I’ve never been a fan of hot tea. In fact I downright disliked it.

The only person I remember drinking hot tea when I was a girl was Granny’s Aunt Pearl. She moved off up north for much of her life, but in her later years she come home. She was really good to our family and really liked each of us.

I thought Aunt Pearl was fancy. She was always dressed up with lots of jewelry. I remember for a while she had a gentleman friend. He dressed spiffy and wore a nice fedora hat.

Aunt Pearl would sit at Granny Gazzie’s kitchen table with a lovely saucer and tea cup and drink her tea. She saucered and blowed it before drinking when it was really hot.

Pap and Granny never drank hot tea, but Miss Cindy went with a cup in her hand all the time.

Matt, Corie, and Katie love it too. When I have a cold or am feeling puny they all try to get me to drink hot tea.

I usually comply with their doctoring but have to choke it down as fast as I can. I’ve always told them it tastes like a barn stall 🙂

During my recent Nature Studies class at the folk school I discovered something that stopped my quarreling about hot tea.

One day while we were out foraging Kayla the class assistant grabbed some mint. Once we returned to the studio she made tea for everyone. I explained I didn’t really care for hot tea, but the day was so wonderful and the class going so well that in the moment I felt like I should at least drink a little sup.

I’m so glad I did!

It was good! No weird barn stall taste, no desire to gag.

I shared what I’ve told you with Kayla. She said “Do they sweeten the tea they make you?” I told her they always use honey to encourage me to drink it. Kayla said “That’s what you don’t like, the aftertaste of the hot honey.”

The next day we went to the folk school garden and Kayla grabbed a handful of lemon balm. She said “Tipper let’s see if you like this too.”

I did! Not as good as the mint, but there was no barn stall taste.

My favorite tea of the week was foraged from one of the trails behind Mill House. We gathered birch twigs, spice bush twigs, and a few leaves of wild ginger (it was mostly spice bush twigs).

Ila made the tea and then stored it in the refrigerator until we were ready to have our big meal.

Just before serving she sweetened it with a little sugar water. It was delicious!

At the first taste I was immediately back in Mamaw’s kitchen eating at the table while she worked at the sink.

Now I’m wondering if Mamaw used spice bush twigs to make her tea. Or it might be that whatever tea she bought was different than what Granny bought to make sweet tea when I was a girl.

Last night’s video: Aunt Arie 10.

Tipper

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