Not Ginger-Peachy

It is a good thing we celebrated the sun yesterday, because it is gone for a few days, with snow to replace it. However, in this monastery, on that day, the sun was with us.

Ginger, peaches, tea, how can you go wrong? Sadly, I will tell you. True to my campaign to broaden my horizons I bought some Ginger Peach Tea from The Tea Smith. As soon as I opened it I knew I was in trouble. There was that familiar “chemical” smell I hate underlying the peach and ginger. You might not notice it, I did. The leaves were all quite small, a mix of brown and black, with pieces of what I think was peach in them. I brewed it for 4 minutes at 212. It brews up to an attractive darkish red brown. The smell has shifted to a gentle ginger with peach overtones. However, there's only the merest hint of either ginger or peach in the plain tea and the tea itself is nothing great. However, with the addition of some sugar, the peach comes out quite a bit and there is a small bite of ginger, if not much taste. For one who really dislikes sugar in their tea, that was too much for what I got out of the cup. If you like your tea sweet, you might like this one, as it did taste fine with the sugar, just not for me.

On a brighter note, I just got the monthly newsletter from the tea lady over at http://www.bellaonline.com/. It was mostly an article about “the Original T-bag Designs”. This is a South African company that was started in about 2000 to help poverty stricken South African women to get out of their dire straights. They use used teabags which they dry, press and paint to make beautiful articles to sell. They are now a 125 person collective which has enabled some women to buy their own homes. You can go to http://www.originaltbagdesigns.com/ to order some of their merchandise or to one of the many retail stores listed to see them first hand. Their goods are beautifully done, one of a kind and make wonderful gifts or something unique for yourself. There is also an address in New Jersey where you can send your used teabags, minus the tea, of course.

Keep an eye open for – My Favorite Cup – a ½ hour TV show about coffee and tea, due to begin airing March 1 on Colours TV [channels 9407 and 9396 on Dish networks] and Capitol Broadcasting Company [primarily in the South] The first broadcast is all about tea. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what it will be like, but since I am neither Southern nor have Dish TV, I may have to wait a while. If any of you see it, please share with me!