Winter is here! So bring us some tea!
I, on the other hand, am first of all concentrating on the pure winter enjoyment basics: candles, an ample repertoire of colorful woolly socks and of course: tea. Even in my blog from last year, “OFF THE SLOPES AND INTO THE EVENING: thermal spa, tea and a herbal baths,“ I went into more detail with regards to my winter highlight of tea drinking. In addition to this, I would like to give you another fitting recipe, as well as some more ideas on how to make your own homemade winter punch.
Thank god for tea….I am so happy I was not born before tea (Sydney Smith (1771-1845))
What the British writer and Priest Smith has already so eloquently expressed, can also be translated into Pongauer dialect: “Life without tea is not so great!“ And this especially applies in winter.
Of course, one can buy ready made and prepackaged winter mixtures in all supermarkets and chemists. OR one could simply mix the tea oneself. Basic ingredients, such as peppermint, yarrow, thyme or sage, give the soothing brew the substantial healthy taste. However in order to bring the winter essentials into the tea, one should add cinnamon (stick or powder), vanilla (pod or powder), cloves, star aniseed, fresh ginger and/or dried apple slices (e.g. oven dried). With a splash of lemon, a spoon full of cocoa or a drop of rum, every cup of tea can be refined according to taste. For those who like it sweet can finish it off with honey or brown sugar.
Also for those whose tendencies lie more towards punch than tea, then I have something for you: tasty, alcohol free punch, which is easy to make yourself without much effort.
Ingredients:
- 4 tangerines or clemintines
- 1 teaspoon herbal or fruit tea
- 2-4 tablespoons of honey
- cinnamon powder
- cloves
- rum or no rum
To make this, peel four tangerines and work them into a smoothie with a hand blender. On the side, 1 liter tea (fruit or herbal tea) can be prepared, which is refined with some cinnamon powder and 2 cloves. I personally have used an Alnatura “Glücks“ (happiness) tea, but only because it was to hand at the time. You can really exploit all different kinds of taste, because the real taste comes from the tangerines and the herbs and spices. The tea and the tangerines are then mixed together in a jug and are sweetened with honey (2-4 table spoons). And voilá: you have your own quickly made, superbly done tangerine punch. And for those who prefer it with a spot of alcohol, can then simply add some rum to taste.
Finally, something that really brought a smile to my face whilst writing this blog: if you input “punch“ and “quote“ into the search engine, in order to find a suitable quote to spruce up the writing, then nothing really usable comes up - apart from this here: “people get on my nerves, but punch makes them bearable!“ (http://gfoidma.at/die-leit-gemma-am-oaschaba-da-punsch-mocht)
In the hope that you are in better company than the author of this superb quote, I wish you all a lot of fun whilst making tea and punch and I hope you will enjoy your own winter creations as much as I do!
