Tea in SPAIN!

I am not at all interested in sport – but one sporting event has overtaken the media and the lives of millions of people in the past few weeks – the Soccer World Cup! So, as homage to the winners SPAIN, I decided to post a little something about Tea in Spain! Enjoy!

Tea has a very long and enduring history in Spain, as it has remained as one of the many Moorish contributions to the culture of southern Spain. In some of the more famed Moorish cities of the nation's south Moorish-style tea is still to be found in teahouses, or Teterias, as they are known.

The tea to be consumed in these establishments is made often with mint and sweetened with honey. This is the way the Moors drank it. A taste not only for tea, but also for flavored tea has indeed an ancient lineage in Spain.
The small town of Novelda in the Province of Alicante is deep into what was once, and for many centuries, a most prized area of Moorish occupation. The rich river land yielded dessert grapes, saffron and the ubiquitous Jasmine of Moorish culture.
More than a century ago, in 1870, a company began business in Novelda, which was called "Viuda de Antonio Crespo Valero." Originally, this firm traded and packed the local saffron, as well as spices of different origins. Later it grew to focus on producing sweeteners, packing teas and all kinds of herbal teas.
To this sweetener and tea activity, which is the core of the company's business today, soluble coffee in sticks has also been added.
Today, this old company is known in Spain and in export markets as Azaconsa. The "Aza" derives from the Spanish word for saffron--azafran. The 'Con' refers to 'condiments.' while the 'SA', obviously is added as indication of the firm's legal status. It remains a privately held family company, continuously owned by the Crespo descendants. The fourth generation of the Crespo family is now working in the company, and Azaconsa is owned, specifically, by Antonio and Claudio Crespo.
Azaconsa operates two factories in the vicinity of Novelda, one for sweeteners and the other for teas. These two product sectors are of virtually equal importance to the company.
Last year, for example, Azaconsa packed more than 500 million sachets of sweetener sachets (granulated or as tablets). While in its tea factory the company has eight teabag making machines running, including three for bags with envelope. This teabag capacity capability also results in a hefty weight of tea products each year.
Azaconsa prides itself on sourcing its own mainline tea directly from India, and from a long-term partner there. The Crespos themselves visit this tea garden. The company procures other teas from trusted importers and blenders.
The tea and herbal product range covers the gambit of contemporary consumer demand--regular teas of origin, blends, and too an assortment of flavored herbals and teas. Packaging is as varied, ranging from loose bags in bulk cartons to appealing board boxes of varying designs. The company also produces teas in wooden presentation boxes for restaurants and hotels.
The same kind of wide-selection in packaging and genres applies to the Azaconsa sweeteners, which are pharmaceutically graded and controlled for their aspartame or saccharine content. For control and purity of product the sweeteners are made in house via the company's own granulating technology--Azaconsa actually sources other sweetener packers with its granulated product.
Azaconsa has its trademarks, 'Ship' being the best known. However some 70% of its turnover results from contracts with roasters and private label distributors. Although the company maintains some important store brand business, the majority of its production--own trademark and private label--is intended for the HORECA sector.
"To meet rising demand in Spain and abroad we must have significant production volume in both tea and sweeteners, soluble coffee now too," explains Claudio Crespo.
"Our business has grown on offering an array of packaging, product qualities and styles to meet customer demand. We are packing hundreds of private label brands. To give full service to our clients, we have recently bought a new warehouse just for the printing of all the various labels and paper required."
Azaconsa produces its various packed products to clients throughout Spain. It has also steadily built an international presence and now exports 30% of its production to some dozen nations. "Since so much of our business is in private label," Crespo stated. "We must have as much control of the production and packaging processes as possible. We also must maintain maximum versatility." "Yes, we can source discount, but our standards are always for top grade, only in this way are we able to compete successfully against the larger branded companies."
"Our soluble coffee sticks," Crespo adds, "are but one example, they are packed with the best soluble coffee product we can find. In this way we stay on top of the market standards we pack for, never below them."
In addition to teas, herbal teas, sweeteners and soluble coffee in stick packs, Azaconsa also packs sugar in sticks, plus salt, pepper and cinnamon in sachets.
The Moors are long gone from Spain, but their heritage of tea is now much more than a ghost of glories past.

Spain is a coffee drinking country. As a result, tea does not have a great tradition in Spain, though demand for it is rising (while coffee sales fall). There is an especially good range of teas in the Moroccan tea rooms of Granada (see below).
Cafeterias in Spain all have a few boxes of teabags gathering dust next to the their abacus, quill and pocket watch, but it is invariably of very poor quality. However, there are some fruit and herbal infusions that are quite popular.
Though the quality is poor, the variety is surprisingly good. This is what you will find:
• Té Negro - Black tea. Much weaker than tea ought to be. As a British person, I find this stuff sacrilegious. Doesn't come with milk - try adding it and it will cease to even vaguely resemble tea anymore.
• Té Rojo - Pu-erh tea.
• Té Verde - Green tea.
• Té de Fruta - Fruit tea.
• Manzanilla - Chamomile tea.
• Menta Poleo - Pennyroyal tea.
• Tila - Lime blossom tea.

Tea in Granada and Lavapies (Madrid)
The Moroccan influence in Granada has created a bit of a tea culture in the city. There are Arabic 'teterias' (tea houses) throughout Granada with menus that are often five pages long. It is also common for the streets outside these tea houses to sell packs of the most common teas you can buy in the shops. A word of advice - try the tea in the tea houses but don't buy it from there. Instead, go to the spice stalls around the Cathedral (there are two of them). The tea here is of a much higher quality than that sold in the Arabic areas and it is also cheaper.
The menus in the teterias are rarely in English: just pick something at random! My favourite is Té Pakistani, a black tea taken with milk and mixed with vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom pods.
Lavapies, a district of Madrid, also has a number of teterias.

Magdalenas are a very popular muffin-like cake that Spaniards usually enjoy for afternoon tea or coffee. This afternoon treat is called merienda. They are also popular for breakfast.
This very traditional Spanish food is very easy to make. A proper Magdalena is very light and has a hint of lemon flavor. They are usually dunked in coffee or tea.
The next time you are having people over tea or perhaps a Spanish themed breakfast, try these tasty muffins!
Serves: Makes about 12 Magdalenas
Preparation time: about 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
• 2 1/2 ts baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• about 2 ts lemon zest
• 2 TB olive oil

DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat them until they stiffen and hold on to the back of a spoon.

Gently add in the flour, baking powder and lemon zest and mix.

• Add the sugar and the oil and gently fold together.
• Spoon the mixture into a muffin-paper lined muffin pan.
• Bake them for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.