Chocolate Rose Romance - It's Almost Gone!

Greetings!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I have only 2 (yes, that's TWO) refill packages (approximately 4 ounces each) of Chocolate Rose Romance left. After it's gone, I won't be blending it any more... so if you want some of this amazing tea - you should get it while the getting is good!
This tea is rich, decadent and delicious - it is just perfect to soothe that inner beast that's just craving some yummy chocolate!

Stop by my Artfire Tea Shop to see what else is available!

~Anne

Cupcake Jones

Greetings everyone!

Yesterday (Tuesday, February 9) my husband and I went for a drive into Portland. Not a big deal in itself, because Portland is only about five minutes away. But, what was a big deal - at least for this cupcake enthusiast - was where my husband took me. We went to Cupcake Jones!

Located in the Pearl District of Portland, Cupcake Jones is a cute (albeit tiny) little shop. They feature six cupcake flavors every day, three daily flavors (that is, cupcakes that they sell every day), and three special flavors. Each of the six flavors comes in two different sizes: "jumbo" and "mini." The jumbo cupcakes appear to be standard size cupcakes to me, but they are jumbo on taste - and what really differentiates the two sizes, other than the size, is the fact that the jumbo cupcakes are filled with a luscious creamy filling.

The Velvet Painting

Now, for the hard part. Deciding! Which flavor do I choose? I decided to go with a dozen of the mini cupcakes, 2 of each flavor, for $16.50. This way, I could try one of each of the flavors without feeling too guilty.

The cupcake is moist and flavorful, and the frosting is creamy, and well... YUM. It's FROSTING! (And for those who love frosting, they also offer "frosting shots" which is a little cup of just the frosting.)

Here's the rundown on the three daily flavors:

The Pearl - a vanilla explosion! White cake topped with vanilla bean buttercream. One of the best buttercreams I've ever tasted from a bakery. Each cupcake is topped with a sprinkling of clear, sparkling sugar sprinkles and a tiny white chocolate pearl.

Downtown Cupcake Brown - The chocolate cupcake is rich and sinful, just the way a chocolate cupcake should be. The jumbo cupcakes are filled with a chocolate ganache which looked incredible... and it took a great deal of strength to resist! The frosting is very smooth, chocolate-y and topped with a sprinkling of shaved dark chocolate.

Velvet Painting - Classic red velvet cake topped with an INCREDIBLE cream cheese frosting and a candied rose petal. The rose petal added such a delightful touch of elegance to this cupcake, and this (along with the Pearl) would be my two choices to serve at a tea party. So petite and pretty!

On Tuesdays, the three specially featured flavors are: coconut lemon (my favorite of the batch), caramel latte, and black forest. Here's my thoughts on these three delights:

Black Forest - deliciously moist devils food cake with a little shot of cherry sauce which adds extra moisture to the cake (and that little shot is even added to the mini cupcakes, so be sure to grab an extra napkin if you choose this flavor). Instead of frosting, they are topped with whipped cream, grated dark chocolate and a cherry. A truly outstanding interpretation of the classic black forest cake.

Caramel Latte - I actually "cheated" and got a large caramel latte cupcake (in addition to my minis), which is why I'm posting this review of Cupcake Jones today instead of yesterday... I indulged in my jumbo caramel latte cupcake yesterday instead of the mini cupcakes, and saved them for today. I just had to try the caramel pastry cream filling. And it was worth it! Incredible! The cupcake is a coffee flavored cake (I know, I know... coffee?!?!?!?), but it is quite yummy even though I suspect it would be even better if perhaps it were a chai tea flavored cupcake! (haha!) The frosting is a caramel buttercream frosting (delicious - may I say right now, this is the best. frosting. ever.), and topped with a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce and chopped coffee beans. Even though I am not a coffee fanatic (duh!) ... I must say that the chopped coffee bean topping added a very delightful texture to the cupcake, and I actually quite enjoyed it.

Coconut Lemon - My favorite cupcake of the six from Tuesday's lineup. Lemon cake (the jumbo cupcakes are filled with lemon curd coconut pastry cream - which sounds unbelievably good!) and topped with a swirl of lemon buttercream, toasted coconut shreds and a "lemon chip" which looked a lot to me like a little tiny sliver of candied lemon. What makes this particular cupcake my favorite? The lemon! It has a bright, light taste, and in my opinion, would bring a ray of sunshine into even the grayest of Pacific Northwest days. The coconut adds the right amount of interest and sweetness to the cupcake. It's just perfect!

I've tried a couple of specialty cupcake bakeries in the Portland area now, and I must say that Cupcake Jones is (by far!) the best. The cupcakes are flavorful, moist, and the frosting is delicious - and doesn't taste overwhelmingly sweet the way some bakery frosting can - it tastes like homemade buttercream! YUM!

November's Sale!

Baby, it's cold outside, and it's a perfect time to curl up with a hot cup of tea! And what could be better than tea? Maybe 20% off on your tea purchase! Check out this sale!

Now throughout the month of November (Hey! That's this month!) you can receive 20% off your entire order ($20.00 or more, not including shipping charges) from my Artfire Tea Shop! Just use the coupon code: NOVEMBER at checkout and your discount will be applied.

mmm... Chocolate Rose Romance Tea!

Fine Print: Coupon valid from November 6 - November 30. Limited to stock on hand only (no rainchecks), and can not be combined with any other discount. This coupon is valid for my Artfire Tea Shop only.

That's it... Just place your order of $20 or more, use the coupon code - November - and get 20% off your order!

~Anne

Last Day for my "Month End" Sale!

Maybe I should have called it the Month End Plus 1 Sale?

Please Check here for details!

This great sale ends today! Check it out!

Spotlighting...

Hello Everyone!

I'm hooked on Spotlighting! And just what is spotlighting? Spotlighting is a super-cool feature at the artisan website byhand.me that is similar to the Etsy Treasury feature, with a couple of significant exceptions: 1) You don't have to wait until the spotlights drops to 333 before you can score a spotlight -- how many times have you waited until 1 am in the morning to get in on the treasuries, only to miss it by like 4 seconds? and 2) You can use listings from sites other than Etsy, such as Artfire, 1000Markets, Made it Myself, and others!

Here's an example of a spotlight I recently created... featuring just some of the things I have on sale right now!

So as you can see, spotlighting can be an effective marketing tool! They're very addictive (and you don't have to create one just to promote yourself... you can create one based on a favorite color scheme, or a favorite theme... you are only limited by your imagination!)

Stop by byhand.me today, and join (registration is free!) in the fun!

~Anne

PS: don't forget my sale: 15% off all orders; 20% off all orders $20 or more; 30% off all orders $30 or more! Valid at all my stores, through March 1 at midnight!

My Valentine's Weekend Special!

Hello Everyone!

Well, here it is, Valentine's Day is here already! To celebrate, I'm having a special sale all weekend, through Sunday, February 15, at midnight (Pacific Time).

Receive 25% discount on all tea purchases that include either Chocolate Rose Romance tea ~or~ Breakfast in Bed tea!

This means you can purchase a tin of my Sweet Caramel o'Mine tea, and a tin of my Chocolate Rose Romance tea, and you qualify for the 25% discount on your entire order!

Or you can purchase any other combination of tea, and as long as you've included the Chocolate Rose Romance Tea, *OR* the Breakfast in Bed tea (or you can, of course, purchase both of them!) -- you'll receive the 25% discount!


Just visit my Artfire tea shop or my Etsy store, and place your order this weekend... and be sure to include either the Chocolate Rose Romance tea, or the Breakfast in Bed tea to receive a 25% discount off your entire order!

Discount offer is limited to stock on hand, and is good through Sunday, February 15, 2009, at midnight. Discount on product only, does not apply to shipping charges.

TO RECEIVE YOUR DISCOUNT:

Paypal customers: Just place your order, and process your payment as you normally would. When I've received notification of payment, I will process a 25% refund.

Check/Money Order customers: If you prefer to mail your payment, please wait for me to send you an invoice with your adjusted total, then mail your payment within 5 days.

Thank you, everyone, for helping to make my Artfire tea shop a success!

~Anne

A Tea Story...

Hello Everyone:

Over the past 7 years as I've been blending and flavoring teas, I've created tea flavors that I have wanted. It all started with my Chocolate tea, now called Chocolate Rose Romance. I wanted a chocolate tea that was similar to the chocolate tea I used to purchase from my favorite little antique store in old town Orange, California, an antique store that went out of business, and they took their delightfully flavored chocolate tea with them.

So, I visited all the tea shops I could find in the area, and some of them had chocolate teas, but, none of these chocolate flavors were quite as decadent as my fond memories of the Chocolate tea from that little antique store.

This is how I became inspired to try my hand at flavoring and blending my own teas. My first attempts were very hit and miss... mostly... miss! I did some research, and I did a lot of experimentation. And there was even a time that I gave up and threw in the towel on the whole endeavor, certain I wasn't going to ever achieve that flavor for which I longed.

Then, about 7 years ago, I decided to try again, and I came up with a blend that may not be exactly what I used to obtain from my favorite antique dealer, but, it was certainly close, and quite possibly, better! Since that time, I've made various improvements on my original recipe, and I must say that now, it indeed IS better.

None of my other flavors have undergone as many attempts and transformations as my Chocolate tea.

I am often asked which tea is my favorite, and I usually list my newest tea, or the most recently blended tea... but in truth, my all time favorite is indeed my Chocolate Rose Romance. The flavor is rich, sumptuous... it is everything I want it to be and more. It's a nice chocolate indulgence with little fat (I say "little" because I do add a splash of half & half to this tea, so there is a small amount of fat), and little calories (sometimes I add Agave Nectar, sometimes, I add honey, and sometimes I add Stevia to this tea, depending on what I have handy!)

My Chocolate Rose Romance is a blend of black teas, Chocolate bits, Cacao Nibs, Vanilla, Apple, Rooibos, Almonds, and just a sprinkling of Rose Petals. The rose petals are not added as much for flavor as they are for visual appeal. (Note, if you like rose flavored tea, try my Breakfast in Bed tea!!!)

Is there a tea flavor you'd like to try? Is there a combination that you think would make a winning tea flavor? Please, feel free to drop a comment on this blog, and let me know what flavor you'd like. I'll try creating a flavor to your specifications, and if the flavor is a hit, and I decide to begin offering it in my shop, I'll send you the first tin of it... FREE!

~Anne

An Interview with me...

Rebecca at Soap Deli News recently conducted an interview with me, and today it has been published on her blog. Thank you Rebecca for the opportunity to talk to your blog readers, what an honor! Click here if you'd like to read the interview.

Also, if you read more on the Soap Deli News, you'll find other interesting interviews with other artisans, as well as some cool tutorials. A great blog... one worth reading regularly!

On to other tea news... As the weather grows colder... what's in your teacup? I've been drinking a lot of my Chocolate Rose Romance tea lately, because it is a great comfort tea, and is a great tea to sip on these bitterly cold days!


Another favorite tea during cold weather is my Masterpiece Chai. The spice of the tea warms you up, and the delightful flavor lifts you up! Yum!!!

Well, two posts from me in one day... that doesn't happen often!

Enjoy!
~Anne