San Benito Tea Company

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Recent Tasting Notes

I was excited to see a local tea vendor on a trip to a farmer’s market near my parents house while visiting California. This market by the way is one of the few places you can now find my all time favorite muffin that I used to eat all the time… the raspberry poppyseed cheesecake by Rebecca’s Mighty Muffins. She used to have a bakery in Santa Cruz where I lived and distributed to a ton of bay area health food stores, but then she decided to close down shop, travel the world and settled down into a much smaller operation when she got back, which leaves a HUGE muffin sized hole in my heart. But I have digressed quite far now… I see tea at the market, they had a cough drop tea and my family was coughing so I decided to give it a try. I believe this was a mistake. I should have stuck with the muffins.

When I steep the tea, I get a piney scent like Pinesol floor cleaner. When I sip it, the first two seconds are fine, but then I’m hit with a Pinesol taste like my mouth has just been disinfected from a weeks worth of dirty footprints. In the last part of the sip a bitter wave crashes through my mouth. I hate bitter. Maybe that is why they suggest adding honey. I was trying to work on the computer while sipping this, but it was just so shocking and distracting that I had to write a review and tell you all about it. It gets a little more palatable as I go on, but not by much. Maybe it’s because all my taste buds have now been killed by pine. I think my cough has slowed down a bit, so that is a plus. I wonder if I can put the remaining tea bags in some alcohol with honey and make a cough syrup type thing that would go down easier and carry a buzz to get me through the taste.

There HAS to be a way to make a tea that soothes a cough and doesn’t taste like you are chewing on a bunch of pine needles. This is unacceptable. I’m going to take a closer look at David’s cold line for an alternative.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

YUCK. I’d recommend something with licorice as it feels like it coats your throat.

Dustin

Throat Coat was always a winner and has a lot of licorice, but I didn’t think it was supposed to help with coughing.

Brooklynsheep

Dustin, this is really funny and very useful to boot! Have you tried any elderberry teas? They’re usually good for coughs.

Kittenna

Usually when I’m sick and coughing, part of it has to do with throat dryness! :)

Dustin

I just saw these replies, so I’m a little late to respond…
No, I haven’t tried elderberry teas!
I had a lot of chest congestion which was making me cough, so I don’t think it was a dryness issue. If anything it was a too wet issue. I’m almost done with the cough now after a round of brutal antibiotics that have ticked off my stomach something fierce! I so want to feel well again.

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