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Squeezed in enough time to make a pot of tea between breakfast and feeding and changing the baby. This was a box of tea I found on sale at one of the local grocery stores a while ago. Pretty packaging, pyramid teabags, and some unusual ingredients that had me curious.

Despite hibiscus in the ingredient list, I don’t taste it at all which is interesting as it tends to be a very strong flavor. It tastes vaguely sweet and fruity with an underlying unfamiliar herbal note. Might be the anoda, I’ve never had that before. Despite having “nature identical pineapple flavor”, the pineapple flavor is not particularly clear and ot’s overall just not a very interesting flavor to me. Of the two kids who tried it, one liked it and one did not.

Having baby home is wonderful! I am delighted not to be constantly going back and forth to hospitals. We will have some follow up appointments, but still much more time at home. Feeding is a challenge. He is eating well, but it is very time consuming. It’s a good problem to have compared to some of the things we have made it through so far, but doesn’t leave much time to spend on tea forums or working on tea blends.

I have been drinking tea here and there, but trying fewer new teas than I sometimes do. I did however have the thought to try brewing some pasilla peppers. I consider them an essential component of a good chili powder and they are mildly spicy and somewhat sweet so I thought there was a chance they might work as a tea. I’m glad I gave it a try because it makes for a shockingly good tea! I removed the stems and diced whole dried peppers and brewed up a teaspoon in my mug. The primary flavor was dried plums and dates and it had a touch of smoke and spice. I’ve had a few mugs worth over the past few days and this will likely become a staple of my tea cupboard!

I’ve been doing some blending lately and had a couple of very successful blends. One was a Caramel Apple blend that included dried figs in the base, the other was a Chocolate Chai. Both were popular with the kids as well!

Baby has been taking about 75% of his milk by bottle the past couple Lee of days which is a real improvement! He also has the last surgery he will need for some months scheduled, so this needs are going well with him!

As someone who enjoys dark chocolate, this tea is a real treat. It has a smooth dark chocolate flavor. It wasn’t bitter, but did have a tiny bit of sourness in the second half of the cup.

We were busy this weekend with events surrounding the funeral of my husband’s grandma. She lived a good long life and her health had been declining for years so as hard as it was to say goodbye, everyone is happy that she is at peace and no longer suffering. Family flew in from all over the country and we had a beautiful ceremony, then laid flowers on her coffin at the gravesite and had a reception. We had several meals with various family members that we hadn’t seen in a while over the weekend as well. I heard many stories about her life and it was overall a beautiful experience of everyone coming together and saying goodbye.

I’m unwinding with a mup of Mountain Rose Herbs Raspberry Leaf tea tonight. I’ve had it before, but it has been a few years. It’s reminding me of green beans tonight, not quite like canned beans, but more like green beans cooked until they are soft and almost buttery tasting in a way that is similar to canned green beans but still retaining a fresher note.

I had a baby while the site was down! Unfortunately he needed surgery (twice!) so he has been at the hospital instead of home. He will be moving to a rehab center on Monday though he will need to go back for one more surgery in a month or so and then another when he is around a year old. So I have been spending a lot of time at the hospital and/or pumping breast milk which is not as nice as nursing so we will see how long I can keep up with it.

In part to encourage me to keep it up and to help me drink plenty of fluids, I put in an order of breastfeeding friendly herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. I decided to try the Nettle leaf first because although I ordered 4 oz of each herb, this must be the least dense because it is definitely the largest volume.

The dry leaf is a nice rich green that leads me to believe it is quite fresh. The flavor of the breed leaf reminds me of baby spinach. Definitely vegetal and spinachy, but not at all bitter. There is a hint of spice in the aftertaste. It is quite pleasant. I would be interested in trying it blended with my dried carrot pieces as well as using it as a base for a green chai with coconut, ginger, and black pepper. But it is also very drinkable on is own.

Strawberry Watermelon Coconut!

I used green rooibos and toasted coconut as the base for this. I left it steeping for a couple of hours while I was at a doctor’s appointment and then iced it. I am almost out of strawberry flavor so I went a little light on the strawberry, and I think I would have been happier with a little more strawberry and a little less coconut. I was happy with the amount of watermelon and I put in an order for flavors to restock on strawberry. I’m sure I will still enjoy the blend, but if I make it again I will probably adjust it a bit, though maybe a shorter steep would change the flavor profile.

Blueberry Vanilla Nut!

I made this blend with a combination of Teeccino Vanilla Nut, dried blueberries, and honeybush tea flavored with two different blueberry flavorings and a touch of black raspberry. I tried it last night as a latte, and am drinking it iced today. It was very good both ways, but I think I might actually like it better iced. The blueberry balances the strong, rich flavors of the carob, chicory, and barley really well, making them a little softer and bringing out the vanilla in a pleasant way. I do get a few notes of artificial grape that I know one of the flavorings has from the iced version that were covered by the cream and almond milk in the latte. But the blueberry flavor with the artificial grape notes is much stronger than the more natural tasting flavor and so I think it works here since the base is so flavorful.