Bulgaria

Today we travel to Bulgaria, a country on the eastern portion of the Balkan peninsula. The country is divided into several distinct geographic regions. The northern frontier is marked by the lower Danube river, and blends into the foothills of the Balkan mountains. This opens to a plain before going on to the transitional zone of more mountains in the south. The western part of the country is popular for its narrow, Black Sea region of beaches and resorts.

Among the facts listed in the linked article, apparently libraries and reading rooms are very popular. Another interesting tidbit is that Bulgaria is known for producing weight lifting champions. Information about tea culture in Bulgaria was a little harder to find. I found references to bubble tea (wasn't this supposed to be a thing unknown outside of Asia?). Otherwise, advice for ordering tea in Bulgaria centered around the fact that you have to be specific about what you want. Otherwise, you will probably get some sort of fruit tea.

Enter a new fruity tea that I have. The name doesn't say anything about fruit, but it does smell like how I remember Froot Loops smelling. It has been a long time since I've been around Froot Loops, so I could be wrong, but I still wondered if an animated toucan would come flying by following its nose.

This tea is apparently really photo shy since this is the best picture I could get of it steeping. It is a combination of lemon grass, peppermint, ginger, licorice, cardamom, and pepper. Thankfully it doesn't taste anything like licorice. I also don't notice the pepper in it.

The finished brew does look a bit like urine. It reminds me of taking gallon jugs of massage oil to different facilities when I drove between offices a lot. It always looked like I was carrying a gallon jug of pee. Oh well. The tea does taste good. I'm not sure what type of fruit teas are specifically served in Bulgaria, but I will be specific that I do not want bubble tea.