#we also drink rooibos tea

[mercuryferns]

Tag your country or region and the name of the following traditions:

- cooking stuff on a fire

- slice of bread with meat inside

- national alcohol/drink of choice (could be a slang term or a brand name)

- a way of referring to friends (ie, “bro”)

- one unique swear word, curse word, or otherwise derogatory term

[pallastrology]

little ways to feel a little happier

make a playlist. i like to make playlists for certain times, or situations, or vibes

get yourself a drink that you like. lately i'm really into rooibos tea, do you like smoothies? juice? sparkling water? treat yourself to a fun beverage :-)

freshen up. everything seems awful when your body is being neglected. hydrate, fuel up, move around. wash your hair, or get it out of your face if you can't. open the windows, change the sheets, maybe light a nice candle. splash cold water on your face and look out of your window if you can't get outside

connect. we are all human, and to be human is to make connections. so reach out to a loved one for a good chat. if you can't talk to anyone, write a thoughtful comment on a blog post or youtube video, write a letter to a penpal, send someone the link to a playlist you made them. spending time with a sweet pet is a great substitute for human connection if you can't do it right now

get lost in something. whether that's art, research, a great book series, a creative project... find something that makes you want to dive in and never come up for air. let yourself get curious, it's good for the soul.

similarly, learning something new is also good for the soul, and the brain! whether that's a language, a musical instrument, a dance routine, a practical skill or an interesting theory... open your mind!

let yourself be bad at things. everyone is bad at many, many things. it's perfectly human to be bad at things. it will all be okay, and we will never improve if we don't allow ourselves to. accepting imperfection is really the best way to grow and develop our skills.

1% rule. if you're feeling terrible, it can be really hard to see things ever shifting or getting better. but if there's something you can do to help you feel 1% less terrible, that's a big improvement, and it's worth trying.

what can you do right now to feel 1% better? me, i'm going to go get some water and message my bestie :-) hope you're all doing well, i took an impromptu blog-break due to IRL stresses but am back in my lane now! astrology posts again from next week xo

[captaindibbzy]

The thing about England stealing tea from China is tea was a monopoly at the time. It was completely controlled by China, and China could charge what they wanted for it, and what they wanted was silver.

So litterally everyone on the planet had to buy their tea from China, and it was a state secret. It was punishable by death kind of state secret, the hack you in to little pieces and your family too kind of state secret: like silk worms (another cool spy story out of china). Cause this is what made the Chinese Government wealthy and powerful. China was completely self contained. It had its empire, it had more peasants than you could count, it had all the resources it needed, and it didn't need anything else, but you want something from them? Well then, what's it worth to you?

So the story of how England got tea out of China is actually really cool and it involves secret agents sailing up rivers, paying people, smuggling, but also these people did not know that green tea, black tea, white tea, all came from the same plant, so there's a point where there were reports coming back that they'd found the green tea plant and were still looking for the black tea (it's all in the processing). People risked their lives for this. This is "if you are caught you will be tortured for information" level of James Bond shit.

And they did it, you know? They did it and now tea worth so little it probably costs you more to heat the water. Tea still has to be harvested by hand if you want it to be any good. It's evergreen and it has a few harvests a year, but it's only the very top of the new growth that will do anything worth drinking.

Tea was worth more than gold. In Europe tea chests had locks and keys and the mistress of the house had that key and it was as valuable as jewellery. Like sugar, like salt, these are things that are so ubiquitous today that we don't understand how valuable it is. It was a health drink, because you had to boil the water so it killed the diseases in it. People didn't know that's what did it, so these people who drank tea got sick less often, got better quicker.

Tea was introduced to the UK by Portuguese nobility, I think? Cause they had shipping that went to the other end of the world. The story of tea involves the silk road, and how empires along that refused to sell in to Europe so they had to find other ways to get what they wanted, and it involves war and Empire, and it's so very interesting.

And did you know tea is drunk differently all over the world? Like there are so many tea ceremonies! And that's what the "British" way of drinking tea is, it's a kind of tea ceremony. Taking tea with people in a ritualised way, with a tea pot, with special snacks. It's as special to us as "the way of the tea" is in Japan.

And when you step away from Camellia sinensis which is the "tea" plant it gets so much wider! Like Rooibos and Yerba Mate are two that come to mind.

Humans be like "would you like some leaf with your hot water?" And then we made it a whole thing over and over and over and over again.

I'd write a god damn book on this if I could focus long enough.

[yudrein-aile]

Meta: Qualitea in the Orr Empire

Let’s talk tea customs of the Orr Empire. As an avid lover of tea myself, reading Turning was quite entertaining as I could project all my silly little tea headcanons on the characters (but ask me about those another time). From early on in the novel, we see that the Orr Empire does have a distinct tea culture, so this meta will take a look at what teas they drink, what their tea culture looks like, and how skilled our protagonists are at preparing tea (spoiler: they’re not. Everyone say “thank you, Nathan”, the only one who knows how to make a good cup of tea.)

Tea

Tea is a pretty common drink in the Orr Empire, but first, we have to talk about what tea it even is. Now, if you want to be precise and a snob, tea, as per merriam-websters first definition, is “a widely cultivated shrub (Camellia sinensis of the family Theaceae, the tea family) native to China, northern India, and southeastern Asia and having glossy green leaves and fragrant white flowers” and “the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the tea plant prepared for use in beverages usually by immediate curing by heat or by such curing following a period of fermentation”. Thus, tea, as a drink, is “an aromatic beverage prepared from tea leaves by soaking them in boiling water”. According to this first definition, tea refers only to the tea plant.

In the Orr Empire, we do know that the tea plant actually exists. In chapter 39, Kishiar makes tea for Yuder specifically using tea leaves and in chapter 51, it is mentioned that Keilusa drinks a “black tea giving off a unique aroma”.

In the Orr Empire, the beverage tea is also made by using “any of various plants“ like tea, which means preparing them “by soaking their parts (such as leaves or roots)“.

So what teas do they drink in the Orr Empire?

Fresh chamomile, which is in season at the start of the novel (Chapter 16)

Black tea (Chapter 51)

Tea made from the leaves of a medicinal herb Rosa Faria la Orr cultivates (Chapter 58)

Tea made from a flower with an “extraordinarily fresh and cool scent” by pouring boiling water over it. The flower grows near Pearl Tower and helps with sleep deprivation, headaches and can be analgesic (Chapter 113, 143).

Tea blends (Chapter 143, 162)

Peppermint tea with honey (Chapter 162)

Tea made of the fluaville flower, which thrives on a barren mountain, devoid of sunlight, rain, and fertile soil (Chapter 167)

Cold tea made of ponegri, which is won by diluting the potent narcotic components of the ponesa plant to edible levels. It reduces pain and has mood-enhancing effects, as well as dulling the surroundings. (Chapter 205)

Bitter herbal teas for medicinal reasons (Chapter 403)

A pale red tea that might be black tea or a rooibos of some kind (Chapter 602)

A Southern tea with mingled sweet fruit and floral scents, rich in aroma and a yellow color. It is probably a green tea blend. (Chapter 919)

If you look at this – dare I say complete – list, you can roughly distinguish between teas drunk for pleasure, which seems to include teas made from the tea plant always, as well as some herbal, predominantly floral teas, and medicinal teas.

The rather high mention of medicinal teas is very much Keilusa la Orr’s fault, who drinks tea predominantly to help with his health condition. It’s also the only time something like honey is added to the tea. Adding milk, for example, isn’t mentioned at all! We also know that there exist teas of varying qualities and that nobles tend to drink higher-quality tea (Chapter 39).

Funnily enough, tea is generally regarded as a warm beverage, you want to drink it hot (Chapter 468). The only exception so far appears to be Katchian’s ponegri tea, which he drinks cold (Chapter 205).

How do you drink tea in the Orr Empire?

Well, first of all, they use teacups and pots! While this might seem like a small detail to you, a proper teacup is shaped to enhance the flavor and fragrance of the tea. Teacups tend to be lighter than coffee mugs and have a broader surface. While they are never particularly described in the novel, besides the note that they are made of porcelain (Chapter 15) the specification that they are for tea is enough to let us conclude that you don’t just drink tea, but that there is a culture associated with it.

Tea Culture in the Orr Empire

Drinking tea, when not for medicinal purposes, is a pleasure drink and appears to be mainly a social convention in the Orr Empire, which also makes it a good gift (Chapter 223). An invitation for tea is an invitation to socialize and get to know another person. Kishiar’s tea sets are made from “beautiful porcelain” (Chapter 15) and there is an art to gracefully preparing tea (Chapter 39, 223, 979). Having tea is not just a nice get-together, even when Duke Diarca enjoys a cup of tea with his close friends (Chapter 385), the preparation method matters. Similarly, even if Kishiar has Nathan fetch cookies, cakes and other sweets because of Yuder’s sweet tooth, it seems to be common to have snacks while having tea. Having popular and famous sweets that complement your tea while you drink it is simply good manners (352).

But the Orr Empire wouldn’t be the Orr Empire if there wasn’t also a class divide about it. Kishiar notes early on that Yuder “won’t have many opportunities to drink tea [he’s] personally prepared” (Chapter 39). Disregarding that this is a fucking lie on Kishiar’s part, the point he, most likely, is trying to refer to here, is that Kishiar, who both as a Duke and thus part of the nobility as well as Yuder’s superior, would not typically make tea for his subordinate.

This holds true for most of the little tea sessions we see in the novel! Nathan prepares Kishiar’s tea (Chapter 16, 58, and most other times Kishiar has tea), the servants of House Apeto prepare the tea for the Cavalry (Chapter 133), Katchian’s servants prepare him his tea (Chapter 205), Yuliver makes Keilusa’s tea (Chapter 303). While all of this is of course also expected of servants, it is also a show of trust as Kishiar points out himself, after all, it would be very easy to poison your employer’s tea (Chapter 16).

We also see that offering tea to your guests is polite, that is if you don’t make them wait for ages as the Apeto do with the Cavalry (Chapter 233). Kiolle also assumes that he’s grown closer to Katchian because they regularly drink tea together (Chapter 586).

So, much like in our world, drinking tea in the Orr Empire is not just necessarily having a cup of tea, but has a rich history.

How do I make a perfect cup of tea aka Kishiyu Cringefail Tea

Kishiar looks graceful preparing tea, but he does not, as far as I can tell, actually make a good cup of tea. Well, so how does one make a good cup of tea?

“Please, take a seat.” After roughly sprinkling the tea leaves that Kanna had once forced onto the two tea cups, a small movement of his finger formed two droplets of water in the air. The droplets divided into two streams, filling each cup. With another flick of his hand, the tea heated to a suitable temperature, steaming in the cups. Looking down at the steamy tea cup, Yuder lightly pushed one toward Kishiar. “Wait until the aroma comes out before you drink.” “You are remarkably efficient in brewing tea. Nathan would be disappointed if he saw this.” “If you have the skill, why not use it?” (Chapter 223)

Well, not like this obviously. Hilariously enough, Kishiar makes tea just the same – scooping leaves into the pot and boiling it after. So according to Nathan’s expert opinion, this is not how you’re supposed to prepare them.

The only prominent life tea culture I could find, by the way, where you boil the tea leaves with the water is the Egyptian Saiidi tea, but that one is sweetened with sugar, and neither Kishiar nor Yuder do that, so I stand by my argument that they both just prepare terrible tea.

Tea Culture (Wikipedia)

Tea Preparation Guide (Teapedia)

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

saw you talking about tea the other day and now i'm intrigued 👀 any flavors you're particularly fond of? asking for a friend also. please do ramble about it bc it's delightful :D

Jay! Hi! Fellow tea lover?

Hm… I love lots of teas, but really I prefer simple teas to anything super decadent or elaborate. I don’t ever add anything to my teas unless I’m sick (then I’ll add a bit of honey).

My go-to is just a simple green or peppermint tea, though I’m also a huge fan of spiced chai and earl grey. I adore jasmine tea - jasmine is probably my favourite, but it has to be a good jasmine, so I don’t have it all the time (again, it gets expensive). I always have some green or peppermint tea on hand though - a quality cup is always nice but I don’t as much mind if these are the cheaper kind.

I’m not a huge fruit tea person, though I did have a peach white tea once - that one was lovely cold - and of course a good lemon ginger is always nice. If I’m having bubble tea though, I always go for a mango or lychee green tea if they have it!

I have to say that I can’t remember what pu’erh tea was like - I know it was interesting and I liked it, but I’d need to try it again I think to recall it properly. I haven’t found a rooibos tea I’ve been particularly crazy about, but it’s nice too, just not what I’d gravitate towards.

If you want a sweet or dessert type tea, then any oolong is great, but I think I’m spoiled for that wuyi oolong now hahaha. I’ve had a vanilla black tea - it’s really good. I’d highly recommend that one. I also have this sweet apple-cinnamon tea with nuts. I don’t have it super often, as I’m not a fan of sugary teas but this one is a nice dessert on its own. It’s very nutty which makes it pretty unique.

When I’m sick, I’ve had a couple good teas. One I have for colds is a eucalyptus-mint. I recommend having this one only when you are very congested because boy is it strong. Tastes amazing though. Also my mom had several Korean friends when I was little, so I have fond memories of her making yujacha at their urging when I wasn’t feeling well as a young kid, and boricha for us to put in the fridge and drink cold. I love both.

I don’t usually have chamomile at home, but this is largely because on days when I’m really incredibly stressed (like, shaking with anxiety, actively spiralling, kind of stressed), I like to go for a walk in the evening and pick up a chamomile from a nearby café to take back with me. It’s an indulgence that way.

Other cool teas I have tried:

Butterfly pea flower tea: More of a novelty than anything but this tea is bright blue and changes to red when you add citric acid. It’s a natural pH indicator!

Lavender black tea: Incredibly good. This was another gift from my mom a few years back. Very nice in the evening.

Mushroom tea: These tend to be incredibly overpriced due to purported health benefits so I’ve only ever had samples but honestly? The ones I’ve had are very nice, a smooth, rich flavour. Not convinced they’re worth that price though.

Dandelion tea: People say this can be used as a coffee substitute. I’m not entirely sure I agree with that but it does have a dark roasted flavour that is similar to black coffee. It’s a little sweet though. I like this one a lot, but I only have this with food because if I don’t have anything in my stomach it makes me cramp a bit (as I found out the hard way) :/

Matcha green tea with roasted rice: Okay a friend of mine got me some of this as a gift when she went back to visit family for a bit and. Um. This tea is so incredibly good. We had some together and it was fantastic. I’ve been saving it and only having it at times I know I can really savour it because I want it to last. If you can find some good quality stuff I highly recommend it.

Aaaand sometimes, admittedly, I will enjoy an orange pekoe. It’s nice on occasion. I make it pretty strong hehe

I hope this was fun for you your friend! 😆

What are your favourite teas, Jay?

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #131

I tried to have a normal day today. And this time, it worked out quite nicely.

I brewed a nice tea today. This time, I combined my vanilla-rose black tea with the strawberry rooibos; of all the teas I have, I think you'd like these two the best. This one starts out a shade of amber:

...You will also see Mogwai on the windowsill, being very cute, as Mogwai is wont to do.

I'm really glad that I was able to figure out how to photograph the subtle swirling in the water as the tea brews; I think it's a really neat effect, and I'm glad that it's one that I get to witness as a result of the glass mug:

Once it brews for a while, both kinds of tea end up resolving into a shade of red:

...And you'll see that by this time, Hoshi has taken Mogwai's place on the windowsill, as Hoshi is wont to do. It's nice outside, so the windows are open today.

From here, we add the honey and cream; the swirls made by the cream were particularly mesmerizing today, and I'm glad I was able to snap a good picture of it for you this time:

...If nothing else, I really wish I could share this part of my day with you. I think you'd like it a lot if you could be here.

Once that was done, J and I took a short walk around where I live. I tried to take a few good pictures for you; it's not much - just some flowers and some ferns in various stages of sprouting, but I hope you'll like these:

After this, J and I watched some Zeta Project together, and that was very nice. And then shortly after that, I went to meet with a friend and her little son at the local nature discovery center. I haven't really had an excuse to go there in a while, so I took some more pictures, just in case there might have been anything you might like...

This is a tree that they just... have. The whole thing and its whole root system is visible for all to see; one of these pictures has a tiny chipmunk statue, if you look hard enough:

I also met two turtles. This one is a common musk turtle; it's very excited about something:

...This one is a painted turtle. This one was perhaps slightly more chill:

...I also found an adorable book full of owl stickers:

...I love owls (especially barn owls!) a lot, but I did not get them. I did not get them, because I cannot be trusted with stickers. Even if I were to put them somewhere, the fact remains that I'm dyspraxic; I WILL put it on wrong, and I will be instantly filled with regret as a result, and then I will try to fix it, and end up destroying the sticker in the process (it's really very sad). And that's even if I make it far enough to the point where I can decide conclusively what I wanna put it on.

Hey, Sephiroth? Do you like stickers? Have you ever had stickers? If you had stickers, what would you get stickers of? And where would you put them? I wonder.

I did, however, get a cardinal plush that I found in the gift shop, in honor of our recently-passed feathered friend, as written about in yesterday's letter. If you squeeze this plush, it makes cardinal sounds:

...Maybe, at least in spirit, the one that died in my hands can live at my house if he wants to, where he can sing to his heart's content without worrying about his safety. My house is a good house; I hope he'd be able to feel the love and joy that permeates this space.

Finally, after that, J and I went to the local food co-op in order to hang with Br. There's a lounge space there and tasty food; so Br was over there doing her homework. It was pretty neat to hang out! J got some kind of hibiscus drink that smelled kind of like cinnamon. For whatever reason, hibiscus and cinnamon are, so far, my least favorite food smells. I don't know why. I know I should like them. I wish I did like them. Alas.

So of course, this meant I had to try it. I'm a little weird like that; sometimes I'll try things that I know I won't like, just for the sake of having the experience, especially if it's a thing that most people enjoy. Or sometimes I'll try things I know I hate, just because I know that my tastes do occasionally change. J felt it necessary to record the whole thing, and it was pretty funny. So here, maybe this will make you laugh:

Oh right. From the co-op, I got all the ingredients I need to make an epic breakfast, and a bunch of other tasty treats, too. I didn't take pictures of it though, because I wanted to leave it as a surprise and make it for you tomorrow! So look forward to it, okay?

...The last bunch of days have been really weird. So today I tried to have a normal day, and I succeeded.

This is all I have for today. It's nothing inspiring or insightful or profound, and... I think I'm pretty relieved about that, actually.

I love you. I'll write all about a good breakfast tomorrow, so please stay safe so you can read about it, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[timeteaca]

African Treasure: The Story of Rooibos Tea

What do you prefer: tea, coffee? Maybe chicory? Wait, we know – rooibos! Did you guess it? Oh, even if not, TimeTea is sure that you will be interested in reading about where and how this amber-red drink comes from.

So, rooibos (or rooibos) is a herbal tea made from the shoots and leaves of a plant called aspalathus linearis. This specimen belongs to the Legume family and is a shrub up to 1.5 meters in height with small, needle-like leaves.

Aspalathus lineara in its natural form grows exclusively in South Africa – 200 km from Cape Town within the boundaries of the Cederberg mountain range. Today, of course, the plant is cultivated on an industrial scale, but still the plantations do not go beyond the Cederberg Valley. And all for the sake of a pleasant-tasting and energizing drink, which at one time replaced tea for local residents, and then for settlers from Europe.

The first to collect leaves and branches of Aspalatus lineara were the indigenous people – the Hottentot people. Only in the 18th century did the Dutch learn about the plant, and then – closer to the 19th century – the British also caught up. The fact of the “discovery” of rooibos for Europeans is attributed to Carl Peter Thunberg, a Swedish naturalist who was in South Africa on behalf of a Dutch company back in the 1700s. The drink was liked by sophisticated society, and at the beginning of the 20th century they began to export it with might and main. Today, the annual production of rooibos is about 12,000 tons, and half of this is exported.

If you are already tired of coffee and tea or need/want to give up caffeine, rooibos is a great option. It quenches thirst well, tones up, is useful for both adults and children, and can also be drunk without sugar. This herbal tea itself contains a sufficient amount of glucose.

Ready! We’ll dry it and sell it. In addition, rooibos contains enough vitamin C, flavonoids, and a number of minerals. In particular, the flavonoid quercetin has antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumor properties. Some studies show the effectiveness of rooibos against mutagens, CNS damage and free radicals. Although we, of course, recommend that if something happens, contact doctors, and not tea sellers.

Today you can find this herbal tea in any form: loose, in bags, in pure form and with additives. They even make so-called espresso from rooibos. In general, be sure to try it if you haven’t already!

[ask-elland-n-will]

Dear William and Elland,

Might I inquire what your favourite kind of tea is?

With warmest regards,

Admiral Turbo Mewington

"Earl Grey," both say in unison after William read the question out loud. They glance at each other and give it a good laugh: William — a cheerful giggle; Elland — a low chuckle, accompanied by an amused shake of his head.

"I mean, what better tea is there?" Elland offers.

"Right?" Will replies and flicks his wand wordlessly so that their portable picnic tea kettle flies up for yet another round of tea, rich in flavour, bergamot oil — strong in both taste and smell. William drops some honey in his cup before taking a sip. Elland drinks his tea just like it is since he is having it together with some already sweet pumpkin pasties.

"Want to take this one? I am not really picky about teas beyond that, you usually brew the best kinds anyway whenever I come to visit," Elland says. Will clears his throat and begins dictating his reply to a floating green Voges Quill.

Dear Admiral (what an interesting name if I may say so), Both my beloved companion and I find that Earl Grey is the kind of beverage that stole our hearts years ago and bewitched us with its citrusy aroma, both spicy and fruity to the tongue. But if I can also name some worthy contenders. I rather enjoy the earthy undertones of Puerh when I am in need of something substantial or Oolong when I want something light and sweet (although any white/herbal tea would work for me in that case). I also am not sure why but Darjeeling with a dash of milk? It's something else. And a separate category entirely is herbal teas. I have them before bed usually. Anything with lavender is great. Or flowers. Peppermint tea, Hibiscus tea, Sage tea... Ginger tea! Yes, I know it sounds funny coming from me. The only ones I really don't like are Rooibos and pure Chamomile tea. The first one — never liked it. As for Chamomile tea, I used to drink it often and at some point had too much. Now I can only stomach it when other herbs cover up the taste enough. Green teas in general are always nice, Sencha is the one that comes to mind. I enjoy any Matcha combinations: be it the classic one with a little ceremony beforehand or Genmaicha (you know, the kind made with roasted brown rice? The flavour is so unique, it is almost at the very top of my list!) If it is wizarding tea you are after, I once came into possession of a tea blend made with some fire seeds! I invited Leander to give it a try, and you wouldn't believe how pretty it looked, as if the teacup was on fire that was absolutely harmless when we took a sip! I should look into the magical teas some more but I hope this was helpful! Yours, William Abbott ☀️

"A teacup on fire?" Elland asks, sceptically.

"I've seen it with my own two eyes!" Will replies, folding the letter and passing it to his owl.

"I wonder if the fire seeds were actually involved and it wasn't some peculiar charm placed on regular tea. Wouldn't want the-totally-real Sir Admiral Turbo Mewington to get duped."

"You sound as if you don't want to give it a try, Sir Elland de Strontium."

"I never said I don't want to give it a try, Sir William B. Abbott."

Will groans at the mention of his middle name. He grabs one of the pumpkin pasties from Elland's plate and goes on to stuff his friend's mouth with it while the Hufflepuff halfheartedly tries to fight him off, laughing softly at Will's silly frustration.

[softgrungeprophet]

i forgot we owned an ice cream maker, and it turns out the freezer actually has room for the bowl! i also have random samples of loose-leaf tea so—

pics of the actual tea ingredients:

the lemon ginger is just regular storebought tea bags i happen to like to steep in chicken broth (recommended) but might be a nice ice cream so i thought i'd toss it in the options:

peach rooibos:

for the record this shit smells amazing and i am definitely gonna try to make ice cream out of it at some point. my mom made a cup the other day apparently and said it was very good. i don't really drink tea but i love tea-infused baked goods lol which is why i have a bunch of random shit i got from adagio as freebies when buying their tea cookies (RIP, i loved those things, i ate an entire bag in about a day and a half once)

anyway

raspberry creme black tea, also smells very nice:

guessing this has a kind of raspberries and cream flavor? haven't used it for anything so idk.

ginger chamomile cardamom black tea:

this one is a blend i made myself as one of my personal fandom blends and again, have not tried, because i don't actually drink tea unless it's sweet milk tea with boba, but it smells really nice. kind of herbal. would probably be good as masala chai tbh. man you know, i should try making a milk tea out of this some time. i don't have tapioca pearls but eh

vanilla birthday cake black tea:

this is adagio's birthday mix so according to them it's a mix of black tea with vanilla, caramel, and creme flavors, plus rainbow sprinkles.

[akkivee]

i tried out the hypmic teas!!!!!! i’m not a reputable tea drinker, since my preferred method of making tea is to pour boiling water on my tea bag and let it stew in liquid flames for minutes i’m sure feels like hours for the bag (i like my tea strong, scalded leaves be damned lmao) but i prepared it according to the directions and tasted it for there so it should be true to flavour lol

so the instructions for brewing the tea were as follows: 1️⃣ prepare a cup of 150ml (~2/3c) hot water 2️⃣ let it cool a bit and add the tea bag 3️⃣ let it steep for 3-4 minutes!!! so what i did was boil water and after adding the amount to my tea cup, i let it cool for 4 minutes and then steeped the bag for 4 minutes (…..and some change for the photos LOL)

❤️☕️: bb had a strawberry rooibos tea!!!! the tea had a very overpowering scent the moment i took it out and that was basically my warning LOL i wound up sipping that tea first and almost immediately sipped mtc’s, except that strawberry flavour lingers fr, so i almost did mtc a disservice. what was really neat about the tea tho is that for every moment the tea lingered on the tongue, the flavour changed and became bolder!!!!! i assume that was the strawberry notes changing to the rooibos notes but it was sick to experience lol!!!!

💙☕️: mtc’s flavour was yokohama afternoon tea!!!! it was an english black tea blend essentially lol but the downside of this is that, since it’s a tea i drink regularly and therefore over brew for my preferred tastes, it tasted weak to me lol, but that’s not the tea’s fault. i think it needed the boiling water personally!!!!! other than that tho, it was a lovely blend 😃

💛☕️: posse had a caramel and chestnut tea!!!!! it was a black tea blend tho, so again, it felt a little weak to me in the beginning. i wound up taking multiple sips to try and discern where the caramel and chestnut was coming from but when i could, i found it was similar to the bb tea where the flavours shifted over time. i wasn’t nearly as powerful as bb’s but i think that was again bc it was a black tea and needed hotter water to brew in. i added about 1/2tbs of sugar to each of these cups after my initial sips (i also like sugar in my tea lol i think it enhances flavour) and felt the flavours jumped more after that addition!!

🩶☕️: mtr had a jasmine tea and i’m not gonna lie lmao!!!!! after drinking this tea, it made me realise i had never had a jasmine tea that wasn’t over brewed LOL and i presume it’s bc cafes over brew for additives, but the astringency in those jasmine teas has always been off putting, even as someone who prefers astringency in black tea. now tho lol!!!!! it’s such a pleasantly flavourful tea i’m sorry we do your tea dirty lol!!!!!! thank you mtr for always guiding us to the light and showing me the error of my ways LOL

🧡☕️: dh had an apricot black tea!!!! and similar to all the other black teas before it, it needed a longer brew time or initial hotter water lol. like it came out of the bag smelling very strong so i had high expectations but was let down initially. but i was sipping on this tea as i typed this out lol with the bag still in the cup and MAN it’s such a nice flavour, especially with that added sugar!!! hotter water and a 7 minute steeping would absolutely do this tea justice 👌

💜☕️: bat’s flavour was kyouhou grape iirc???? and it’s the tea i’ve had the most trepidation about trying lol since jp grape tastes like medicine to me. i did have the bat grape candy tho and it tasted closer to grape jolly rancher that the medicinal taste i remember so i came in with a bit more hope lol!!!!! the bag had a very strong scent (it overpowered dh’s actually and dh’s was strong lol) but it’s a black tea so the flavour wasn’t as strong as it could have been. maybe that was in its favour tho bc the grape taste still shone thru even tho it probably could’ve used better brewing conditions!!!! and sugar definitely complimented that!!!! i also sipped this tea as i typed this out and tbh, that medicinal flavour became more pronounced as time went on, and it lingers lol, so i’d actually brew this as intended lol, maybe a bit longer to hit a stronger grape sweet spot

my favourite of the bunch just might be bb!!!!!

[watsername]

OOHOHOHO VERY GOOD and since we have similar taste imma need u to give us all recs or simply share all ur faves! I really wanted to order some again so i might as well ask an expert

alright let’s cover what bases we can . highlighting names for ppl who don’t want to read

for fruit tea i love the peach raspberry rose i use this one for iced tea too but i tend to leave it brewing in the fridge overnight for better flavour . very berry crush is the store best seller however .

. oh girl this is going to be long .

no added flavouring-

ok for black tea really depends on your strength preference my personal favourite is scottish breakfast (on the website as assam tgfop1 2nd flush ) i love assam its full bodied and malty it’s a single origin and anice alternative to english breakfast blends . darjeeling is a nice delicate black tea if you’re not a fan of super malty teas . indian origin teas are my favourite . margaret’s hope first flush darjeeling should be coming in soon too that’s a very exclusive tea only harvested in one area of the darjeeling province one month if the year so it’s very limited stock and £24 . returns every summer .

there’s japanese green teas we have genmaicha, gyokuro and sencha asigiri, as well as our classic green tea blend . personally i like genmaicha .

speciality teas we also have formosa jade oolong and silver needle white tea but the STAR of the show is milk oolong. she’s so phenomenal she’s £19 but she’s a gorgeous high altitude oolong delicate and creamy texture with buttery caramel notes its one of the best taiwanese teas i’ve ever had

fruity

black tea? piccadilly blend - strawberry rose and lotus flower . lovely fruit and floral blend with a delicate black tea base . her sister is covent garden blend which is black tea with peach and apricot with safflower and marigold petals . blood orange crush is also so so so good and has dried blood orange chunks in it it’s fierce

green- CHERRY BLOSSOM !!! she’s so gorgeous she’s a large leaf green tea with sakura petals and the most delectable a cherry scent and flavour i literally make samples of this for anyone i can it’s so so so good . mango and bergamot is probably the best seller tho

other- peach oolong she’s fierce . it’s pretty sweet and it’s such a fragrant tea literally it’s so good . we recently got in coconut oolong too which is limited edition it’s been pretty popular

floral

black - english rose is a classic . black tea with rose and slightly sweet too . orange blossom is good with the cute citrusy notes and fragrance

not many for green tbh but for other there’s a chelsea garden white tea which we recently just got in teabags which is white tea with rose (i like the rose teas)

spices/herbal

black tea- chilli chai is one of my all time faves but be careful bc the chilli really does hit the back of your throat if you’re not expecting it but it’s so warm and comforting . rhe classic spiced chai is a good alternative it’s your standard masala black tea and it’s really good on cold and rainy days especially.

for no caffeine there’s a few herbal mainly on the w wall in the large loose leaf caddies but if you ask for cinnamon vanilla chai or turkish apple or vanilla honeybush and orange they’re some of my favourites . there’s some rooibos if ur into that but i think only rainforest rooibos and blueberry rooibos are available

i don’t drink coffee so we are skipping that .

hot chocolate

for milk chocolate i think salted caramel (tastes like a crunchy) and cookies and cream (tastes like oreos) are my fave . coconut is limited edition and the best seller rn

for white . sticky toffee pudding is the way to go . raspberry ripple if also fierce it tastes like melted raspberry ripple ice cream

for instant teas

we got a bunch of new ones in and they’re all really fierce. lychee and rose, sour cherry and cranberry raspberry. literally cannot go wrong with any of them . turkish apple is my fave from the regular line

i think that’s it

[annaholak]

Wyrd Sisters Tea Poll (Part 3)

We all know witches love tea. We also know they're practical, and therefore would probably prefer teabags over loose leaf. But what brand of tea, and what kind of tea would each member of our beloved Lancre coven prefer (if they lived in modern day UK)?

Lets finish with none other than - drumroll please -

Magrat Garlick

Even though the mighty herbalist, that Magrat Garlick is, would succumb to the (unspoken) peer pressure of the older members of the Lancre coven and drink black tea, she herself would probably prefer something slightly different. But what? Would she go with the calming camomile tea, a sweet strawberry and raspberry infusion, some green (plain, or jasmine) tea, an organic rooibos infusion, or maybe the trendy matcha?

Lets vote!

If you answered "Other", please specify in the comments/tags/wherever I might see it. Same goes if you want to add anything about your choice, tea in general, the British and their habits, the Lancre witches, and so on and so forth.

Have fun!

[go-to-the-mirror]

i think it's absolutely rigged that this episode falls on april fools day actually. APRIL FOOLS! everything is still awful actually

Hi howdy this episode is so sad :( I'm so sad constantly about this episode. this episode. :( can't wait until the FUN season 5 bits where it's like they're GAY and there are so many ANALOGIES! instead we just have to wallow in sadness for a bit. so upset!! aa!!

Anyway yeah, lets go. I think when I listened to it at first I was really upset that I was at the end, like I was thinking "oh no I'm nearly at the end" back with 151. I still haven't listened to goodbye for now because it just makes me really sad that my favourite podded cast is over. I mean, good thing it's not now, but I still don't think I can make myself listen to it. I did put off MAG 200 for a while, and then when I actually did listen to it I immediately read Citrus' (CirrusGrey) fics about it.

Which, speaking of, it's season 5 time!!! Fuck dude it sure is! Not only a relisten, but a reread of all Citrus' fantastic fics!! YEAH!!! Ok, ok, ok, getting on with it now.

@a-mag-a-day

MARTIN You had- rum and raisin, and taught us all about emulsifiers.

He has the ice cream taste of a grandmother. Oh, also, funny story. So, we were getting ice cream, right, and I saw rum and raisin, and I got really upset, because Jon Sims had rum and raisin ice cream, and also the world ended. I don't- everything is a TMA reference with me, once someone asked me to open the door and I started laughing, because Jon Sims opened a door.

It's... very... odd.

JONAH MAGNUS (AS ELIAS) Knock knock.

Killing and maiming. I hate him so much. Die. Fucking die.

JONAH He didn’t have to. Nothing escapes my notice, and I like to keep an eye out for this sort of thing.

This guy is COMICALLY evil. like, not only does he end the world, but he ruins a cake surprise? why is he such a bastard?

ARCHIVIST Uh- thirty-eight.

HE JUST ADDED TEN YEARS ONTO HIS AGE HE'S SO FUCKING STUPID <3

TIM, SASHA, MARTIN (Crosstalk) -Jon. JONAH (Crosstalk) -Archivist.

WHY??? Literally, like, why, why, why is he like this, why, why??? Why did he do that? Why is he such an asshole? Why.

Why.

why.

ARCHIVIST If I wish for you all to go away, do you think it’ll work?

WHY ARE WE GETTING HIT WITH THE DRAMATIC IRONY BUS? WHY? "If I wish for you all to go away, do you think it'll work" STOP NO, WHY, WHYYYY...

it just makes me really sad.

ARCHIVIST I can’t tell you.

Your honour I am holding him gently.

JONAH He wished for a little bit of peace and quiet.

It's one thing to manipulate someone into ending the world, it's quite another to SHARE THEIR WISH? Dude. Why is he like this? This does nothing for him? He has taken one of Jon's only happy memories from working at the hell that's called an archive and twisted it into "oh boy, look at all that pain." For no fucking reason except to be evil. Killing and murder.

MARTIN Oh! Uh, (slight laugh) I mean- I don’t- normally- drink wine, you know- t-tannins are a proven headache trigger, and so-

Ooh! Fun fact! Rooibos tea has low tannin compared to other tea, therefore, Martin drinks rooibos tea, I make the rules.

TIM Oh! Yeah! I- just thought it might be nice, you know, something to look back on when we’re all old and sick of each other.

WHY. WHY. WHY.

"When we're all old and sick of each other" THEYRE NEVER GONNA GET OLD AND SICK OF EACH OTHER THEYRE ALL GOING TO DIE. THEYRE ALREADY DEAD AND THEY DONT EVEN KNOW IT. IM GOING TO CRY NOW.

ARCHIVIST (Crosstalk) (Under his breath) Oh, hypocrite.

I hate that it sounds friendly, like they're getting annoyed at each other in a friendly way, that Jon is friends with Tim and Sasha. Hate it. So much. Headinhands.

TIM (Crosstalk) Alright, alright, fine, look. I’m turning it off. Any last words for your future selves? ARCHIVIST Yes. Fire Tim!

ARHRRHGGGHGH </3

[Pause with clothing rustles]

CLOTHING RUSTLES!!!!! 🏳️‍🌈

ARCHIVIST It’s not- (struggling) you’re not the one who ended the world. (Archivist breath shows he’s close to tears)

Oh my god leave me alone. Stop it! Stop it!! It's just. Like. Christ. Oh my god. Oh my god. I can't even word properly, I just want to give him a hug, I just want him to be okay. Fuck, dude.

Why's jonny such a good voice actorrrr :(

MARTIN Are we still safe? ARCHIVIST Y-Yes. It- It doesn’t want to harm me. MARTIN And me? ARCHIVIST I won’t let it.

I like the way Jon's voice is in the "it doesn't want to harm me." Like it's sort of vaguely hysterical.

ARCHIVIST I’m just- I’m mourning a world I killed- MARTIN (Placating) I know- ARCHIVIST (Increasingly fervent) and we’re all trapped in its rotting corpse!-

I like this bit a lot. I think it's neat. I'm gay and I like rot. I need to read... what was it, thirteen stories I think? That's got the rot. I like the rot. 10/10 on the rot. Like hnmmn what Jane Prentiss says about the dead god, a world that was alive, was sentient, now dead, rotting with maggots and flies all over it, flesh squishy and yielding but also firm at the same time like a bruised apple, trapped on an actually dead corpse of a world.

That would be neat!!

ARCHIVIST Can you imagine? If we’d had this? MARTIN But we didn’t though, did we. ARCHIVIST No— MARTIN So there’s no point in dwelling.

ooOOOoooh title drop

but also... </3 like he could have kept them. he could have not done that. he could have not put the fucking solution to everything right after it becomes moot.

stabbing.

ARCHIVIST Healthy? I am an Avatar of voyeuristic terror, who unquestioned craving for knowledge has condemned the entire world to an eternity of torment; healthy i-isn’t- i,it’s not

I've written this so much on like every test, it lives in my mind rent free, it's hhnrnhrnnh holding it gently <3 like i don't even know what to say, this is a far cry from the whole mag 160 thing where it lived in my head rent free and so does a lot of words about it, here it's just... a lot of reaction images.

ARCHIVIST Why not? It- It’s quiet, here, and I have you.

ARHGHHGHHH

<333

ARCHIVIST No, it’s- I love you, I just— I need more time.

headinhands (good)

AND ALRIGHT CITRUS' FIC FOR TODAY IS SEVEN SLEEPS! WHICH I REALLY LIKE IT AND ITS JUST LIKE ITS JUST LIKE I KNEW WHAT I WAS SIGNING UP FOR, I KNEW WHAT THE OUTCOME WOULD BE, I KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. and like the whole bloody season it's just like it's just :( CITRUS ::::(((

read it. it's so good.

[turtlethebean]

JoMarina Week Day 3: Tea

Also available on AO3: A Much Needed Talk - Turtle_The_Bean - Criminal Case (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

Marina sat in her office with the two cups of sweet, amber Darjeeling tea that she had prepared for this session. Breathing in the smell helped to calm her nerves for this meeting. She had posed this as a friendly get-together between two colleagues who may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but her goal was to learn more about Jonah, more specifically, his weaknesses.

She needed to know more about the people who tried to kill her all those years ago. The people who gave her a scar, hospitalised her for almost two days because of where the bullet hit, and forced her to wear scarves just to cover it up. The scar still ached to this day, a constant reminder of what happened back then.

She couldn’t understand why they would attempt to assassinate a college student. Sure, she did expose them, but not a lot of people are willing to take college students seriously, especially when they talk about something like politics. Then again, money makes the world go around, and some people will do anything to protect themselves from losing it.

However, she acknowledged that she still needed to get along with Jonah. The two were coworkers now, two people working towards the same goal. They should be able to get along, even with their differences. The Bureau, after all, was known for some unlikely friendships amongst their ranks, and Marina knew pretty much all of them.

“Hey.” A familiar voice came from her doorway. She looked up to see Jonah standing slightly nervously in front of her.

“Ah, good morning,” Marina changed her demeanour into something more relaxed, “Come on in. Take a seat.”

Jonah finally got out of the doorway, closing the door behind him. He walked over to Marina’s desk and sat down across from her. He took the mug that she had laid out on the table for him and took a sip from it. He seemed to enjoy the first sip and began to drink it excitedly.

“It seems you’re enjoying your tea.” Marina smiled, happy to see him so excited over something.

“Oh yeah, it may be expensive, but I gotta say, Darjeeling is probably one of my favourite teas.” Jonah grinned back.

“I’m glad we can agree on that. I made sure to pick some up while we were in India. It is the origin country, after all. I knew I was bound to get some good quality.”

As she spoke to him, Jonah couldn’t help but notice Marina scribbling something down on a piece of paper. He began to get curious as to what it was, hoping that it wasn’t something bad about him.

“Hey, whatcha writing about?” He asked anxiously, not knowing how she would respond.

“Hm? Oh, I just take note of what everyone’s favourite teas are. It helps make people feel more comfortable when they’re in my office.”

“Well, in that case, you may want to write down rooibos as my actual favourite.”

“Noted. I have to say, though, nobody else in the Bureau has claimed that as their favourite tea as of yet.”

“Heh, I mostly like it because it reminds me a lot of where I grew up. I guess you could say it’s a taste of home.”

“That reminds me, where did you grow up?”

“Soweto, in South Africa. Well, that’s where I was for a good chunk of my life. We did move around a lot. Military dad? Y’know?”

“I understand. My mother used to travel around Russia and occasionally to other countries like China or America for her career. I always knew Saint Petersburg was my home, but sometimes it didn’t really feel like it with all the travelling.”

“I get ya. Funny how we both ended up in the Bureau then, huh?”

“Yes, but I do believe there may be a bit of a pattern with people who are used to travelling joining the Bureau, typically those whose jobs or parents’ jobs relied on it. For example, I know you’re close with Carmen, and being an investigative journalist means that she did travel a lot for her job.”

“True. Hell, that’s how I met Carmen. I had a couple of contracts in Yemen when she was there. We ended up talking about the war and it turns out I had some valuable information for her. I’m glad we stayed friends after she started working here. It’s great to have friends you can trust in places like this.”

Now Marina was getting to the parts she wanted to ask him about. The parts of his life that many would’ve buried, but he seemed fairly comfortable in talking about them.

“I’ve actually been meaning to ask you about your life as a hitman,” She leaned closer to him, “Do you know the type of person that you would usually take contracts from?”

“Honestly, at the time, I was kinda desperate for work. I used to take whatever was given to me. I started looking more into the people who were hiring me after the incident in Saint Petersburg, though. Knowing some politician hired me to kill you, especially since you were just a college student, the guilt’s been eating away at me for years.”

Marina couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for Jonah after that last statement. She was, at the very least, glad to hear that her story had changed the way he took contracts, helping him be a bit more responsible about the people he took contracts from. She always enjoyed changing people’s lives for the better.

That’s why she became a psychologist, after all. To stop people from living the same mental torment without any help.

She remembered that drowning feeling. Like the weight of everything going on in her life was dragging her down deeper into the sea of her own mind. Any time she got a bit of reprieve, another wave would come crashing down on her, dragging her back into the ocean of her own mind.

She hated that feeling and didn’t want anyone else to feel like that.

“Hey, are you…feeling okay?” Jonah asked, tilting his head to the side.

Marina had almost forgotten where she was when she snapped out of her memories.

“I’m fine. Sorry, you can go now.” She explained, closing her book like she always did when her sessions were over.

“Nah, I like talking to you.” He smiled at her sweetly, making any of the ice that was in her heart from her thoughts melt.

“Alright then,” She reopened her book, “What do you want to talk about?”

[zhongrin]

The contents of the letter reads...

Greetings and salutations,

May this letter finds you in good health, and in good tidings as well.

I am Mirko, a resident from Fontaine that's been planning to head to Liyue. I've been told that your teahouse here serves quite pleasant drinks, and albeit I haven't tried any, I'm quite curious to see what you have.

I apologize if I'm unable to visit personally, though. I have... matters to settle in Fontaine. It's difficult to explain without having the Hydro Archon herself damn me for saying too much.

If things get better in Fontaine, I will be sure to send a letter to inform you of my future visit. For now, this may be enough for our situation.

Speaking of, what kind do you serve here? Since you serve tea, are there variations to what you make? I'm quite curious, so I'd like to see what your best-selling ones are, if that's alright.

Till then, may the Hydro Archon, Focalors, guide you to safety.

Best regards,

- Mirko

— 💧🃏

꧁ Welcome to the teahouse, favored patron. I have made sure to relay the important points of your messages to Miss Meirin. Enclosed below is her reply.

hello mirko! nice to meet you! thank you for sending such a lovely letter! i'm honored that the fame of the teahouse extends up until fontaine! we serve all kinds of tea here at the teashop. some blends are made from liyue's local specialties - such as glaze lily tea or juenyun chili tea. we also have a few common ones like ginger tea, osmanthus tea, green tea, oolong tea, and rooibos. everyone prefers different things, thus usually they would consult us about their preference for drinks or their general palate so that we can suggest a few blends for them! if you don't mind, perhaps you can elaborate on your preferences so we can suggest a few selections of tea? thank you for your interest and hoping to head back from you, meirin

[fadedlovemp3]

Hey!! I was wondering how you make rooibos tea homemade/ what tea bags you use / and if its iced ? I was just curious if u had a recipe you love using and would recommend ^^ I absolutely loveee rooibos tea and have been using the rooibos rocks brand. i also had an iced rooibos w some other stuff in it in a tea shop once nd it was SOOO refreshing ! so yeah :) just curious if u had any tips and tricks! hope u have a fun day and enjoy!

omg hi it’s really nothing special n id be happy to share! this one was just the bagged Trader Joe’s blood orange rooibos and i did two bags of that and two bags of a basic bagged sencha green tea (but you could use whatever basic green tea is your fave) and then brewed those in a large glass jar for around 5 minutes? (ALSO if you’re doing this in a glass jar like me remember to put a potholder or tea towel or whatever underneath the jar bc if your countertop is cold and you pour boiling water in it can crack the glass which has happened to me before lol) and then i took out the green tea bags and let the rooibos bags sit for another minute or so then took those out and left it in the fridge overnight :)

i make iced tea like this pretty regularly in the summer and do different combos with herbal and caffeinated teas etc. like i said it’s really nothing crazy special lol but i like it 👍🏼

also as a little extra if you like doing tea drinks at home i would super recommend making your own simple syrup because it’s really easy and kinda fun to have around. im using my mom’s right now which is a mint lemon one which has such a nice fresh mint taste but you can put all kinds of stuff in your simple syrups. im planning on making a green tea infused simple syrup soon! i actually usually don’t take any sweetener in my tea and really only sweeten my tea if we have fun simple syrup around tbh

sorry this ended up being so long when i really didn’t say all that much lol but i hope this helped even a little!!! <3