A Favorite Tea?

[ninnymary]

My favorite tea is jasmine pearls or when I can't afford them, then regular jasmine tea. I drink this every morning and sometimes in the afternoon if I need something to warm me up. I do occaisionally drink coffee but green tea is better for you with all its antiocidents (sp).

My favorite scent for lotions and soaps is lemon verbena. I've never tasted it in tea. Is the plant easy to grow? I'm in California so our weather is fairly good. I do live by the bay which has some fog in the mornings and evenings.

I remember my grandmother growing lemon grass and making tea from it. It was wonderful and smelled heavenly!

Mary

 

[digitS']

Mary, if I remember right (probably don't ) Alice Water's restaurant in Berkeley has lemon verbena growing in front. See, this is how myths get started. I haven't been in Berkeley since Alice was a waitress . . .

I can tell from your post that you like just a little stronger flavors than I do . DW just made a cup of tea for me and asked how I wanted it. I said, "Surprise me!" Ooops! She only used the jasmine pearls. I had to remake the pot with 50% green tea . . . and it wasn't really enuf ! I must be in a fragrant cloud of jasmine right now.

And, lemon grass . . . too strong in most anything for me. I'll take a leaf in a pot of soup .

Steve

Here's a newspaper article which includes a recipe for lemon verbena tea and some wonderful sounding baked goods using herbs for favoring.

 

[ninnymary]

Steve,

I don't even remember when Alice Waters was a waitress! How long ago was that!

I think your wife must have put too many jasmine pearls in your tea. You only need about 12-15 per cup and let it steep for about 2-3 minutes.

I don't remember my grandmother's lemon grass tea being strong. Perhaps she just used a tiny bit?

I will check for the lemon grass in front of ChePanise (sp) next time I'm in Berkeley. I probably will have to get down to go touch and smell it since I'm not sure I will be able to recognize it.

Mary

 

[herbfan1]

Recently I discovered lemon basil. It is amazing in that the leaves smell just like lemons. I have added these plants to my herb garden. I was wondering if this type basil could be used in making beverages such as basil tea or lemonade. Any suggestions?

 

[digitS']

Sonny, I grow a few types of basil each year and have grown lemon basil. I thought it was wonderful on baked fish !

For a tea, basil has disappointed but I haven't tried lemon basil. Maybe basil would be more to my taste, dried.



Steve

 

[Whitewater]

I love the scent of coffee but it's way too bitter for me . . . same with beer . . . there must be something about the bitterness for me!

That said, I love me some jasmine (phoenix pearls are lovely, when I can afford them!) in my green tea. Green tea with jasmine is probably in my top 5.

Otherwise I enjoy a nice strong cup of Irish Breakfast with plenty of milk and Splenda, and hibiscus with rose hips as a cold drink. Another warm favorite is white tea, either on its own (great for developing a sensitive palate!) or with peach or strawberry notes. Teavana has a lovely blend. Expensive as all heck, but worth it!

I can't grow actual tea here in zone 4a, at least, I'm pretty sure I can't, but this spring I'm planning on putting some chamomile in the herb garden, and with luck by the time fall is through I'll have raspberry leaves and berries . . . I'd like to try a raspberry/chamomile blend for tea. I'm planning on growing some mint too, maybe I can make a nice mint/raspberry blend, maybe in some lemonade? Who knows?


Whitewater

 

[digitS']

Raspberry leaves are pretty good! They taste like . . . well . . . raspberries !

Raspberry leaves are kind of like grape leaves - useful and, often, readily available.

I wonder if one can use them for cooking .

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

NEWEST favorite tea: peach
Lipton Family Size peach tea bags were on clearance--bouth 4 boxes--and I just made a gallon this morning with one peach and 2 orange pekoe family sized bags. (We sweeten with Sweet-n-Low, at least for now.) YUMMM!!!! :rose