Frolicking in the Far East

On my last swing through the aisles of the Asian market, I picked up what I thought was Rose black tea. Nope, it is Roselle Black Tea, distributed by Fujian Blue Lake Foods, from China. Okay, so what is Roselle? Wikipedia to the rescue. It is a kind of Hibiscus. It comes in a smallish glass apothecary jar, with a really good seal.

The tea is quite pretty, with crinkled black and brown leaves and red flower petals. It smells sweet, like heavy brown sugar. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water. While it was brewing it smelled distinctly like rhubarb, which I have been having a lot of, lately. It is a fairly light colored brew - medium honey at best. It is rather odd tasting, sharp, dark, medicinal, but tasty. I could really get used to it. The deeper I go in the cup, the more the hibiscus comes to the fore, but very politely, not as sharp as usual. Perhaps the black tea modifies it more than herbals. The medicinal aspect disappears, as well as any heaviness. Altogether pleasant.

I am having this with homemade low carb, sugar free, chocolate chip pecan scones. Oh my, this recipe is a keeper. If there are other low carbers out there who would like the recipe, go to www.tovaindustries.com/carbalose and go to the recipe section. I also made some really good blueberry pecan scones and there are frozen raspberries just begging for use in the freezer.

I bought myself a matcha whisk and bowl, as I do love matcha and I wanted to treat it right. Also, my efforts to whip it into a froth were not at all a success. When it arrives, I'll fill you in as I have matcha waiting from the Bamboo Tea House.

I see Dean and DeLuca, that purveyor of exceedingly expensive food stuffs, which I admit to giving as gifts, now carries not only its own brand of elegantly packaged teas, but a good selection of Mariage Freres, who make some absolutely wonderful stuff. Come Chritmastime I shall have to forward a small selection to Himself as a hint.

A grackle and a blue jay are taking turns at the feeders. They are both bully boys, so I don't feel sorry for them picking on or scolding each other. The rose-breasted grosbeak was here this morning, looking a bit worn. Kiddies keeping you up nights, hmmm? A male Hairy woodpecker was at the suet last night, filling his beak with as much as he could carry several times. I suspect he is doing papa duty as well.