Okay, even I will admit it is Fall - the sun is low, and there is almost-frost on the grass in the morning. I love Fall, but I guess I am running ahead of myself as usual and anticipating the gray days, which I really hate. I should work at just living in and appreciating the moment - especially when so much of it is beautiful.
Towards that end, I am trying Boston Tea Company's Autumn Harvest. These kind folks have given me sooo many samples. This is really what is considered a tisane or herbal infusion, as the base is rooibos -"red bush" in Afrikaans, one of the many languages of South Africa, the country of origin. The closest pronunciation would be "roy-boo-s". Rooibos has been used for hundreds of years by native peoples but has only been really noticed in this country in the last 10 years. It makes a very good base for flavors, as it doesn't seem to compete with them. In this case, the flavor comes from lemongrass, dried apples cinnamon and rose hips, all of which not only taste good, but are good for you.
I used about double what was called for - 3 teaspoons per cup, as I know I like things on the strong side, and I brewed it at the upper limit - 8 minutes, using almost boiling water. This orange tea (yup, a Fall color, even) smelled wonderfully of cinnamon, with a slight zing, probably from the rose hips. As it brewed it smelled more like sweet baked cinnamon with apples. And that is just what it tasted like! Very soothing and definitely in the "comfort food" range. It created a warming and cosy atmosphere, something good to have when you are "tea-ed out" but want a warm drink, as there is no caffeine in it. I did not like it with cream and I don't think it would need sweetener, unless you really like sweet things, as the apple and cinnamon seem to do a good enough job in that department.
No comments:
Post a Comment