It’s magenta!!! Deep, bright magenta!! In fact, it’s the exact shade I wanted my El Camino to be when I was 5. Yes, when I was 5, I wanted a magenta El Camino when I turned 16. I fully admit that I had (have) no taste. And, yes, this was one of the things that stuck in my father’s mind when 16 rolled around. Thankfully, he wasn’t that cruel.
Thanks to Meghann M for sending me a few bags of this to try! I brewed it like I do all my hibiscus teas: 10 minutes in boiling water (have I mentioned I like tart?). Loved the smell of the dry bags, and the individually wrapped bags themselves.
It’s not tart. It’s sweet, and thick, almost syrupy. I can taste the rosehips, the orange, the faintest hint of apple (almost a Pink Lady taste), and, of course, the hibiscus. This could rival some of the Republic of Tea’s hibiscus teas…that’s saying something.
What I’d really like to do with this is brew up a big pitcher, sugar the snot out of it, and then set it up in one of those “turn your juice into wine” home brewing kits. Oh, yeah, must get more of this tea!!
How do you like that magazine? After the demise of Gourmet I’m on the lookout for new magazines – Bon Appetit is not doing it for me!
Demise of Gourmet? I’ve been out of the loop too long – sad news.
Yes – around Thanksgiving of 2009 they stopped publication, and all current subscribers were given Bon Appetit or a refund. I decided to take a chance with Bon Appetit but I don’t like it. BA takes all the shortcuts (take a rotisserie chicken…take refrigerated pie dough) and no amazing articles where you feel you learn about an area’s way of life through their food, and oh oh oh no Ruth Reichl as editor! The worst part! I LOVE her writing and thank the heavens she has a blog. http://ruthreichl.com/
Jacqueline ~~ Fine Cooking is a cook-from-scratch magazine. I don’t cook out of it as much as I’d like to, but I enjoy reading it. Last month’s had noodle dishes from all kinds of Asian noodles and homemade brioche. Stopping by B&N and paging through one should give you an idea if you like it. One other thing I really like about FC is they will give you the basic recipe for something, then give you a ton of different add-ons and amounts so you can safely create your individualized own version. Some examples are frittatas, mac-n-cheese, and last month’s cheesecakes. They also put out several more sturdy recipe collection magazines a year, which I usually buy if I have any interest in the topic. The last three I got were Soups and Stews 2010, Easy Italian, and Fast and Fresh 2010. I’m looking forward to getting Chicken next month, which has a whole roasted chicken in it. I do cook from these quite a bit. I’d say give it a try.