Advent tea 9: Blackcurrant beauty

Goodness gracious me.

Didn’t I write last time about Dutch-Indonesian food? I did! But is that any reason, I ask of you, for my next tea to not only smell of ayam bali but to actually taste of it too? No reason whatsoever! And yet – it did.

Let me make myself clear. Just because there are certain foodstuffs that I enjoy, does not mean that I want their flavours turned into tea! For example, I quite like wild salmon with cream cheese and capers. Do I want to make a tea out of those? Most certainly not! So why in the world would I want this sweet meat dish in my mug or cup? Unlike turmeric, it did not belong there.

This concoction contained rosehip, hibiscus flower, licorice root, sweet fennel seed, orange peel, beetroot, blackcurrent fruit (4%), natural blackcurrant flavour (4%) and orange essential oil flavour. And I never want to drink it again. In fact, it is the first – and I so hope last! – of these teas that I chucked out after a few sips.

I have been listening to Stephen Fry’s podcast about the deadly sins and I wish I had his way with words. For one thing I would be absolutely sure whether to use the word ‘vile’ or ‘foul’ for this infusion. Huh, let me know if you know.

PS. This mug I got as a gift from a friend who knows me well.