Ingredients
rose - dried
sage - dried
mint - fresh
orange/ lemon slices
cinnamon
green or white tea
sugar/ honey
This recipe goes well with a recipe for a lover and a friend (pg 2.)
1. Prep your blend.
Now, really, the blend can be to your liking - any herbs or flowers you have lying around will do. This specific blend will include rose, sage, and mint. Not really my doing, but more because the man at Honey and Herbs misheard my five dirham request, instead filling up a huge bag of all three. I was too shy to correct his mistake, and coughed up the twenty bill instead, a miscommunication that hurts neither of us in the exchange.
2. Measurements are useless.
If you like rose, add more
If you like sage, add more.
If you don't like either, remove them both.
3. Add the blend to a pot.
I make my tea in a pot so that anything I don't drink can soak my space in a concoction of warm aromas.
Let the blend come to a boil with some water. It's no real technique, just leave it long enough to roll a cigarette and dim the lights. This ritual often comes before bed or falling asleep on the couch.
4. A crucial step: a cute tea set.
Drinking from any mug is an option, but a cute tea glass is all part of the ritual.
Tea time took a turn after I inherited my mother's first set: ceramic pot, mugs, and plates bought over 25 years ago from Anne's Antiques, a small shop just off the corner of 184th Street in the Bronx. The floral design, intricate and detailed, litter the set with pops of blue, orange, and yellow. What caught Mama's eye decades ago, now creates a space of beauty within ritual.
5. Activate your simmer pot.
This step must happen after you pour your tea out of the pot, but before the couch or bed engulfs you.
Return the sifted leaves to the pot.
Add a few more.
Add in your cinnamon sticks, a few citrus slices, and a little more mint.
Keep the heat on low and the scents fill your space.
Refill water every few hours or when low.
6. Decide your sweetness level:
Before the tea leaves the kitchen, a small contemplation sip is necessary.
If you take a liking to the taste, find your way to the next step.
If not, pause.
Add some sweetness. Honey and sugar are good options.
(Honey from the supermarket or grocery is a no-no. Stop by the honey shop and try not to get overwhelmed by the endless options; hair growth honey, protection honey, viagra honey - options for all kinds of nights.)
7. Sip.
Sit down on your couch or bed with your cup of tea. Light up your cigarette and turn on some music. Allow the tea to cool the harshness in your throat, until your cigarette is over, and your eyes become droopy.
8. Forget about the rest of your tea.
It goes cold on the bedside table; a ritual of rest and relaxation.
