Category Archives: New Products

Pumpkin Spice — But Make It Ice Cream

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Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.
Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.

It’s amazing how something so cold can taste so warm.

That’s the delectable dichotomy of “Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream” that’s frigid enough to give you brain freeze yet suffused with the autumnal fervor of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, and mace.

When Adagio Teas sent me samples of its seasonal offerings of Pumpkin Spice tea, Honeybush Pumpkin Chai, and Pumpkin Spice Honey, along with its Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend by its sister spice company, Selefina, I couldn’t wait to enjoy them for an afternoon pick-me-up, as well as in recipes.

The Pumpkin Spice Tea ($3 for a sample bag or $9 for 3 ounces) is a robust black tea with pumpkin spice notes, as well as pretty marigold flowers for a subtle floral note.

The Honeybush Pumpkin Chai ($4 for a sample bag or $10 for 3 ounces) blends the honey taste of herbal, non-caffeinated honeybush tea with the expected cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, but also cocoa nibs for a touch of earthiness that lends depth. This is a smooth, soothing, and relaxing sip that you’re going to want to enjoy every day this fall and winter. You don’t even need to add milk, if you don’t want to, in order to appreciate its chai-like taste.

A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.
A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.

Stir in a touch of Pumpkin Spice Honey into either cup of tea, and the pumpkin spices will come even more to the forefront.

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Spice Up Your Day — Everiday

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Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.
Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.

If you’ve jumped on the Asian chili sauce bandwagon — and who hasn’t at this point? — you’ll want to add another label to your arsenal.

Everiday Foods serves up a line of four different Asian chili sauces, each with a slightly different taste profile, and enough heat to really jolt the palate yet not incinerate it.

The Singapore company was founded by Riyana Rupani, who gave up a career in corporate finance to become a certified nutritionist after experiencing her own autoimmune issues.

With her quest for clean eating, the sauces are all made with extra-virgin olive oil, as well as additions including pitted dates, garlic, dried chili, and other seasonings,. They all are also vegan, and gluten-free.

Four varieties.
Four varieties.

I had an opportunity to try samples of the Garlic Chili Oil, Mala Chili Crisp, House Red Chili Sauce, and Sambal.

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End of Summer Sips

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Guinigi's Rose Prosecco is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.
Guinigi’s Prosecco Rosé is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.

2023 Guinigi Prosecco Rosé 

Pretty in pink — and make it Italian.

There are few more delightful ways to enjoy the last days of summer than sipping a glass of 2023 Guinigi Prosecc Rosé  ($17).

From Italy’s northeastern province of Treviso, this pale pink-salmon bubbly, of which I received a sample bottle, was made by winemaker Alex Beloz and proprietor August Sebastiani. Yes, you know the name well, as he’s the fourth-generation winemaker of one of California’s oldest and most storied wine families.

The Guinigi label, under the Gehricke winery umbrella, honors his family’s roots in Italy. It pays tribute to the Guinigi tower, a historical landmark in the town of Lucca, Tuscany, from which the Sebastiani family immigrated in 1895.

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A Taste of San Francisco’s Oldest Coffee Roastery

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Graffeo Dark Roast prepared French press-style.
Graffeo Dark Roast prepared French press-style.

Graffeo Coffee, which opened in San Francisco’s North Beach in 1935, is not only the city’s oldest coffee roastery, but one of the longest operated ones in all of North America.

Italian immigrant Giovanni Graffeo originally started selling his fresh roasted beans in a small grocery store he opened on Columbus Avenue. Today, beans are still roasted there each day.

It remains a favorite at top restaurants such as Michelin two-starred Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, House of Prime Rib in San Francisco, and the Girl and the Fig in Sonoma.

Unlike many other coffee companies that offer a multitude of different beans, Graffeo sells only four types: Dark Roast, Light Roast, Swiss Water Decaf, and a custom blend of Half Dark/Half Light.

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The Debut of Al’s Real Goods Cookies

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Chef Aaron London's new packaged cookies just hit store shelves. Left to right: Ginger Smack, Choco Choco, and Choco Chip.
Chef Aaron London’s new packaged cookies just hit store shelves. Left to right: Ginger Smack, Choco Choco, and Choco Chip.

Aaron London has been many things over the years: chef, restaurateur, and recipient of a Michelin star and Bon Appetit magazine’s “Best New Restaurant in the Country.”

Now, add to that list: cookie entrepreneur.

The former chef of the ground-breaking, vegetable-forward Ubuntu in Napa, London closed his Michelin-starred Al’s Place in San Francisco in 2022, and spent the next couple of years working on crafting packaged cookies that he would be proud to sell on grocery store shelves.

The result is Al’s Real Goods boxed cookies that are made with brown cane sugar, free-range eggs, Fair Trade chocolate, and butter from grass-fed cows.

The cookies come in three varieties: Choco Chip, Choco Choco, and Ginger Smack.

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