Dried Hawthorn Fruit (Shanzha) Slices Herbal Tea

Using this tea as “a tea that reminds you of yourself.” It’s tart in that puckery sort of way which turns a lot of people off, and it is incredibly unique (at least in small town Idaho, where exotic fruits such as Chinese hawthorn are just not a thing). I feel pretty awkward around others and feel like I come off abrasive even if I don’t mean to, and that I just don’t really “fit in” in the area I live. I’m an acquired taste, I guess…?

I got a sample of this from Teavivre, and it didn’t look like very much dried fruit was in the packet, so I cold brewed the whole sample in 500ml of water instead of a litre like I usually prepare cold brew. I like it! But I don’t think I could recommend it to most, as I find this a strong citrusy flavor with a tart, puckery flavor. It tastes sort of like really watery lemon juice that transitions into a sort of tangerine/orange peel flavor that lingers on the tongue. Maybe a hint of pine in there, as well?

If you are the sort of person that finds hibiscus too tart, then this tea will be too tart. I’d say that fans of pleasantly sour things should give it a try. I wouldn’t mind having more of this!

So I’m a fruit hog. I eat all kinds of fruit. Tamarind, guava, pomelo, whatever I can get my hands on. I just bought and finished 5 lbs of loquats last month. Those were hard to find!! When living in California, they were everywhere, can pick them off a tree. I had to wait 8 months before they were ready to be picked and shipped to where I’m at now. Anyway, summer is a great time for fruit hogs lol.

So I bought lots of different type of dried fruit samples from TeaVivre to make natural fruit tea. Hawthorn fruit is one of the fruits I’ve never had a chance to eat so I had no clue what it tastes like. Well, I loved it. It was right up my alley. I put 7.5 g of it (sample size) with boiling water. Steep time was 3 minutes or so. It is tart, like tart apple but not like granny smith tart (my favorite apple) but like a cross between a red apple, cranberry, berry tartness. I’m sure many would require some sweetener. I saw some recipes with hawthorn berries and most had some sweetener. I even ate the fruit slices after I finished the tea. hehe I bought 17 oz of it after I tried the sample awhile ago. That’s how much I loved it.

So I looked it up and the health benefits, specifically cardiovascular support studies were incredible. Definitely a super food. I admit that if I didn’t like the taste, I wouldn’t eat it no matter how good it is for me lol. I recommend it if you like tart fruit or you can add agave or honey too. hehe

Cold Brew!

Everytime I make this tisane I forget exactly how intensely sour it’s going to brew up. Even this time, I made it because I wanted sour and then when it came time to strain the cold brew I was taken aback by how much it just tasted like malic acid or like I’d gotten some kind of fruity Slush Puppy type of drink with like five or six pumps of “sour shocker” added into it…