Global Tea Time

In exploring the types of teas offered in the US, I'm including a popular brand of herbal medicinals. A friend gave me these teas for Christmas. They commented that they didn't know how good they were, but figured I could give them a try. I know that some people with asthma swear by the breathe easy tea, but I decided to start easy with the echinacea tea. I have an easy time believing that echinacea flowers were used in herbal preparations in the past because the flowers grow here so abundantly in the summer. All of these teas are blends of several herbs, so I'm not sure of how local all of the ingredients would be to this region (okay, I highly doubt West Indian lemongrass is grown naturally anywhere around here). So I poured my hot water over the bag, and steeped covered for 10 min. The instructions say 10-15 minutes, and they are very specific that the cup should be covered. Here's the resulting brew. It wasn't nearly as dark as I remember ...

Today we head for the Bahamas to sample a tea often illustrated in children's stories. Especially stories about cats... I was a bit incredulous when I learned that some people actually drink catnip tea. The video I watched talked about a lot of different herbal cures, and catnip tea was the only one I recognized. They described the tea as being bitter, so I wasn't holding out much hope. When I checked the bulk spice section of the grocery store, sure enough, they had catnip labeled as an herbal supplement. I'm assuming that it is really old because it doesn't really smell like catnip. Unfortunately I had to buy quite a bit in order to get it to register on the scales when I was buying it. Here it is awaiting hot water. Sad old catnip in a wire strainer. You can tell that I'm really excited to try this. I let the tea steep for about 3 1/2 - 4 minutes and decided to try it. Yes, I really did make catnip tea in a mug with a cat on it. When I was l...

Today we travel to some warm islands. It seems only fitting given that it's the middle of winter, and we are all eager for the cold, drab landscape to melt into spring. Specifically, we are visiting 3 islands in the Caribbean. Dominican Republic  is on the second largest island (Hispaniola) of the Greater Antilles chain. It has a mild tropical climate thanks to elevation (it is a mountainous island), and northeast trade winds. There are forests in wetter areas, and low scrub in drier areas. Wildlife has been greatly changed due to the introduction of cattle and goats by Spanish colonists. The majority of the population lives in urban areas, and tends to be younger with more than half of the population under age 30. Jamaica  is the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean behind Cuba and Hispaniola. While this island has a long colonial history, and has been renamed by others, Jamaica is its original indigenous name. They became independent from the UK in 1962, but have remained...

Next up in teas of the United States, I explore bottled tea. Since we already looked at canned tea , I decided to take a look at bottled tea. I'm familiar with Lipton unsweetened iced tea in the glass bottle. It has been a staple of road trips. I like the feeling of the glass bottle, it retains the cold, and doesn't influence the flavor of the tea. Since I already know what to expect from that tea, I decided to try the really popular tea now. I will say that it was hard to find an unsweetened variety for this tea. It comes in many flavors, but the plain black tea is the only one that I've seen unsweetened. My mom also talks about how this is her favorite bottle tea now. I tried it room temperature, and cold. Drinking it cold damps down the "off" flavors I find in this tea. While this is a very popular brand, it's not the one I would prefer. I wonder if it would taste better if it was in a glass bottle.