people, I enjoy a good cup of coffee.  My personal preference being a latte, the Americanized version of a cappuccino, but with a more densely foamed steamed milk. 

So when I was invited to represent CTbites as one of three judges at this past weeks Latte Art Throwdown at NEAT Westport, frankly I envisioned a couple local baristas serving up some prettily topped lattes.  Hearts, Flowers, Tulips, etc.

Little did I know, but being a barista has taken on a new respect in the coffee world.  Third Wave coffee, Single origin, specialty coffee, French Press, pour overs and simple are words that have crept into our vocabulary as true coffee aficionados seek out the best baristas in local independent coffee houses. 

NEAT is one of the original boutique coffee houses in CT, opening its first location in Darien, and in the last year coming to Westport in the former Vigilante Fire House on Riverside Ave. 

This past week, they hosted their first Latte Art Throwdown, a judged bracket style competition not for the faint of heart barista. 


12 Places For Great Coffee in Fairfield County

Ingredients Restaurant Coffee Tea And Coffee Best of CT

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Let's face it, we all like to get our buzz on. Lucky for us, there are a number of venues in Fairfield County with serious baristas, pulling some pretty epic espresso. For your coffee drinking pleasure we have created a cheat sheet to which you can refer when your craving for caffeine masks your ability to grind your own beans.
Here are our Top 11 Places to Get Great Coffee in Fairfield County.
Find the venue near you...and enjoy.
  1. Buzz Truck, Fairfield County
  2. Espresso Neat, Darien and Westport
  3. Lorca, Stamford
  4. Redding Roasters, Bethel
  5. Zumbachs Coffee, New Canaan
  6. Coffee Barn, Wilton
  7. Sugar & Olives, Norwalk
  8. Tusk & Cup, Ridgefield
  9. Shearwater Coffee Roasters, Trumbull
  10. The Granola Bar, Westport
  11. Terrain, Westport
  12. Raus Coffee, your local Farmers' Market

DAVIDsTEA Opens in Westport

Ingredients Specialty Market Westport Tea And Coffee Breakfast

Nancy Kleeger

On the twelfth night of Christmas, my true love brewed for me,” 1 buddha’s blend, 2 matcha matsu, 3 long life oolong, 4 la la lemon, 5 chocolate orange...and so the song goes. New to Main Street in downtown Westport, just in time for the holidays, is DAVIDsTEA, a Canadian company started by two cousins who wanted to introduce the masses to the ancient world of loose leaf tea in a fun, modern environment. Initially successful in Canada with over 80 stores, the cousins decided to set up shop in the U.S. with Westport following the likes of NYC, Chicago and San Francisco.

Arogya Tea in Westport

Ingredients Local Artisan Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market Tea And Coffee

Liz Rueven

Photography by Pam Zaremba

Woodsy, flowery and herbal scents wafted towards the entrance of AROGYA as I sought shelter from the cold drizzle of the damp, spring day.  Part tea boutique, part apothecary, AROGYA is committed to providing the ultimate tea drinking experience to novice and devoted tea connoisseurs alike.  There were two contemporary glass teapots  filled with  steaming liquid on the reception desk.   I made a bee line for the golden hued warmth, placed both hands around the handsome ceramic cup that was offered to me and inhaled the deep, earthy flavor of Pu-erh.  The knowledgeable and friendly woman behind the counter explained that I was drinking organic Yunnan Pu-erh tea leaves combined with organic ginger. She proclaimed it to be the perfect warming  anecdote to the chilly damp day. She was correct.


RAUS: Coffee for Humanity

Ingredients Coffee Tea And Coffee

Jessica Ryan

I was greeted by Donny Raus of RAUS Coffee at his home in Stamford, CT with a freshly brewed (French Press) cup of coffee waiting for me. This coffee, roasted in his own roaster,  was so good it needed neither milk nor sugar. (I usually take both.) As I sipped my hot, smooth and bold cup of coffee I learned about the young man, his passion, and I scored some great tips for getting the best possible cup of coffee in your house (Check out Coffee 101 Tips below).

5PM is the New Tea Time: Bigelow Does Happy Hour

Ingredients Cocktails Recipe Tea And Coffee

CTbites Team

Tracy Holleran is a local blogger and founder of The Secret Ingredient Cooking School. She has taken tea to a whole new level with these innovative cocktails. Read on... 

Some like it hot.  Others prefer it iced.  But tea as a mixer for cocktails?  

When I teamed up with Fairfield-based Bigelow Tea to develop recipes using their many brews, that is exactly what we had in mind.  Sure, I developed a wide variety of dishes, both sweet and savory, but these cocktails with a twist seemed to garner most of the attention. 

There are two important steps to making your tea infused cocktail:

1. For maximum flavor, prepare a super-concentrated brew using several tea bags. 

2. Once the tea is lightly sweetened with some sugar, put it into the freezer to chill for about 30-45 minutes. 

In no time, you’re ready to start shaking, stirring, and sipping!  Mix up a batch of these cocktails and this will be one tea party no adult will want to miss!

Here are two of my favorites: