i haven’t been in the mood for coffee since november. our shipment of MLT arrives today and i can’t wait. i love MLT. we also drink serendiptea, but we haven’t tried as many teas from them and i don’t like their blends as well as i like those from MLT. i am also biased because i hate their web site and their xocalatl chai brewing instructions suck. but i love their chamomile flowers and, someday, i would entertain a taste test of regular chai (no more rooibos chai for me) from both companies.

we tried 2 lupicia orzo teas a while back. orzo is an ancient italian barley. we smelled them in the store, thought we’d be adventuresome and ultimately tossed them, it pains me to say. we tried the recommended brewing method (blech!) and then we modified it to see if it would taste better (still blech!). we drank it unsweetened and hella sweetened (even more blech!). so we gave up.

i was poking around in the cupboard this morning and found another lupicia tea that we had forgotten about (that’s the problem with high cupboards and being short). i discovered adagio: green rooibos with lemongrass and pink grapefruit. i brewed it this morning according to the directions and it seems to be ok. recommended brewing: 2.5-3g / 150ml water / steep 3-5 minutes. my scientific measuring compulsions yielded: 2 level tsp = 3g. i steeped it in 150ml (5 oz) of hot water for 4 minutes. rooibos should take a longer steep (according to MLT whose recommendations haven’t yet led me astray), but it turned out ok. i don’t generally like fruity teas, but that is starting to change. KCL and ML sent us the best mango flavored black tea. i’ve never had a fruity tea taste that good. i supposed the black tea base helps.

back to my adagio, it’s the color of orange kool-aid and pretty much tastes like warm grapefruit juice. next, i will try it with sugar/honey and perhaps steep it for 5 minutes.

mmm, i am so looking forward to my tea.