I woke up at 4am this morning feeling like I’d swallowed a bunch of broken glass. I tried a battery of remedies, including tea made from the Chinese herb pang da hai, Emergen-C, a popsicle made of pickle juice, a warm salt water gargle, and a shot of vodka with lime juice. Did I get a little tipsy at 5am? You betcha. I eventually fell back asleep and slept until it was time to get ready for work (1pm). I made it through a day of teaching classes thanks to some ibuprofin. I picked up some of this tea while grabbing some groceries for dinner on my way home.
I brewed a cup as soon as I got home, steeped for 10 solid minutes. Finally, a little relief for my poor throat. It tastes very much like licorice, fennel, and clove, which I think are all tasty. It was sweet and soothing. Then I made a second cup with a big squeeze of lemon (had a little extra from my sautéed lemon veggies) and a squirt of honey (which I never do since I think honey is way too much for my tea). I preferred it plain, but wow, now I get why people put honey and lemon together. The brightness of the lemon cuts through the ‘thickness’ of the honey.
Overall, this is definitely a medicinal tea. I won’t see myself drinking it when I’m feeling better, but great to get through the bugs that come my way after spending my days with tons of ‘moist’ kids. At the end of March we’re doing another round of elementary school visits, which means an additional 12 hours of teaching time per week for two weeks. You’ll probably see another entry for this one when March rolls around.
