With the holiday season upon us, what better way to settle into the cold weather than with a warming, awakening dirty chai martini!?

A perfect cocktail for a holiday party or to make for yourself after hosting a big soiree, spicy Chai pairs perfectly with smooth espresso and a zing of vodka. You may not have had a traditional Dirty Chai before, but they're a great pick-me-up that's both warming and enlivening. Espresso and Chai pair perfectly to awaken the senses and warm the soul. Why not add a little alcohol to the mix and call it a party!?

This Dirty Chai Martini works on the rocks, shaken, or stirred, and makes for a perfect holiday treat.

We love a good cheesecake here at SESA PURE. I mean, what's not to love about silky cream cheese blended with sugar and eggs to create a moist and decadent dessert? Seeing as it is THE season for all things chai, we thought there'd be no better way to celebrate both warming Masala Chai and our favorite dessert than to combine them! After a couple of test runs, we landed on this recipe to yield a perfectly spicy, creamy delight sure to warm the spirit and enliven the soul. 

We start by simmering the heavy cream in our loose Masala Chai blend, then straining it and adding it to our batter to achieve a perfect chai color and to truly infuse the cheesecake with all the decadence of a traditional Masala Chai.

We chose to use a Masala Chai blend which includes black tea leaves, thus imparting the cheesecake with a trace amount of caffeine. If you want a totally caffeine-free version, try out our Chai Spice blend to infuse all the flavor without the tea leaves! 

There's no doubt about it, fall is Chai season! To start off October strong, we decided to take our spicy Masala Chai to the next level and make a vegan, superfood-powered shake using Chai as a base. And let us tell you, it was seriously delicious.

We included superfoods such as MCT Oil, Maca Root Powder, and Cinnamon in addition to all the healthy spices already in our Masala Chai blend to really up-level this smoothie. If you want to turbocharge your day without coffee, then this is the shake for you to try.

Matcha is a super-fine powder made from green tea leaves. The tea leaves are picked right at their peak, dried, and stone-ground into a fine powder to be mixed with water, used ceremonially, or even in baking. Matcha has been used ceremonially in Japan for centuries, and only recently has reached peak popularity all over the world for it's delicious flavor, myriad applications, and amazing health benefits.  

Did you know there's such a thing as cupping tea?

Cupping is designed to test the quality of a given pure tea leaf immediately after it's harvested. The most important thing about cupping is consistency. Since the ingredient tested varies, one must control the environment and testing process as much as possible to ensure a consistent and honest result. 

The process of cupping is repetitive. A drinker must train her mind and senses to unearth the subtleties of the pure tea leaf much more than during a regular tasting. Cupping also pushes the limits of the tea, testing how they hold up under different circumstances to truly understand the tea. 

In assessment, we consider quality and characteristics of the tea for a more comprehensive analysis of the natural compounds in a given leaf. We test for color, flavor, aroma, and the chemistry of the steep, in addition to evaluating the tea at each stage of the steep. 

Forget coffee-flavored ice cream, try this super easy recipe for the best Affogato you'll ever eat and you'll never buy a pint of the flavored stuff again. Espresso is a delicious indulgence on its own and a great pick-me-up, but have you ever thought about combining espresso with ice cream?! 

What better way to cool down on a hot summer day than with an ice pop? We've adapted a traditional recipe to create a delicious Texas Peach Black Tea pop! If you want to learn more about our special Texas Peach blend and learn some of the health benefits of black tea, check out our blog post on our Texas Peach Black Tea. 

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream, divided
• 3 heaping tablespoons Texas Peach Black Tea
• 3/4 cup sugar

1. In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, bring milk, sugar and 1 cup of heavy cream to a light simmer -- do not boil. Make sure sugar dissolves completely.
2. Add Texas Peach Black Tea to milk mixture. Simmer for one minute and remove from heat.
3. Stir mixture and let steep, off heat, for 5 to 8 minutes, to your desired strength. 
4. Add remaining 1/2 cup of cream to the mixture to taste. 
5. Strain milk tea into a large bowl & refrigerate until completely cool. 
6. Pour mixture into ice-pop molds and freeze until completely set. 
7. Run water over molds to loosen pops and enjoy!

So, you're sitting on the porch and it's 100 degrees outside....what better way to refresh yourself than with a glass of Iced Texas Peach Black Tea? Peaches and black tea are a match made in heaven. The malty complexity of our blend of Assam and Ceylon black teas pairs perfectly with the subtle sweetness of real peach pieces.  

In addition to being a refreshing summer beverage, Texas Peach Black Tea boasts all the benefits of black tea in a delicately flavored concoction. 

Did you know that aside from being a refreshing and uplifting flavoring, mint is actually loaded with potential health benefits?

While peppermint tea has been a staple of many pantries for years, we often just think about it as a refreshing beverage without taking into account the myriad health benefits mint has. From soothing upset stomach to improving alertness and focus mint can help heal from the inside out. 

Mint tea can be bought at the local grocery store, from a specialty beverage producer like Sesa Pure or grown in the comfort of your own backyard and steeped into a healthful tisane. Peppermint and other mint varietals are hardy plants best grown in the shade. It can be grown indoors or outdoors and will thrive year-round, allowing you to make a delicious tea during every season. 

Mint can be used fresh or dry and is popularly used as a seasoning, steeped into teas and tisanes, or in salads and desserts. Of the over two-dozen varietals of Mint, peppermint and spearmint are the most popularly used in contemporary cuisine and health applications.