Robust Beverage Society

I’ve been struggling with allergies and a lingering cold. Does anyone have suggestions as to what kind of tea might be soothing for a sore throat? I’ve seen several brands of throat-coat tea. I also remember hearing that chamomile was supposed to be good for a cold.

Getting me to drink enough water is a chore. When ol’ Dave is thirsty, water is NOT what he wants. Thank goodness for this little godsend of a powdered beverage. Just sprinkle one of these into my water bottle, and watch my liquid intake skyrocket. By now, you know that I’m a sucker for tea. While Lipton isn’t the be-all and end-all of tea, convenience sometimes overrides good taste, and this stuff is both convenient and yummy.

Occasionally, ol’ Dave (I’ve taken to talking about myself in the third person) drinks something from far off lands. Such was the case many years ago with powdered chrysanthemum beverage. Let’s not dwell on the where and when, but it’s been many a year since the day when I first imbibed this, and long have I searched to be able to drink it once again.

And there, one day, while surfing Amazon.com, it was.

This beverage consists of three things: 1) Powdered Chrysanthemum flowers, 2) Honey, and 3) Sugar; just not in that exact order. I bought a bag of 20 packets, which should last the Drinkinator a while.

It’s a heady, sweet nectar, very much in the vein on my beloved sweet tea, except that it’s properly served hot. This is especially good when you have a cold, but don’t wait for that. Any excuse will do. I rank this among the great beverages of the world.

Decaf. It’s like a swear word. You say it with disdain, as if your next reaction will be to rinse the foul taste of just saying the word from your mouth.

Yet, there are times when you don’t want that pleasant caffeine buzz, and certain people can’t have caffeine at all.

It would be a sad, cold, lonely world for those people, if it weren’t for folks like the people at Lipton.

Lipton may not be the greatest tea of all time (it’s a bagged tea, so it’s several orders of magnitude off from “best ever” status), but then, this is America, where we fought a war with the British in part over our right to import our own inferior grades of tea, without the steep taxes placed by the Brits to keep their high-quality tea competitive.

When the Drinkinator wants tea, he wants tea, not some herbal infusion, or fruity whatsits. Lipton is tea. Black tea. For many of us Americans, it’s what we mean when we say “tea”.

“But Dave,” I can already hear you asking, “How does it taste?”

I can honestly say, that I detect no difference in flavor between Decaf Lipton, and the plain old regular Lipton. Either way, it’s a good, basic cup of tea. Nothing fancy, nothing anglicized. No fruity whatsits. No herbal infusion. If you’re expecting high praise, you’ve not been reading me long enough. I will indeed praise a beverage worthy of exaltation, and condemn what I feel worthy of condemnation. However, much of the world lies in the middle ground. Basic stuff. Good for what it is, but nothing more.

It’s hard to get excited about a plain cup of tea. Harder still when its a brand so common as this. The best I can say is that I’m not disappointed in it. Weak praise, I know, but should you expect more?

This exhorbitantly priced tea drink ran little over $2 for 16.9 oz. at a local Souper Salad. This is a tea i won’t be reviewing; as to offer a review, would seem a tad “low rent”  and i fear a trifle unobjective.

j linc.