More black tea

I really couldn't think of a title for this one, other than "more black tea".
Uh, oh. Is there a little boredom seeping into my trip through tea? I remember reading early on that black tea is the most popular tea in this region. I guess that was an accurate statement. I'm actually combining a couple of different styles in this post.

Iraq

I had originally chosen to make a dried lime tea for Iraq. (Click here for more info about Iraq) I could have bought some dried limes, cracked them open, removed the seeds, and boiled them. I think it is a tea that would require some sort of sugar in it. I really didn't feel like buying a bunch of dried limes online (I don't remember seeing them in the Middle Eastern grocery I visited). The thought of using my own dried limes did cross my mind. I have a tendency to buy a bag of limes (they are cheaper that way), and not get them all used up with cooking before they turn into little, brown golf balls. While I have a bag of limes slowly drying out in my fridge, I decided that I really didn't want to crack any open when they get to that stage. Ignorance is bliss. I could boil a fresh lime, but I've made broth with fresh limes before, and it really needs to be diluted if you are making something not sweet (like soup).

Plan B

Iraq is known for really strong black tea with sugar. I developed my proportions from reading the blog of a child of Iraqi parents. I ended up using 2 heaping tablespoons of Ceylon tea. It was the rest of the tea I had in the bag.

This particular tea has proven itself to be a bit weak in previous trials. I added a cup (250 ml) of hot water, and placed on a warm burner to steep for 15 minutes.

It always amazes me how much tea leaves expand after steeping. I think it helps to illustrate how constraining tea bags are. This is how the tea leaves look after steeping.

A cup is then filled 1/2 to 2/3 full of the tea concentrate, with hot water added to the top.

Wow, this stuff was strong. It has been compared to espresso shots. I didn't make it through the whole cup. While sugar is usually put in the cup first, I did try adding some sugar to it after trying it without. (serve with the sugar still at the bottom of the cup, let your guest stir their tea to dissolve it) It does take the edge off, but I didn't feel like being really wired (more likely jittery). I came, I saw, I drank, I'm a wimp. In my defense, I do have some problems with stimulants including caffeine. I'm usually okay with the amount in tea, but coffee has a bit much for me.

So we move on.

Libya

Tea with nuts

This variation is a bit more fun. Tea with nuts in the bottom of the cup. I really like snacking on nuts, so tea infused nuts sound pretty darn good. There were some other countries that listed tea with nuts as being popular. Since this was the only tea I found for Libya, I decided to use this one to represent them. (For more info on Libya, click here.)

Popular add ins were almonds. In researching Lebanon, I found pistachios, walnuts, and pine nuts were also popular add ins in addition to almonds. I happened to have some almonds on hand. First, I had to blanch them. I had never blanched nuts before, so I did a quick search for instructions. Turns out it's not hard. Boil water, toss nuts in and boil for one minute. Strain them out of the liquid and rinse under cold water. Then the skins peel right off.

Into the cup they go.

I used about 1/4 of the tea that I had already brewed, and 3/4 hot water to make this tea. I liked this strength much better. And the nuts at the bottom? Tasty. This shape of glass, however, did not work well for that. It tended to trap the nuts in the bottom causing a lot of work to extract them. Oh well. It was worth it.

As it turns out, it was rather difficult to get a good picture where you could see the nuts in the cup. I did eventually get a shot after drinking a bit off the top.