Tea Forté infusers in "Food & Wine"

Our new Tea Forté cocktail infusers are featured in the March issue of Food & Wine magazine. They suggest using the chai blend infuser in a whiskey drink; does sound pretty good, even though I'm not a big fan of whiskey.

Just had a good idea, though. How about infusing the lavender citrus into a glass of champagne? Not your best champagne, of course, but a way to dress up some of those "okay" bubblies that are maybe $10 or so. I bet it's good. Will report back later.

Oh. That idea gave me a sweet memory from a trip to Provence a few years back. We were staying outside a little village and had walked into town for dinner at a charming restaurant called "La Couleur Poupre." The chef/owner/dishwasher was truly a one-man show, running from table to table, greeting everyone, taking orders, and then running in back to cook everything. He was so friendly and happy and funny. His special drink was a herb-infused champagne; I might have wrinkled my nose a bit at the thought of it, but he assured me I would love it. And I did. It had quite a bit of tarragon and lavender as I recall. You could taste the herbs but they didn't take over. A memorable drink, a memorable evening.

On a different trip we discovered the Bénédictine distillery/castle and experienced another fascinating trip through the herbal kingdom. I was prepared to not like it (distant memories of drinking B&B when it was the "cool" drink), but again, loved the herb infusions (skip the brandy). Plus it's a fascinating place, from their wonderful museum (including a huge collection of ancient locks and keys), to their very contemporary art museum/gallery. You can take a little online tour by logging onto "benedictine.fr/anglais/"

But I've digressed, again. Do check out the March issue of Food & Wine; lots of good articles and recipes.