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+--- Thread: I can feel another experimiment coming on! (/showthread.php?tid=1326)
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Veggie - 19-11-2021
As an aside, I'm always puzzled by the term "Family Butcher". Do they slaughter a family to make their pies - like Sweeney Todd?
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Vinny - 19-11-2021
(19-11-2021, 04:40 PM)Veggie Wrote: As an aside, I'm always puzzled by the term "Family Butcher". Do they slaughter a family to make their pies - like Sweeney Todd?Like Mr Kipling he made exceptionally good pies though!
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Veggie - 19-11-2021
On the Free side, today I acquired 6 tubs of Twinings Cold Infuse tea with 10-12 tea bags in each tub https://twinings.co.uk/collections/cold-water-infusions
They're meant to go in your water bottle to flavour the water but I'm trying one (Raspberry and Hibiscus) with hot water - like herb tea - in a cafetiere.
Its nicer than I expected - and I've been topping up the same teabag all afternoon - its down for the 3rd time now!
I'd like to stop drinking coffee (black, no sugar if you're offering) and switch to homegrown herbal tea (free) but my repertoire is a bit limited. Hoping to get some ideas from these teas and wean myself off coffee.
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - JJB - 19-11-2021
If it's caffeine you're trying to avoid you could try decaf but I expect you've already considered that. P went over to both decaf coffee and tea when his heart started playing up. He still has choccy though.
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Veggie - 19-11-2021
No its not caffeine and I only drink weak black instant coffee -which is why I never go out for coffee. Its far too strong and overpriced.
The coffee I buy would horrify some of you - its Morries Savers Instant Coffee, 70p 100g and it comes in a bag, not a jar. Once emptied into a container, who's to know what it is?
The reason I'd like to stop drinking coffee is because its not grown in the UK and has to travel for miles before reaching my cup.
For the same reason, I'm trying to stop eating rice and trying alternative staples like Hodmedod's Quinoa (UK grown).
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Vinny - 19-11-2021
I like steeped Hibiscus flowers as a cold drink.
Nice flowery tasting red drink but don't think its cultivated for the flowers in the UK? 
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Veggie - 19-11-2021
I bought bags of Hibiscus flowers in Egypt one year - Karkade or summat. Very refreshing in summer.
Must look to see if you can grow it here.
EDIT Its Hibiscus sabdariffa/Roselle. https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_688A_hibiscus_sabdariffa
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - JJB - 20-11-2021
(19-11-2021, 07:51 PM)Veggie Wrote: No its not caffeine and I only drink weak black instant coffee -which is why I never go out for coffee. Its far too strong and overpriced.We drink lidls decaf, so no caffitionados ? sp here
The coffee I buy would horrify some of you - its Morries Savers Instant Coffee, 70p 100g and it comes in a bag, not a jar. Once emptied into a container, who's to know what it is?
The reason I'd like to stop drinking coffee is because its not grown in the UK and has to travel for miles before reaching my cup.
For the same reason, I'm trying to stop eating rice and trying alternative staples like Hodmedod's Quinoa (UK grown).
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Mark_Riga - 20-11-2021
I've grown quinoa a couple of years now. It looks like large fat hen plants. It's a bit fiddly to harvest but Ok listening to the radio or music, don't know about watching TV as don't have one.
You could try mint teas, not quite the same as coffee. Some are a bit wishy washy but I got a good one off my son which is now growing in a bath so plenty of it. It is probably Morroccan. My daughter has started drinking nettle tea so I keep a patch short so she can have young shoots.
I don't think I want to give up coffee though. The quantities i buy don't weigh too much and being fair trade, it's supporting the farmers there. Machu Pichu and Kilimanjaro as places I would have liked to visit but don't think you should travel long distances.
RE: I can feel another experimiment coming on! - Veggie - 21-11-2021
I already drink mint, sage, rosemary, lemon balm and pine needle teas but want to mix them with other things like apple peel, elderflower & berries, raspberries, rose petals & hips to make them more exciting. I forget to gather them at the right time though!!
I've been to Machu Picchu, it was on my bucket list, amazing place. That trip to Peru was also the first time I'd tasted quinoa and drunk Chicha - the "beer" made from maize which is first chewed by the Chicha maker whose saliva starts the fermentation! One of the other travellers in the group wanted to experience the real Peru, so I buddied up with him and we took a day off to travel by local bus to a small village on the hunt for a Red Flag. Chicha is made by families and they hang a red flag outside their door when they have chicha that is fermented and ready to drink. We went into the house, not knowing what to expect. There were a couple of rough wooden tables and some chairs, no customers, so we sat down and waited. Out came a little lady wearing all the bright layered clothing that makes them look so cheerful, and we ordered Two chicha. She looked shocked, and went back into her kitchen. She emerged, carrying a tray and 2 pint glasses of a pink liquid with an enormous frothy head, and stood back and watched while we tentatively sipped. From the kitchen came more and more family members, small children, old grannies, all watching us drink as if we were expected to keel over. It was actually quite pleasant. We asked if there was any food available and out came omelettes and hunks of fresh bread. It was lovely. Whether the chicha was strong or it was the altitude, I don't know but I felt quite light headed afterwards, waving and saying Ola to everyone who came out of their house to see these foreigners who had strayed off the beaten track!
When we got back on the bus, local people were giving up their seats for us. Such friendly and helpful people - one of the best holidays I've ever had.