Hollywood hot for Kusmi, Green Teaist and Green Tea Hawaii teas

By April MacIntyre Oct 10, 2010, 5:18 GMT

The Detox tea is greener in flavor, with Mate, green tea with lemon grass too. The herbal concoction is good for those dieting. Both are marvelous late in the day teas, in my opinion.

Hollywood is tea-totaling these days, it seems.

From the tooth strengthening properties, anti-oxidants and natural immune system fortifying benefits tea possesses, many celebrities and power brokers behind the scenes here in Hollywood have kicked the Starbucks habit and gone white, black, green and red tea crazy.

Monsters and Critics is invited to sets frequently and notes are made of everything seen. There are several brands of tea that were repeated all over trailers and craft service tables in the city.

Did you know that is the most widely consumed beverage in the world?  And that tea leaves contain more than 700 chemicals, including flavanoides, amino acids, vitamins (C, E and K), caffeine and polysaccharides. Many studies reveal that tea boosts cell-mediated immune functions of the human body. 

Tea plays an important role in improving beneficial intestinal microflora, as well as providing immunity against intestinal disorders and in protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage. Tea also prevents dental caries (cavities) due to the presence of fluorine.

A natural germicidal, tea is found to stabilize blood pressure and has lipid (fat) depressing activity, which leads to the prevention of coronary heart diseases and diabetes by reducing the blood-glucose activity.

Bottom line: Tea in many forms does a body good. People in the business of keeping their bodies in top flight condition are finding many new teas that offer a variety of benefits.

Here are a few of the varieties of tea discovered over the last year, seen at many networks and sound stages and sampled by Monsters and Critics:

THE GREEN TEAIST
http://www.thegreenteaist.com/

photo by April MacIntyre ©M&C Galaxy S Captivate SAMSUNG

Green tea, according to manager Anna Dragana Diaz of The Green Teaist boutique, should be brewed at around 80 to 85 °C (176 to 185 °F); the higher the quality of the leaves, the lower the temperature. Hotter water will burn green-tea leaves, producing a bitter taste. Green tea is the least processed and thus provides the most antioxidant polyphenols, notably a catechin called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is believed to be responsible for most of the health benefits linked to green tea.

photo by April MacIntyre ©M&C Galaxy S Captivate SAMSUNG

The unique Green Teaist tea room was found at the Beverly Hilton, as M&C discovered this tea by chance at the summer Television Critics' Association press junket (TCA's), and sampled several rare Japanese teas, which are produced in small batches by steaming the freshly picked tea leaves to retain their full natural flavors and antioxidants. The Green Teaist offers the finest and most authentic green teas of Japan.

The Japanese mainly drink green tea and even infuse it into cosmetics and anti-aging creams. Green tea is equated with well-being and is present in many foodstuffs in Japan: chewing gum, ice cream, candy, and even pastries.

photo by April MacIntyre ©M&C Galaxy S Captivate SAMSUNG

Varieties:

Ureshinocha, Sencha is from Saga, in Southern Japan, Yamecha, Tencha, FukaMushicha, Shincha, Gyokuro, Genmaicha, Hojicha, Kukicha, Matcha and Bancha are some of their bestsellers. This tea has a distinctly green fresh flavor and is unlike any green tea you have purchased in a market.

High-brow and a bit pricey, this is the real deal and what tea connoisseurs seek when they want to get a serious green tea fix on. 

Green Teaist Tea Room, photo by April MacIntyre ©M&C Galaxy S Captivate SAMSUNG

The Green Teaist also makes an award-winning Green Tea Jelly that is tasty and has many health benefits too.  The room at the Beverly Hilton is also booked for tea parties and is exquisite.

KUSMI TEA

http://www.us.kusmitea.com/en/the-origins-of-tea/i100/information.html

Kusmi is a rising star among the tea cognoscenti. This stunningly packaged tea is done Russian style, and features many standout black teas as well as teas designed for detoxifying, and calming and relaxing purposes.

M&C tried Be Cool tea, which is a non-caffeinated Liquorice and Peppermint infusion that is brilliant after dinner or before bed. This is one of those teas you want after a heavy meal, or if you have any type of indigestion.  It tastes fantastic too. More mint than liquorice. 

The Detox tea is greener in flavor, with Mate, green tea with lemon grass too. The herbal concoction is good for those dieting. Both are marvelous late in the day teas, in my opinion.

Another fantastic way to try this tea is with Kusmi's sampler, a pack of 24 enveloped muslin tea bags with 12 different teas: Prince Vladimir, Anastasia, Detox, Kashmir Tchaï , Bouquet of Flowers N°108, St Pétersburg, Decaffeinated Earl Grey with citrus fruits, Darjeeling N° 37, Green Darjeeling, Russian Morning N°24, Spearmint green tea and Sweet love in a gorgeous box.

Kusmi has a long history. The story goes that the eldest son of a peasant family, Pavel Michailovitch Kousmichoff left home at the age of 14 to look for an employment in St Petersburg. There he found work as a delivery boy for a tea merchant. The shop manager soon realized that the boy had enormous potential and taught him the art of blending tea, according to the Kusmi historians.

The legacy, from Kusmi's website:

"Pavel continued to work for the tea merchant until his marriage to Alexandra, the daughter of a successful paper merchant. His employer was so happy to see him marry into such a good family that he gave him a small teahouse on Sadovaïa Street. And that is how the P. M. Kousmichoff teahouse started in 1867. Alexandra gave him six children, including his son Viatcheslav (1878) and his daughter Elisabeth (1880) for whom he created the special blend that soon became the tsar’s tea: Bouquet of Flowers.  By 1901 Pavel owned 11 teahouses as well as a large building big enough for his entire family. He was very rich and his company was one of the three largest tea companies in Russia.

In 1907, he sent his eldest son to London to learn about tea. Viatcheslav started by opening the company’s British subsidiary: P.M. Kousmichoff & Sons at 11 Queen Victoria Street. At the time, the city was the world capital of the tea trade, which helped Viatcheslav become a master tea blender. Viatcheslav returned to Russia and, after the death of his father in 1908, took over the family business. He successfully built up the company to a total of 51 teahouses in all major Russian cities.

The family prospered during the interwar years, opening offices in New York, Hamburg, and Constantinople. Viatcheslav decided to settle his main business in Berlin as it had a large Russian community. Viatcheslav Kousmichoff died just after World War II in 1946, leaving his son Constantin to take over a family business much weakened by the war years.

Unfortunately, Constantin didn’t have the same business acumen as his father or grandfather. He was a man who loved life and burned the candle at both ends, but while he was an artist and a tea lover, he just didn’t understand figures. On the brink of bankruptcy in 1972 he sold the business for a pittance. During the years that followed, the Kousmichoff company continued to sell Kusmi teas with uneven success. Like Constantin, the people who had bought the company were artistic and had a certain understanding of flavors, but their management skills left much to be desired.

In 1916, sensing disaster, Viatcheslav transferred part of his fortune to the company’s London office and in 1917 opened a workshop in Paris – the Maison Kusmi-Thé. While he spent most of his time in Paris, his family remained in Saint Petersburg.

On the eve of the Revolution, without realizing just how right his instincts were, Viatcheslav decided to send them to spend the summer in the Caucasus – just as the Revolution broke out. As the “Reds” moved south, Viatcheslav organized his family’s escape: first to Constantinople and then to Paris in 1920. In Paris, Viatcheslav and his wife lived the life of the wealthy with their three children: Constantin, Nadia and Vera. The children had tutors and enjoyed sport and music; Constantin and Nadia playing the violin and Vera the piano. Vera later attended the Paris Conservatory where she met Rachmaninov and went on to become a famous opera singer..."

Now, Kusmi Tea of Paris is pushing their brand awareness in the Los Angeles area, especially among many appreciative celebrities like actors Eric Roberts, Neil Patrick Harris, Peter Facinelli and numerous cast members from smallscreen series "Mad Men," "True Blood," "Dancing with the Stars," "The Office" and more. And now, Kusmi's unique blends makes it debut at Monsieur Marcel's Gourmet Market at the famous Grove shopping center in Los Angeles, a favorite destination of mine.

GREEN TEA HAWAII
http://www.greenteahawaii.com/home.cfm

This tea is all over Hollywood.

Green Tea Hawaii is a specially formulated green tea powder that you mix with hot water, and is loaded with powerful antioxidants that promote health and weight loss. Green Tea Hawaii comes in three varieties: Pineapple Strawberry, Raspberry Lemonade and Original.

You just mix the pre-measured powder in 12 to 16 ounces of room temperature to hot water.

The original formula was the sampled tea and I found it to be sweet enough without the need to embellish it with anything. It can be taken late in the day, as the caffeine in this product is minimal to non-existent.  So far I have been drinking this for a week and it makes me feel good, and it does kill your appetite, if you drink it before dinner. 

I would imagine any hot beverage before a big meal helps, but I really have less of an appetite, and my energy has been very good.  This tea I will continue with, along with the Kusmi Be Cool and the Detox teas, in addition to my morning English Breakfast black tea fix too.

Green tea, Hawaii has serving has 10 calories and only 1 gram of sugar and the company claims this product provides the following health benefits:

Reduces Appetite by 15- 20%
Increases Metabolism
Boosts Healthy Energy Levels
Reduces Body Fat
Improved Health and longevity