Tea Among the Lilies

Another hot day in the old town!  Seems to be everybody's story.  While I am not usually a flavored tea fan, I reviewed one a while ago I thought was excellent - Nirvana from the American Tea Room.  I have carefully saved it for the summer, thinking it would make an excellent ice tea for me, as I prefer green or Oolong iced instead of blacks.  This is billed as "A heavenly blend of Japanese Sencha with rose petals, berries, figs and kiwi"  Supposedly  "The perfect tea for inner reflection"  I don't know about that, I am not a particularly reflective person.

However, this is  scrumptious iced.  I put about 9 teaspoons in my sort of 2 quart pitcher and poured over cold water, sealed it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.  4 hours later, there is a lovely cool, pale green liquid begging to be drunk.  Who am I to quibble?  Unlike the hot tea, it is impossible to single out and one flavor.  It is perhaps closest to a fruity bubblegum, with the barest hint of perfume.  A touch of lemon juice raises it to sublime.  I may even buy more.  Maybe I'll even begin some reflection.

At the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, the Best New Product is based on the cold brew tea method. It comes fro Swirl Tea and it is a small packet of tea in a paper container with thousands of holes.  Insert into ice cold water bottle, shake for a minute and there you have it.  There are 4 flavors - Original, Mango, Mint and Peach.  I haven't tried it yet, but if I see some, I'll get it and let you know.  There are several other companies coming out with similar products, most of which are fairly well-reviewed by others.

My daylilies are so absolutely beautiful.  Most of them are in the pink/peach/apricot/nectarine shades, but near the front door they have shaded into reds and yellows, crowned with 3 huge "spider" form dayliies in lovely yellow, one streaked with red, another fragrant and the third just a beautiful huge soft yellow.  Coupled with the allysum at their feet, going out the door is a heady experience.  Tonight I am planting some miniature German Bearded Iris I just got in the mail.  I am completely won over by these little gems, which follow on the heels of the other miniature iris in bloom sequence.  I also got a stupendous red Japanese iris called Shogun.  Lots of big adjectives today.