So following up from the 'Introducing Katie' blog I had a lot of people saying I looked too nice to do fencing, oh how looks can be deceiving! So just to prove it, here are some pics of me in sweaty and very unflattering fencing kit at the nationals last weekend, I took samples along and we did a little teapigs photo shoot with some tea temples. The tea came in handy after a long weekend of fencing and I hope everyone enjoyed the samples they found in their kit bags!

Want to win yourself some iced tea goodies? Well we love seeing your creative side, and since matcha competition has been going so well we thought we would run another one, this time with iced tea. We want to see the most creative iced tea recipes, maybe some cocktails, ice lollies, jellies, whatever your tea fueled minds can come up with. The closing date for this one is August 20th, where the best idea will win its inventor our iced tea cheeky deal, that means a box each of mao feng green tea, super fruit, liqourice and mint, pure lemongrass and darjeeling earl grey. So get experimenting!

Wow, already Catty has had loads of entries from budding matcha chefs, check out the pictures below for a sneak peek, they look seriously good! We will put some more pics up as they come in, so carry on creating! Click on the picture titles for links to the blogs these delights came from. Might have to have some cake now...

Matcha Mochi Cakes

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Green Tea Cheesecake

Matcha White Chocolate Squares

There are some very impressive foodies out there! We look forward to seeing more of your creations...

Massive thanks to all of you who entered our competition to win some of our yerba mate tea. We have had a great response, lots of interesting justifications for your answers too! But the time has come...here are the winners and the answers:
Right answer/wrong fact: 1)My favourite tea is peppermint! My favourite tea is actually teapigs earl grey. Yes I was a peacock in a nativity play! Pretty much on a par with the lobster in love actually. And I do fence, thanks to everyone who said I didn't look threatening enough to do fencing!
The winners are: Clare Godzicz from Oxford, The Shuffle Groop, Sara McGuggon from Hull, Rosemarie Hart from Amersham and Lianne Hornsby from Surrey....enjoy your yerba mate!!

We are sending our teapigs out to sea, with P&O Ferries. You can now take your favourite tea on holiday with you, or buy it on the way for your unsuspecting hosts. So whilst you are stocking up on the Toblerone you can feel a little less guilty with some of our detoxing teas, and keep that touch of home with morning glory English breakfast tea.
You can get our mao feng green tea (to help keep that bikini body in shape), earl grey, English breakfast, Chocolate flake (who needs that Toblerone?!), peppermint, super fruits and lemongrass, on four ships from Dover to Calais, and two ships from Hull to Rotterdam.
We would love to see some holiday snaps of you and our teas, and the best three pics will win a cheeky tea deal (that's three, yes three, packs of our finest tea) plus a teapigs teapot! Not bad huh?! Just email your pics to hannah@teapigs.co.uk with 'holiday' in the subject bit at the top, by the 31st August for your chance to win win win.

So we are all going a bit matcha mad here, we cant get enough of the green stuff! Catty has been hard at work making yummy stuff from our matcha, and is giving you the chance to win a box of teapigs matcha, all you have to do is get in the kitchen and start making some goodies. Check out Catty's blog for competition rules and loads of delicious inspiration!

In the mean time how about a matcha frappe? Perfect for chilling out after a hot day in the office, and they look really impressive too.

Matcha frappe:
300mL milk
1 tablespoon condensed milk
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 large handful ice cubes
2 teaspoons matcha powder
whipped cream for topping
chocolate pocky sticks to serve just for fun!

1. Place the milk, condensed milk, ice cream, ice and matcha powder in a blender and blend until the ice is crushed.
2. Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream and pocky sticks!
3. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!!

teapigs have found the perfect gadgets to enjoy your teapigs iced tea in this summer. We have a bright and funky range of jugs and tumblers that are ideal to use in the garden, at home or out about on a teapigs picnic or bbq with your friends.

Our superfruit iced tea will look berrylicious in the purple jug and tumblers, the lime gadgets are a fab match for sipping on our lemongrass iced tea and you can sit back and relax whilst watching the whole leaf unfurl in the clear jug.

They are made from a durable coloured plastic so no fear of breakages and they're dishwasher safe too!

Grab your iced tea gadgets sharpish and start brewing some of our delicious teapigs on ice recipes in the lucious rays.

Hello! Im Katie, a temporary addition to teapigs. I'm only here for a few weeks, booo, but am already getting cracking with all things teapiggish. So far I have drank copious amounts of lovely tea and iced tea, which is perfect at the mo as it seems somewhat like the Sahara in London right now! I have ventured far from my native Cornwall to the big city, and aside from the 7am starts it's all going just swell. You will probably be hearing more from me over the next few weeks so keep a look out!

Below are three facts about myself, just so we can get to know each other a bit, however only two of these are true, which one is the lie?? Answers on a postcard please! (or to katie@teapigs.com) ((although a postcard would be nice...make me look popular and all...)) first 5 people to answer correctly will win a pack of our tea of the month - yerba mate.

Factilicious:
1) My favourite tea is peppermint (teapigs, naturally)
2) I am in the GB Fencing Team
3) I was once a peacock in a nativity play (who knew peacocks were there?!)

Good luck! I'll let you know the answer soon.. Ciao for now!

Once again Catty, our matcha chef extraordinaire, has surpassed herself with this delcious recipe. Better still, matcha boosts your metabolism by 30-40% so you can have as many of these bad boys as you like without feeling a spot of guilt about maintaing a perfect bikini bod.

Matcha and white chocolate cupcakes
Cupcake:
120 grams plain flour
140 grams caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
40 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
120mL whole milk
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoon matcha powder
70 grams white chocolate, chopped up

Cream cheese frosting:
300 grams icing sugar, sifted
50 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
125 grams cream cheese, cold

Matcha chocolate topping (totally optional):
100 grams white chocolate
1 teaspoon matcha powder

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter in a bowl and beat on low speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
3. Gradually pour in the milk and beat until just incorporated.
4. Add the egg to the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated.
5. Add matcha powder and continue mixing for a couple of minutes until the mixture is smooth.
6. Stir in white choc, leaving a little bit to sprinkle on top.
7. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until 2/3 full then sprinkle remaining white choc on top.
8. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted should come out clean. Leave to cool before frosting.
9. For the frosting, beat the icing sugar and butter together with an electric mixer. on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
10. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.
11. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny.
12. Spread evenly on top of cupcakes and let set.
13. For the matcha chocolate topping, melt 100 grams of white chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pot of water. When the chocolate is dissolved, stir in matcha powder. Spread on cupcakes immediately and let set.

Makes 12-15 cupcakes.

Our lovely friends at Planet Organic have a treat for you teapigs fans. They are offering 15% off their teapigs range over the entire month of July. Jo will be sampling a variety of our homemade iced tea recipes at all of the stores on the following dates:

11th July Planet Organic, Muswell Hill 11am-3pm
12th July Planet Organic, Torrington Place 11am-3pm
13th July Planet Organic, Westbourne Grove 11am-3pm
25th July Planet Organic, Islington 11am-3pm

Go and try some of teapigs lovely teas and grab yourself some teapigs bargains.