As Captain Jean-Luc Pickard Would Say

Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.  Since I am living in the 21st century instead of his, I have had to use a tea pot, water and tea leaves, instead of a replicator, although the tea was sent by Think Geek.  The dry tea has a heavy bergamot aroma, that I tend to associate with Russian blends.  There are some blue flower petals and what appears to be orange peel.  Bergamot is an oil made from the rind of  bergamot oranges, once grown in Asia, now, for the tea market, pretty much grown in Southern Italy.  I brewed the tea for 3.33 minutes with boiling water.

As it brewed the aroma was much, much lighter than I expected, almost lemony.  The liqueur was a fairly light amber.  I'm not sure about the taste.  There is definitely something more than the usual bergamot to it.  It remind's me of St. Isaac's Blend, which has orange, lemon and grapefruit in it.  There is a small hint of flowers.  I don't really think this is what I would call Earl Grey, but I like it and find it quite refreshing.  I think it would make an excellent ice tea.

 Lest I get too excited about the snow being gone, Ma Nature gave us 8  inches last night.  Today we had something like freezing rain after almost a full day of sun, glorious sun.  However, on the green side, there are a few leaves of a day lily poking up.

This is a narrow side street in Sorrento, Italy.  The little tree in a pot in the center is a lemon tree.  they are all over the streets, even growing up through restaurants.