So, it’s autumn. In the interest of attempting to embrace my inner (and I suppose outer) white girl, I tried a pumpkin spice latte from a certain major coffee shop chain in London on the weekend when I was DESPERATE for a warm drink before catching the coach home to Oxford.
Oh my sweet lord. Why. WHY WOULD I BE SO FOOLISH AS TO PUT THIS HORROR IN MY MOUTH. It was thick and sugary and tasted of no coffee whatsoever but just nutmeg and nutmeg and nutmeg and OH GOD WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THIS NO NO NO. Maybe my palette is just not the right kind of middle-class, but the only spice I want going anywhere near my coffee is cardamom, as is justly popular across the Mediterranean and Middle East, and which I learned from a Saudi graduate student I worked with on proofreading her academic writing in English. So thank you for that, Roaa! That was some of the most enjoyable work I’ve done in this country.
Sometimes you need a tea you know will be good to get the memory of something awful away from your taste buds, and this tea really fit the bill. I was intrigued remembering that it was some kind of tropical fruity oolong, but forgetting exactly which fruits were involved. Somehow, what I got was a blend that was at turns dominated by instances of pineapple, leafy and autumnal oolong, and what it turns out was bergamot. Would I have ever thought of putting these flavours together? Goodness no! Have they completely surprised me in the best possible way? Heck yes!
This. THIS is what autumn tastes like to me. I rather love it. Thanks for sharing, Ysaurella!
