Tea and biscuits

December 15, 2020December 5, 2020

15 December F&M Liquorice, Mint & Lemon Verbena Infusion

Naturally sweet and zesty with lingering liquorice notes after each sip, this delightful infusion is a perfect caffeine-free pick-me-up at any time of the day.

https://www.fortnumandmason.com/liquorice-mint-lemon-verbena-infusion-tin-37-5g

Liquorice (35%), Peppermint (20%), Spearmint (13%), Lemon Verbena (12%), Fennel Seed, Aniseed. CONTAINS: Liquorice – people suffering from hypertension should avoid excessive consumption.

Steeping note: liquorice is a root. It is hard. To steep it you must use boiling water and allow it to step for a while. Mint and lemon verbena are herbs which are delicate and require steeping in water at a lower temperature to insure the flavour is not bitter. When blending roots and leaves it is recommended to use water and time better suited to the hard, root ingredients.

A man passed away in October from excessive licorice consumption. If that is what the coroner says is my cause of death, know that it was suicide. I’d be a wrinkled old lady with a terminal illness and say “screw it, I’m going out happy” and eat all the freaking black licorice I can get my hands on.

I will sometimes boil licorice root in water and honey to make a syrup. I will take it medicinally (one spoonful once a day) if I have a cough.

This smells like liquorice in the bag. After steeping it smells of mint and lemon verbena. The liquorice scent is hardly there.

But in the mouth it tastes like liquorice with a very slight lemon/mint thing hanging out in the back. Blessedly the spearmint is buried.

Lemon verbena is a perennial shrub with a strong lemon scent. I’ve grown it in pots. Like lemongrass, it adds a lemon flavor to tisane blends, and is lovely and light all on it’s own. It is good for gas and settling the stomach. Unlike lemon balm, lemon verbena is safe for people with thyroid issues. So don’t be afraid to substitute lemon verbena in your home blends!

My maternal grandfather loved black jelly beans. He’d take them out of our Easter baskets. He had a weird palette (butter and raw onion on white bread sandwiches anyone?) so one would not think I’d trust that this man was on to something delicious by ‘saving’ us from the black jelly beans. He was also Italian. Anisette cookies were a huge part of holiday platters, especially at Christmas. So this tea solidly reminds me of happy holidays with my grandparents.

This cottage witch is at it again! Licquorice bark and stick, peppermint, lemon verbena all from my herb cabinet.

I’m giving this beauty 5 out of 5 happy memories.

While I am not a fan of black licorice, this was actually enjoyable. It reminded me by name association of how much my dad loved the candy Good and Plenty which had black licorice in it. My sister also loves it.

This tea is complex to me in ways none of the other teas have been. The lemon picks up and carried the fennel seed. The Aniseed is literally the star of this tea. I can taste it on the tip of my tongue and it reminds me of my mom letting me sprinkle some into a boiling pot of orange peels and cinnamon sticks on the stove. She always had it on during the month of December to make the house smell like “Christmas.” I might’ve sucked on one to see how it tasted. I probably totally did that.

Have you ever taken a spoonful of anise seed at the door of an Indian restaurant after you’ve eaten? Highly recommend.

I am surprised by how much I liked this tea.

5 happies out of 5.

December 14, 2020December 5, 2020

Adagio Day 14 Honeybush Banana Nut

One sip of our Honeybush Banana Nut tea and you’ll feel as though you’re standing in the middle of your local bakery, about to take a bite out of a freshly baked muffin! This smooth brew deliciously combines your love of baked goods with our full-bodied honeybush tea. So not only is it sugar-free, it is caffeine-free as well! Making it the perfect indulgence for both morning and night.

Herbal Tea | No caffeine | Steep at 212° for 5 minutes.

Ingredients & Lore: Blended With Honeybush Tea, Apple Pieces, Cinnamon, Cocoa Nibs, Natural Banana Flavor, Natural Chestnut Flavor & Marigold Flowers

The ubiquitous banana took a long time to become a staple fruit snack in the U.S. (the 1870s) and even longer to be featured in a tea cake (the 1930s). However, plain or baked into desserts, the combination of creamy chestnuts and sweet bananas is just what a modern beverage deserves. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, cocoa nibs, and apple pieces, and you’ll have to go round the world to find anything silkier in taste or more satisfying. Honeybush makes it healthful with its plethora of flavones and other natural elements that fight disease (antioxidants) and improve immunity.

What is a flavone, you ask? Well, if you didn’t ask you should have.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/flavones

It’s crazy sciencey. Just go with it.

I’m allergic to overripe fruit. I will only eat bananas before they get properly ripe. Which means I have about 2-4 days between green and blow up my throat and grab the allergy meds. The original Chiquita Banana song explains when you should eat the banana. Sorry, Chiquita, but my throat will swell shut if I do.

I’m Chiquita banana and I’ve come to say
Bananas have to ripen in a certain way
When they are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue Bananas
Taste the best and are best for you You can put them in a salad
You can put them in a pie-aye
Any way you want to eat them
It’s impossible to beat them
But, bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator
So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator

https://fee.org/articles/the-awesome-social-value-of-the-chiquita-banana-song/

This smells crazy sweet. The secondary scent is banana. Followed by maple. There is no maple in this. Interesting.

It tastes like banana nut bread – so, Well Done, Adagio. It tastes sweet. If I put sugar or honey into my tea it would be insanely sweet to me.

The sniff before sip is odd. It smells like brown paper. Blame for this lies with the honeybush.

Overall it’s not a terrible cup. I give it 3 out of 5.

Should it be in the advent calendar? Yeah. banana bread has no season. But you know what I’d really love? A cranberry bread with lemon drizzle. OMG.

I can’t believe I didn’t pitch this. I actually drank it all.

December 14, 2020December 5, 2020

14 December F&M Royal Blend

In this classic Royal Blend notes of Flowery Pekoe from Ceylon uplift the maltier Assam to create a very traditional cup of tea. First blended for King Edward in 1902, Fortnum’s Royal Blend has been popular ever since for its smooth, honey-like flavour.

https://www.fortnumandmason.com/royal-blend-tea-bags-decorative-caddy-2120406

Princess Bear would like a cup of Royal Tea, please

I was pretty excited by the write up on the box for this one. Again I have issues with F&M’s ingredient list. “Tea”. Yeah. I know why we’re here. Thankfully the write up tells us we have Flowery Pekoe from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Assam (northeast India).

It smells like black tea. Not fussy. It is bitter and has a dry mouth feel (ah… Ceylon… I love you). I do not detect any honey-like flavour at all.

Two days in a row we have a nice solid black tea. Nothing exciting. But it gets 5 out of 5 episodes of The Crown.

What do you think, Hipster Wife?

I actually thought I had already had this tea when I first tasted it. I thought it was a repeat of the Earl Grey.

It is a decent cup of plain tea.

I don’t get anything Christmas off of it unless all you get for Christmas is socks.

Sometimes it’s good to get socks

It’s dependable but boring. Milk helps.

Just close your eyes and think of England.

Nearly every day since the 2016 election. trust me.

3 out of 5 white socks from Santa.

December 13, 2020December 5, 2020

Adagio Day 13 White Chai

White tea, chai spices with lemongrass, coconut, fruit pieces and peppercorn combine for a light-bodied zesty cup. Light yellow with complex notes of lemongrass, fruit and spice that dance on the palate. A fiery kick of the peppercorn lingers in the soft sweetness of the fruit.

White Tea | Low caffeine | Steep at 195° for 3 minutes.

Ingredients & Lore: Blended With Ginger, Lemon Grass, Cinnamon, Pineapple Pieces, White Tea, Coconut, Cloves, Cardamom, Natural Spice Flavor, Apple Pieces, Red Peppercorn & Natural Cinnamon Flavor

Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album and one of the most famous rock albums of all time. Its equally famous album cover features a triangular prism with white light passing through on one side and a rainbow on the other. This is because white light is actually made from all of the other colors. When it passes through certain prisms, it then disperses into its component parts. Our White Chai tea, while not as famous, uses a similar principle. Put it in your cup and you’ll find a whole new world of flavors to discover.

*squints at the lore* Do we have to play the album while watching Wizard of Oz on mute or something with this tea?

Out of the bag the spices are strong. Reminds me of mulled cider. I’m getting mostly clove and cinnamon. Steeped it smells very cinnamony. Hey, check that out. Spell check let cinnamony happen. Awesome.

Taste is light. The ginger and cinnamon are prominent. Clove sits on the front of the tongue. Lemongrass comes through in the aftertaste at the back of the tongue.

This cup is light and enjoyable. I’m giving it 5 out of 5 zesty coconuts.

Does it belong in this calendar… yes. Again Adagio gives us the spices of the season

Random… I have several of the ingredients in my herb cabinet so I laid them out to compare. My dried ginger is large because I cut and dry my own from the grocery.

Ingredients from my cabinet on the saucer: dried ginger, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, red peppercorns, lemon grass. Adagio’s tea in the pyrex dish.

December 13, 2020December 5, 2020

13 December F&M Breakfast Blend

Robust and malty, this is a blend of Assam tea of different leaf grades grown in the prized Brahmaputra Valley in Northeast India. The broken leaves make a strong brew with full-bodied flavour. It’s a great morning pick-me-up with a dash of milk.

Ingredients: Tea

Allow me to modify your ingredients, Fortnum & Mason. It’s Assam Tea Leaves. Not Tea. You people are bringing out the Herminone in me.

https://urbanbohemian.com/2015/07/28/photo-win-car-dium-leviosa/

This smells and tastes bolder than the Assam Tippy Golden that we’ve already had. It has a gorgeous, full flavour. I swear I can taste this up into my temples and down into my shoulders. This is really a lovely cuppa.

Honestly, I’ve nothing to criticize or critique. If you like black tea without nonsense, obtain some of this.

It’s not seasonal. But I don’t think F&M was aiming to make a seasonally appropriate advent calendar. I feel this is more a tour through their catalogue. Which is lovely because I’ve been making notes on which ones I’m buying myself on Boxing Day.

Thank you Tea Gods (VW: Is there a god for tea?) for hearing my anguish and delivering this tea upon me.

There might be. I’m not familiar with all the religions and deities of Asia. So the interwebs tell us Inari Okami is the kami of foxes, fertility, rice, tea, sake and agriculture. Tieguanyin (Tea Guan Yin?) is named after the Chinese Goddess of Mercy – Guanyin. Weirdly nothing comes up for Hindu gods associated with tea.

I love breakfast teas and if you’ve read our previous blog postings you know that I could literally spend hours talking about how water and location really changes the tea taste and how it is to be enjoyed.

Seriously. She has and will.

I enjoyed this cuppa with half and half and nothing else. I sipped it slowly and reflected on my day. I felt human for the first time since the middle of October. It was a lovely respite from my seasonal depression/covid/Elearning despair. While I am thinking of buying this I already own so many breakfast blends that I am thinking I should just add it to my buy list and wait on it.

I give this 5 out 5 for giving me a moment of quiet.

December 12, 2020December 5, 2020

Adagio Day 12 Campfire S’Mores

Campfire S’more

(I bet this asshole has Lapsang in it…)

Oh, Hipster Wife, it does indeed.

Meet your 2020 Election Day Winner, Campfire S’mores. There is nothing quite as satisfying as roasting a fresh marshmallow over a campfire. We’ve captured the essence of this outdoor treat by blending black tea and chocolate with mini marshmallows for a hint of sweetness. Complete with a hint of smokiness from Lapsang Souchong to round out the entire delicious experience.

Black Tea | High caffeine | Steep at 212° for 3 minutes.

Ingredients: Blended With Black Tea, Marshmallow, Cocoa Nibs, Dark Chocolate Chips, Natural Chocolate Flavor, Vanilla Creme Flavor, Safflower & Lapsang Souchong Tea

Hold up… THIS mess won that internet voting thing? I feel like I need to go hug Bernie Sanders and drown my disappointment in gluten at his favourite bagel shop in VT.

What does this smell like to me? This smells exactly like when my boyfriend puts lighter fluid on the charcoal when he fires up the grill. Steeped it still smells like lighter fluid. Why would you want to drink this?

Okay, so you can see the mini chocolate chips and the mini marshmallows. That’s adorable. And the only nice things I have to say.

adorable mini marshmallows and yellow flower petals

Lapsang ruins everything. If it were left out of this blend, it would be nice. I can’t even finish this cup. Even my cat is offended by the way it smells.

Persephone is blaming my gnome for the stench

Does it belong in the calendar? No. it doesn’t belong anywhere.

I know two people who love lapsang souchong. And I’m happy for them both. It means if I accidentally get gifted a blend with lapsang as an ingredient I know who will drink it.

When I was taking photos for this I chose my least favorite tea cup.

Absolutely zero graham crackers here. So gross.

December 12, 2020December 5, 2020

12 December F&M Elderflower, Strawberry & Rose Infusion

Inspired by the scents and tastes of an English summer garden, Fortnum’s Elderflower, Strawberry & Rose Infusions Tea combines a naturally sweet taste and floral aroma to make an infusion essential for sunny day sipping, al fresco. https://www.fortnumandmason.com/elderflower-strawberry-rose-infusion-tin-30g

Ingredients: Apple, Hibiscus, Strawberry Leaves, Nettle, Rosehip, Flavourings, Rose Petals (5%), Strawberry Pieces (5%), Elderflowers (3%).

This delightful little bag smells of roses and strawberries. It’s summer in a cup! Once steeped this gem has the tart hibiscus on the front of the tongue, but the mouth is soon overwhelmed by the rose.

Hipster Wife is gonna hate this.

FRUIIIIITTTTTTT Fuck. ROOOOOSSSSEEE FUUCCCCCK

This is exactly as advertised. This is drinking in a lazy summer afternoon. I imagine lounging in a hammock, bare toes warm in the sun, my bonnet on the ground. Long white dress rumpled and stained with berry juice. Bees dance and buzz through the rose garden. Everything about this is light, delicate and summery. And reminds me of Turkish Delight.

Hipster Wife is gonna hate this.

*Cries fruit tears.*

dried roses, elder flowers and dried strawberries- aka Hipster Wife’s Fruit Tears

If you want to romance me, do not send me cut flowers. Send me rose teas. That will be the way to my heart.

Because I’m me (Hi) I have many of the ingredients in my cabinet. Instead of putting the flowers back in the jars after I took photos, I thought I’d make my own blend. I put the rose petals, elder flowers, dried strawberries (I picked them this past June), and hibiscus (got mine from Adagio https://www.adagio.com/flavors/hibiscus.html) I apparently added more hibiscus than they did. And less rose petals. My result came out more tart and with a better balance between the rose and strawberry.

Hipster Wife wouldn’t like this either.

Nope. Whole cup of nope.

This gorgeous summer blend gets 5 out of 5 roses. But it doesn’t really belong in an advent calendar.

Having friends that understand you is a blessing. A bigger blessing are ones who acknowledge that your pain response is always laughter. Always laughter. I fall on my face, I laugh. I find out bad news and I laugh. I laughed my way throughout the whole process for my father’s wrongful death case.

Viking Wife gets me. She also cracks me up. I love her.

awwww… love you, too, Hipster Wife. I’ll drink ALL the fruit and roses infusions to save you.

This tea. Fuck this tea though. It gets nothing from me lol. I’m gonna make it pay my therapy bills. NO MORE ROSES!!! NOOOOO MORE FRUIT TEAS.. Wait.. NO MORE INFUSIONS.

GIVE ME A SOLID TEA OR I’M GONNA… Do absolutely nothing. Well I did drink some strong Scottish breakfast tea after that. I am such a badass lol. Watch out readers… /smirk

December 11, 2020December 5, 2020

Adagio Day 11 Cocomint Green

Like wine and cheese, burgers and fries; chocolate and mint is a famous partnership in the world of food. We bring that popular flavor combination here, blended with green tea leaves to create a delicious, lip-smacking treat. Fresh and cool, with a smooth, sweet minty flavor and whisps of chocolate. Just like a stick of zesty peppermint bark chocolate. Bon appetit!

Green Tea | Moderate caffeine | Steep at 180° for 2-3 minutes.

Ingredients & Lore

Blended With Green Tea, Cocoa Nibs, Natural Chocolate Mint Flavor & Peppermint Leaves

Chocolate and mint have been a flavor combination for nearly as long as Europeans have eaten chocolate. Originally added to reduce the bitterness of the cocoa bean, mint became ever more popular as chocolatiers made ever sweeter chocolates. The flavor is still popular today too, with Thin Mints making up to 25% of Girl Scout Cookie sales and mint chocolate chip regularly landing in the top ten for most popular US ice cream flavors. Other favorites include York Peppermint Patties (first made in 1940), Andes Candies (from 1950), and of course, our Cocomint Green.

Peppermint leaves I dried this summer. And, yes, I keep whole cacao beans

First impressions… smells nice, like a minty cocoa. But taste is important and this is not the right blend of flavours for green tea. I normally like green blends. This cup tastes grassy (simmah down, HW, I’m not converting) and unpleasant.

The aftertaste is nice. It’s all minty chocolate. That grassy sip just isn’t doing it for me.

Does it belong in this calendar? Yes. minty cocoa FTW! But this would be better if blended with black tea, white tea, or coffee. Heck, just make it an herbal tisane and leave the tea out of it.

Random things… I heard a podcast interview with the author of the book Chocolat (we all remember the Juliette Binoche/Judi Dench/Johnny Depp film). So I ordered the book and re-watched the movie yesterday. Hipster Wife introduced me to the Folklore Podcast a few years ago and I became hooked. If I ever got to meet Mark Norman I’d nerd fan-girl all over him and his wife.

Where does Chocolate Mint come from? It’s a mint plant. We once learned that my beloved peppermint is the child of watermint and spearmint. Chocolate mint is a cultivar of peppermint. An article on epicurious says that it’s all in your mind that you smell chocolate. Okay. But spearmint smells like death and peppermint smells heavenly and chocolate mint smells like chocolate… so *shrug*

Thin Mints are my least favourite GS cookie. Not that I eat any GS cookies anymore. Their shelf life is sus AF.

December 11, 2020December 5, 2020

11 December F&M Assam TGFOP

Our second duplicate. And thankfully another winner.

*Second cup, same as the first for me!*

I have to say I’m enjoying this more than I did the first time. Maybe it’s all the nonsense I’ve been tasting from the other calendar we are reviewing. This tea is pure. Just gorgeous black tea. Nothing stupid. 5 out of 5 one-horned rhinos for this beauty.

So… let’s find out about Assam. It is a state in northeastern India. It’s known for tea and silk. Home to the one-horned rhinoceros, and one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. It has a lot of earthquakes. Incredibleindia.org says Assam is the land of “Blue Hills and Red River” and is gateway to the north eastern states earning it the nickname sentinel of Northeast India. https://www.incredibleindia.org/content/incredible-india-v2/en/destinations/states/assam.html

Indians have a special relationship with tea and if you are a connoisseur of the beverage, then visiting the Hathikuli Tea Estate during your Kaziranga trip must be on your to-do list. The estate was initially owned by James Finlay and Company, which came to Assam from Scotland. Visiting the estate will give you a chance to try various kinds of tea like orthodox tea, black pepper tea and organic green tea, which are all produced here. The present-day plantation has been turned completely organic since it falls under the same ecological zone as the Kaziranga National Park. The name ‘Hathikuli’ is taken from Assamese words, ‘hathi’ meaning elephant and ‘kuli’ meaning frequently. Together, it means a place visited frequently by elephants. The tea gardens stretch for 15 km along the NH37 highway. The tea estate falls in two districts- Golaghat and Karbi-Anglong. Hathikuli is often visited by wild animals and birds.

https://www.incredibleindia.org/content/incredible-india-v2/en/destinations/kaziranga/hathikuli-tea-estate.html

And my father doesn’t believe me when I tell him the Indian in our DNA comes from his Scottish and English side of the family.

December 10, 2020December 5, 2020

Adagio Day 10 Blackberry Sage Oolong

Blended With Oolong Tea, Sage, Raspberry Leaves, Natural Blackberry Flavor & Raspberries

‘Tis a wise tea maven who understands how to blend, like mixing plump, juicy blackberries with raspberries and sage. Why sage? It’s not just for adding to a turkey’s stuffing, but a culinary herb that offers a boost to the sweetness in the berries while it brings out the fruitiness of oolong tea. Salia officinallis, from the Latin salvere or to be saved, has roots in the Vulgar Latin word, sapius, derived from sap(ere) or to taste, have taste, smell, discerned to be wise. Now you know why drinking blackberry sage oolong is the wise thing to do!

Our Blackberry Sage Oolong is an enchanting blend inspired by the flavors of the forest. With its bold, earthy flavors of berries and herbs, it is a grounding tea with a complex character.

Oolong Tea | Moderate caffeine | Steep at 212° for 3-5 minutes.

10 days. 4th Oolong. Are they trying to promote their Oolong? Did someone buy a metric ton of it and they need to figure out ways to sell it? It’s a gorgeous tea on it’s own. Stop cocking it up.

You know what would be wise? To leave the sage alone. Just don’t touch it. Unless you’re making a turkey. Just back away from the sage. Non-indigenous people shouldn’t burn white sage. No one should be drinking culinary sage. Just stop.

What is the difference, you ask gentle reader? You know I’m the woman to help explain. Let’s see what our friends at the University of Illinois have to say on culinary sage…

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/herbs/sage.cfm

Use

Leaves are used in fish, pork and poultry dishes. Also with vegetables and in sausages.

NOT IN YOUR TEA. EDUCATED PEOPLE ARE NOT LISTING IT FOR TEA.

And what do our friends at the US Department of Agriculture have to say?

Click to access cs_arlu.pdf

They tell us that white sage is used as smudge sticks for cleansing and purification by some native tribes. (checks DNA tests). I may have traces of native Central American in my results, but not enough to justify ever burning white sage. They go on to tell us…

The Dakota and other tribes used white sage tea for
stomach troubles and many other ailments (Gilmore
1977). The Cheyenne used the crushed leaves as
snuff for sinus attacks, nosebleeds, and headaches
(Hart 1976). The Crow made a salve for use on sores
by mixing white sage with neck-muscle fat (probably
from buffalo) (Hart 1976). They used a strong tea as
an astringent for eczema and as a deodorant and an
antiperspirant for underarms and feet. The Kiowa
made a bitter drink from white sage, which they used
to reduce phlegm and to relieve a variety of lung and
stomach complaints (Vestal and Shultes 1939).
Usually, they chewed the stem and leaves and
swallowed the juice.

1. First impressions?

Smells sus. Do blenders know that raspberry leaves don’t taste like raspberries? Why add them here? I can’t smell the tea. I smell blackberry flavor and sage undertones.

Steeped, the blackberry scent is minimal and the sage comes through. FFS.

Taste – the tea is weak, the blackberry is there but the sage seems to stay in the cup and in the scent.

The oolong isn’t obvious. The raspberry leaf and flavorings stay forefront. If you don’t know what raspberry leaves taste like (as obviously the blenders here DO NOT) it is widely available in grocery stores. The scent of sage NEVER. LETS. UP.

Not offensive. Not great. 3 out of 5.

Wait… the aftertaste of the sage LINGERS. I can’t get it out. Brushed my teeth. Ate chocolate. Drank 32 ounces of water. THIS IS EVIL. 2 out of 5. And that’s a sympathy 2 for the Oolong.

honestly there is FAR TOO MUCH of this dren

2. Do you think this is a good choice for an Advent Calendar? Why yes, or why no?

How to Say No in 23 Different Languages

https://reference.yourdictionary.com/other-languages/yes-and-no-in-different-common-languages.html

In many languages “no” is simply said as “no” or a very similar word starting with the letter “n.” Explore how they say “no” in some of the world’s most common languages.

Afrikaans: Nee (nee-uh)
Arabic: لا or La (lah – “a” as in “yacht”)
Bengali: না or Nā (nah – “a” as in “yacht”)
Dutch: Nee (nay)
French: Non (noh)
German: Nein (nine)
Greek (modern): Όχι or óchi (oh-hee)
Hausa: A’a (ah-ah – “a” as in “yacht”)
Hindi: नहीं or Hahin (nah-heen – “a” as in “yacht”)
Italian: No (noh)
Japanese: いいえ or iie (ee-eh)
Malay: Tidak (dee-dah – “a” as in “yacht”)
Mandarin Chinese: 不是 or bù shì (boo-shih)
Nepali: होइन or Hoina (hoh-eye-nuh)
- Polish: Nie (nyeh – “e” as in “net”)
Portuguese: Não (now)
Punjabi: ਨਹੀ or Nahi (nah-hee – “a” as in “yacht”)
Romanian: Nu (new)
Russian: Нет (Nyeht)
Quechua: Mana (mah-na – “a” as in “yacht”)
Spanish: No (noh)
Swedish: Nej (nay)
Telugu: ఏ or Ē (ay)

3. Tell me how you really feel. Or any random thing that needs to be said.

As I’ve been clear on how I really feel, let’s get random.

Raspberry leaf tisane does not taste like the berries. It tastes green. It’s leaves.

What it’s good for is painful periods. It is the main ingredient in my period pain blend. https://ladygreymoonlightsteaandnibbles.home.blog/2019/11/06/period-pain-tisane-or-how-i-cut-my-pain-relief-pills-almost-to-nothing/

It is rich in antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, contains calcium, iron, Vitamins A, C & E. But it does not – I have to say this again – does not taste like raspberries. So there was no need for the blenders to put this good ingredient in this crap tea.