A respite from tea

As I embark on my water retasting project, I also decided to experiment with different boiling vessels and prepare tea with various combinations of mineral water brands and kettles. Obviously, some combinations made the tea taste worse than I have known them, leaving behind prominently burnt notes in my nose and mouth, not to mention a headache. In such cases, it is sensible to give your body a break and flush away the bad taste.

What went into my gaiwan today? It is technically speaking not tea but a restorative concoction of  goji berries and chrysanthemum flowers. The berry fruits are sweet and mildly tangy with a texture that is similar to sun dried tomatoes before infusion. The flowers smell beautifully comforting with a sweet fragrance. Delicious!

An alternative to tea in hot weather - chrysanthemum

I have been back in the tropics for a week now and took a while before I could adjust. Also thanks to the cooling properties of some home made chrysanthemum tea, I soon find myself well on my way to recovery from a viral infection that caused me some ulcer aches and a slight fever.

To sweeten this tea, a few good old recipes include adding rock sugar, wolf berries or honey followed by an infusion with hot water. I like this flower tea prepared these ways. When sweetened, I would enjoy it as an after-dinner drink.

Being a flower tea, the infusion is especially fragrant and sweet, yet not in a nauseating or headache-inducing manner. My senses are entertained in all ways, my nose craves for more and of this alluring  fragrance. The brew is of a gentle light yellow hue that is reminiscent of the flower's original colour. I could drink this all day as a means of keeping myself hydrated and more importantly, satisfied.