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This was good hot, but a notch better cold-brewed in the fridge. Subtly sweet and fruity. Wondering what it would taste like cold with some French vanilla creamer. (Off to experiment…)

Undermeasured a little this morning (oversized Tervis mug) so this didn’t come out a strongly as I’d intended. However, in doing so, I hit the fruity end of the flavor spectrum. A little grape-juicy. Works well on a sunny spring morning.

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you with chicks in your nest. My mom will get to spend her day at home after more than a month of hospitals and nursing home care; we’re praying it’ll be a peaceful one. May you be reminded all day of what clever, phenomenally unique, and pretty-doggone-thoughtful children you have.

In deep need of a little pick-me-up (further adventures in elder care), I hit Fox Farm for a little treat. This caught my eye because it said “strawberry,” because it was cheap (50 bags for $3.99) and because it was in a happy little red-and-white box that said “cheer up, droopy drawers!”

This steeps up really strong. Can’t read a lick of the Taiwanese ingredient list, so I don’t know what base they’re using, but it’s dark ebony brown with a pretty accurate strawberry taste. Not as elegant and ethereal as the strawberry-ish twist in Marco Polo, but it tastes like fruit and not like ICEE syrup.

A couple of sips straight up were fine, but on a whim, I splashed in some half-and-half, and I have me a fine cup of berries and cream. Also have some bags cold brewing in the fridge even as we speak. I think this is going to be a great summer tea.

(WIll keep working at finding a picture to post—I did finally land on the company website, but can’t get the English version to work for me.)

Enjoying the luxury of a slow cup and an Internet fix this morning before a day of radio silence. (Bringing mother home from nursing home to the farm. No connections unless you drive 5 miles to the McDonald’s wifi. Even hard to get bars for the phone unless you climb the pole, Oliver.)

As I roll this around in my mouth, I can’t figure out which of the ingredients is the most aggressive. Maybe the honey, since there’s plenty of sweetness left on the tongue after you swallow. It’s a nice hybrid of elegance (all that lovely, fun-to-analyze fruity flavor) and oomph. (Still strong enough to wake you up.)

Was toting around a colossal headache all day yesterday. A nice sit-down and a cuppa this, hot, did much to alleviate it. Officially, “headache tonic” isn’t on the cure-all list for sassafrass (benefits lean more toward detox and anti-inflammatory), but whatever it did, it did me good.

This is a Cheapster Steepster gem—I think it was less than a buck an ounce at our little independent health food store. Most of their bulk tea is San Francisco Herb & Spice Company, but I couldn’t find this variety on their website, so can’t verify.

At any rate, we’ve got a nice little blend of green tea (looks like sencha) tossed with lemongrass and bits of lemon rind. It is lovely lemony without being tart—more like lemon bread or lemon pastry. Any green tea flavor is very understated, not a bit bitter. Looking forward to trying this chilled.

This is up for an official www.itsallabouttheleaf.com review, and I don’t know that I can reach a measured conclusion about it until I see if it really truly makes four steeps as advertised. But first impression is favorable; this is a white tea with some muscle, instead of being glorified tinted water.

I don’t like subtle iced teas. I need my cold stuff to whap me upside the head. This does exactly that.

Breakfast tea notwithstanding, this is way too nice to doctor up with milk. Lovely and juicy on its own. Isn’t a bit drying or acidic in the mouth.

Fridge-steeped in the Homebrew jar (do I sound like a hick or what?), this comes out a little more acidic than the hot-steeped version. Lovely red-gold color, but clouded up a bit. I need to remember to try the baking soda pinch trick.