Yes this is sweet, but not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be. The sweetness is offset by the rooibos base and by the addition of calendula and chamomile. If you like maple, this would be something you’d probably like. I brewed it with boiling water for 5 minutes and I thought that was about right. If you don’t need a wake-up in the morning, I could easily see this as a pleasant breakfast experience. If you can’t get to our regional Maple Weekend, you can purchase the tea from http://www.bakersmaple.com/ You can also order lots of other maple products and pancake mixes.
It’s so odd, I love sweet things and love maple sugar that comes in those little leaf-shaped “candies”, but I don’t like sugar in either coffee or tea, although I do make an exception for espresso and put a half teaspoon in it, if there is no anisette or lemon peel. Maple sugar can only be eaten in very small quantities, it is just too sweet. We used to have it poured over clean snow - definitely yumm-o. Did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup? No wonder it is so expensive. The sugar bush people don’t expect this to be a good year, with no snow and such warm weather, although I have seen some lines out.
It is time to start my tomato seeds. First thing tomorrow I have to go get seed starting soil and some basil seeds, as well. This year I am going to try to cross my favorite tomatoes, whose seed I have saved for 30 years, with some really prolific cherry tomatoes and see if I can breed mine to produce more. I’ve already bred them for size and flavor and feel quite spiffy about it. I have some herb seeds I will plant for adding to tea or just having on their own.
Through the Tea Reaview Blog Tea Swap I received some teas from Croatia, as well as some thyme my swap partner drinks for tea. I hadn't thought about using thyme this way, so I am eager to try it - I'll let you know how it is.
