gmathis Send Message

Reasons I haven’t been posting (I know you’ve been losing sleep over that):

Children’s VBS: a week of wrangling fourth graders that results in the most satisfying but bone-numbing fatigue one can experience. But, stealing from Garrison Keillor: nothing you do for children is ever wasted. It wasn’t.

Recovery week following children’s VBS: trying to get five days’ work caught up in four at the day job, and SCHOOL STARTS IN ONE MONTH, so panic season is upon us.

It’s just doggone hot. Everything has to have ice in it, which monkeys with any reasoned tasting or reviews.

But…this old faithful is a good one in weather like this. Made a large tumbler with one bag in the morning yesterday, kept the bag in for at least an hour; by that time, it accepted ice nicely and tasted like mild cherry pie rather than chemically-induced cherry syrup.

Happy 4th! We’ve been enjoying the freedom to fritter and putter and do things all out of order…a rare and lovely opportunity.

And since the theme of the day has been “unconventional,” I decided to see what happened if you cold steep this nifty blend from TeaMaze. After a hot cup this morning (there were about three minutes after I got up before it got hot and muggy), I steeped the stuffin’ out of the leftover leaves in a pint jar.

Chilled it all day, and I’m now enjoying a happy little tumbler that reminds me of chocolate root beer. Goes great with burgers and brownies.

You know you’re at my house a week before kids’ VBS when:
a) There’s a laundry basket in the middle of the living room filled with beach balls, plastic iguanas, dollar-shop hula skirts and a six-foot stuffed alligator.
b) You hear me muttering things under my breath like, “I can’t find my good duck lips!” or “I have GOT to glue that frog back together.”
c) I engage my husband in a complicated engineering conversation as to whether one can stick miniature marshmallows onto a hippo’s mouth with adhesive putty.
d) I lose the same 18 by 24 inch leader pack (with things that are absolutely essential to my teaching plans) four times within 15 minutes in three different rooms.

In mild panic, I have collapsed in my glider with a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar in one hand and a cold pint jar of Pine Forest in the other.

This is one of the most unusual herbal blends I’ve ever tried: blackberry, pine nuts, and some other fruity thing going on in the background (the label doesn’t tell you much). The pine is more prominent chilled than hot, but there’s still enough fruit to keep it from tasting like floor cleaner. I’m thinking it might be tasty with a little extra fruit juice added—raspberry, maybe?

Summer has landed like a hot, wet sack of mosquitoes; therefore, this one went straight to ice this morning. It isn’t a typically astringent Darjeeling (some of them make me feel like I’ve been licking Scotch tape), so it’s a good thirst quencher. Grapey but not champagne-y.

And, to borrow a leaf from Martin’s notebook, here’s today’s musical pairing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1K5qDUNiIw
(My dad would be so pleased :)

This one grabbed my hubby with its aroma alone, and a full tin made its way home with us. First steep is thick and creamy, chocolatey and bourbon. Second steep was thinner but still very nicely flavorful (I controlled myself and used a smaller cup this time.)

My husband used to love Snapple cranberry tea (they have a cranberry/raspberry juice now, but it’s not the same).

At any rate, with summer weather finally coming at us, he is hoping to blend a taste-alike from scratch. This is what he brought home yesterday for its base, and I snagged a couple spoonfuls for my a.m. sip.

It’s a good, smooth, strong blend, with no particular in-your-face notes. Balanced and even. I steeped it strong with the intention of icing some down when I got to work, but that’s not gonna happen…almost gone!

My husband used to love Snapple cranberry tea (they have a cranberry/raspberry juice now, but it’s not the same).

At any rate, with summer weather finally coming at us, he is hoping to blend a taste-alike from scratch. This is what he brought home yesterday for its base, and I snagged a couple spoonfuls for my a.m. sip.

It’s a good, smooth, strong blend, with no particular in-your-face notes. Balanced and even. I steeped it strong with the intention of icing some down when I got to work, but that’s not gonna happen…almost gone!

In its heyday, I wrote odes and sonnets to this foolproof, goofproof, steepworthy, forgiving, bread-crusty brew. Just steeped my last full mug this morning, and by last, I’m afraid I really mean last, as it appears that Nature’s Tea Leaf is no more. Moral: things end. Make every sip matter.

Isn’t “tippy” just a happy word? It is, when applied to this particular Vietnamese orange pekoe tea—another discovery at the little TeaMaze shop last weekend.

My favorite black teas are those that prompt taste memories of dark, yeasty, wheaty bread. This one reminds me more of light biscuits or sweet cornbread with honey.

One teaspoon to 8 ounces of water yielded one very rich cup and one medium-bodied cup. Then I got stupid and tried a third steep in a 12-ounce tumbler (I’m terrible about underleafing), which resulted in what my son calls “water with aftertaste.” Lesson learned. Again.