In the book Veil of Roses, Tamila goes to Starbucks where she is given a free sample of Mango Kiwi tea. She is confused and tells the barista that she isn’t interested, but he keeps giving it to her. My initial thoughts are:
- Starbucks has other things than coffee (I don’t go there because I don’t like coffee)
- I wonder if I could buy some to taste.
Searching their menu, there is none to be found. This book was released in 2007, so that is 10 years ago. The things that restaurants change their menus constantly to keep up with the ever-changing world. I understand that. So I decided to make my own.
Making the Tea
The process of making this tea was trial-and-error. It was exciting to figure out how to make it delicious. I decided to make a mango syrup. With fruit-infused drinks, black tea is the norm. So I ended up purchasing loose leaf Earl Grey tea.
Making the syrup required chopping the mango and kiwi into pieces and blending it together, so it can be somewhat infused into the tea. I used a saucepan, added 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water, and the blended fruit. You continue this until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Allow it to cool and add it to a pitcher.
To make the tea, you will need 6 cups of water. I usually eyeball these things, but for the sake of a recipe I’ll put number to it. Add the water to a pot , heat the pot until slightly before boiling. Remove from heat and 1 tablespoon earl grey tea leaves. I used the loose leaves, so I am not sure how much of the tea packets would do. I’m going to guess between 1-2 packets. Have the tea steep for about 15 minutes. Remove the tea [bags] from the pot.
Once cool, add it to the pitcher with the syrup. Add kiwi slices from 3 kiwis into the tea. Place the kiwis into the tea and put the pitcher into the fridge to cool.
Afterthoughts
This tea was very flavorful and very sweet. I wasn’t sure if you could taste the kiwis, but there was a hint of the kiwi. My children loved it though. They always love anything sweet that I cook for them.
What is your favorite tea?
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