Chabom Tea & Spices

It didn’t take long for the nice cashier at Chabom to convince me to grab one more sample packet because five cost less (per sample) than four, but since we were half rung up, I grabbed this one without giving it much thought.

I’m glad I did. This is a Chabom house blend; Ceylon base with blackcurrant and cream flavors. My first sip made me think instantly of H&S Tower of London, but more forest-y, if that makes any sense. This is what they’d serve at the Teddy Bear Picnic if the bears were real.

I did steep it a little stronger than needed—next time I can back off the leaf just a little bit, but a little milk tamed the grizzly. Delicious.

My favorite stay-cation stopover was downtown Springfield, Missouri—not new downtown with the ubiquitous mall stores and everything-looks-like-everything-else strip malls, the real downtown that’s working hard on renovating historic buildings and keeping the vibe alive. A few doors down from my husband’s desired stop (The Pizza House; hand rolled crust since 1958) is a little tea and spice paradise with lots of tempting Adagio samplers as well as privately labeled bulk teas (some of which I think may also be Adagio’s).

Sorry, long intro. If you’re still here, I was really searching for some good dragonwell and missed it if Chabom had any, so this was the backup plan. It looks authentically sench-ish, and the decaffeination process hasn’t leached all the flavor out of the leaves—a trick for green teas. Mild, of course, but will be a nice autumn switch from fruity, minty tisanes.