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02.08.09 Vanilla Date Flavored Black Tea with Coconut

February 8th, 2009

Tea Tip of the Week

Never fill your tea kettle with hot tap water. It might sound like a good idea to help get your water heated up faster, but have you ever tasted hot tap water? Noticed a funny metallic taste? Hot water heaters have magnesium anode rods built into them which are there for one reason only: to decay. The process of allowing the magnesium rods to break down is what keeps your hot water heater tank from rusting and breaking down. It’s a sort of sacrificial lamb. I’ll have my tea, hold the magnesium, please.

The date palm (Phoenix Dactylifera) is known as “The Tree of Life” and serves as a holy symbol to the people of the Islamic faith. Dates are perhaps the oldest tree crop cultivated by man dating back more than 5000 years. The fruit of the date palm is naturally sweet and honey-like and was once reserved for royalty and other dignitaries. In fact, dates have been found in earthen jars in the tombs of Pharaohs and Kings, so placed to give them sustenance in their trip to the afterworld.

When “zenbitch” suggested we make a tea with dates, we weren’t sure if it had ever been done before (which made us want to do it that much more). After several rounds of discussions with our natural flavorings expert, mostly just to assure him that, yes, we knew it wasn’t raspberry or strawberry or some of the other same-old-song-and-dance flavors, and yes, we still wanted it, we managed to create a tea blend that is amazingly satisfying to the discerning palate.

This blend is a little too complex to be quaffed like a glass of iced sun-tea after an afternoon mowing the lawn; this blend is going to require your full attention as each sip unfolds on your tongue, revealing the ancient flavors of a middle eastern bazaar: sweet dates, coconut and just a touch of vanilla. Enjoy.