Travelin' Light (green tea)
Travelin' Light (green tea)
Ingredients: Zomba green tea, spearmint leaf, licorice root
Good for: A post-meal drink or afternoon pick-me-up
Tastes like: Spearmint rounded out by smooth green tea
Makes you feel like: Growing a mohawk and moving to Morocco!
Art by: UNCLEMUK, THEartist
67 grams / 22 servings (1 tbsp per 8 oz water)
All ingredients organic, except Zomba green tea. Contains caffeine (~1/4 a cup of coffee). Tea can be re-steeped for multiple infusions.
Zomba green tea is grown by Satemwa Tea Estate in the Thyolo Mountains of Malawi.
Please note: Travelin’ Light switched to Zomba green tea (instead of Thyolo Roasted) in January 2023.
A smooth and delicious minty green tea in the vein of Moroccan Mint
Another one of my favorite teas from my travelin’ days was Moroccan Mint. They drink it all day and when in Rome do as the Romans do…
It’s a pretty simple tea, but they nail it. Usually just spearmint, peppermint, and gunpowder green tea. I dropped the peppermint and added a tiny bit of licorice to represent the sugar that is typically added to the tea (I don’t typically add sugar to my tea, but like I said, when in Rome…). Fun fact: You may notice two teapots next to each other in Morocco – one with a tassel, one without. The tassel means there’s sugar in the pot!
Instead of the traditional gunpowder, I opted for Satemwa’s roasted green tea. It’s their take on a Chinese green tea and it is pretty darn smooth. Paired with spearmint it makes a delicious, fragrant drink.
The art was done by UNKLEMUK, THEartist, an interesting artist I met serving tea at an art show in Mt Airy. He’s young and I really dig his style. If I had to describe it, I’d use the phrase, “psychedelic warlords of the apocalypse.” Very colorful, graphic, and well, Metal. I thought given the attitude of the tea Muk would be perfect for the job and he did not disappoint.
Vinyl Pairing: Bombino - Nomad (Nonesuch, 2013)
Bombino is an electrifying guitarist raised in a nomadic tribe (the Tuareg people) in Niger. His fluid and smooth style has been compared to Jimi Hendrix, J.J. Cale, and Dick Dale. For his second album he brought his Saharan Desert sound to Nashville to record with Dan Auerbach (of the Black Keys) and the results are worth checking out.
Further Listening: Tamikrest - Toumastin (2011); Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life (2007)
