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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.

Either you love Branson or you don’t…a two-mile carnival of touristy, kitschy shows and shops plunked down in the middle of the Ozark Mountains. Usually we go for the mountains and nostalgia—my husband and I met there. This time around, we put on our “tacky” and hit the strip. But in one of the little glitzy shopping centers is a gem of a tea shop called TeaMaze: quality loose leaf tea, both unflavored and creatively flavored, and a extremely knowledgeable owner who is a delight to tea chat with. (teamazeshop.com)

So I went a little overboard…and with the help of my beloved enabler, came home with more than intended, including this unusual and delightful herbal blend. It leads with deliciously sweet blackberry flavor with pine—yes, you heard me correctly—as a crazy good counterpoint. It does not taste like disinfectant. It tastes like pine and berries, or more poetically, like summer in the mountains.

Overboard, incidentally, was the theme of our little date-cation. We did the “Titanic” museum and attraction; the exterior is an approximate half-sized model of the real thing. As you check in, you’re provided with a boarding pass with the persona of a real passenger; at the end of the tour, you discover how your namesake fared. I am pleased to announce that both my hubby (a widowed farmer traveling in second class) and I (ladies’ maid to one of the socialites aboard) survived.

I’m actually drinking a Basilur tea entitled New Year’s Gift, but as I can’t find a listing for it here or on the Basilur website, I’m assuming it was a temporary offering. A good one however—a good black tea base with sweet cherry (syrupy without being chemically artificial) and almond that is not bitter. Especially satisfying when taken in a quiet house after a day full of people.

(This concludes the tea comments. It’s OK if you move on from here.)

Day Full of People began with the memorial service for my sister. The family burying ground is three miles out on a gravel road that branches off a two-lane county highway in the little hills of Cedar County, Missouri. Floods have washed out some of the road bed, so you have to drive carefully, but the country stillness is breathtaking. We encountered a bald eagle, a wild turkey that flew over our vehicle, and a second wild turkey (so big it looked like an ostrich!) that flew in and landed on the far side of the cemetery immediately following the closing prayer, a little like a very rural Blue Angels salute. Shari would’ve loved it.

People Day Part 2 was a family reunion in the metropolis of Lockwood with cousins I haven’t seen since I was knee-high to that wild turkey. Plates laden with farm cooking—cornmeal-fried fish, homemade noodles, that cheesy hash brown casserole with sour cream and cornflakes on top that I can’t get my boys to eat…and a great deal of catching up and reminiscing.

A good day, but much to process. Glad I have a good cuppa and a few moments to do that now.

Well, either our garage sale was a bust (we MAY have cleared $15 after buying the price stickers) or a reasonable success (items not sold have either been delivered to Goodwill or are en route to the mission house at church)—but either way, I am beat.

Furthermore, this is the first day we’ve had actually summery weather (91 on my thermometer) with humidity in the mosquito-and-malaria range. (Don’t laugh, Rosehips—I know that’s not even close to your summer temps :)

Therefore, I don’t care what it is, it just needs to be COLD. However, this is a lovely afternoon treat from the fridge. Basilur threw in vanilla with this tangerine blend, so when it’s chilled, it tastes like a tangerine creamsicle. Delicious!