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Use What You Have

April 7th, 2014

It’s sugaring season, that means my days and nights are filled with sap gathering and boiling. Since I have hot sap at hand, I use it to make my tea.
honeyroo tea
There’s no use in using more energy to boil water when I have something that makes a mighty fine cup of tea. Last night I enjoyed a delicious cup of Honeyroo tea – one of my favorites!

What’s your favorite kind of tea?

10 Comments to “Use What You Have”
  1. Mich on April 7, 2014 at 5:16 am

    Rooibos is my favourite tea, got a taste for it when visiting South Africa and have been drinking it ever since. :)

    Reply to Mich's comment

  2. Nebraska Dave on April 7, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Susy, never really acquired a taste for tea but if I must drink tea, it would be iced mixed with half lemonade. I believe it’s called an Arnold Palmer named after the famous golfer that invented the drink. Hot tea is OK for calming down for the night and once in a while I’ll make a cup of Sleepy Time tea. I have no idea what kind of tea it is or what’s in it. Not that I really need any thing to sleep but some times it just nice to have something warm to settle the tummy before bed. I never acquired the taste for warm milk. Ack!!

    I never thought of using maple syrup as a sweetener but I suppose it’s not much different that honey only with a little different taste. Once you start boiling down your sap do you continue to the syrup stage without stopping or can to stop for the night and begin again in the morning? Doesn’t it take many hours to boil it down or does smaller batches boil down faster? Looks like you are well on your way to reaching your goal for the year. How close are you to five gallons?

    Have a great use what you have day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

    • Susy on April 7, 2014 at 9:46 am

      You can stop, I turn it all off at night when I go to bed. I think I’m closing in on three and half gallons. I think the sap stopped flowing for the year.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. whit on April 7, 2014 at 9:43 am

    Wait a minute…do you mean you use a cup of boil sap substituted for water in tea?

    Our tea madame had this special kind of tea, only in the fall, that I absolutely love. It is rooibos based, and has pieces of pumpkinand something to make it taste creamy, and bits of vanilla bean. It is my favourite…iI make it like a cafe au lait, with tea and milk and a bit of grated nutmeg. Doesn’t really taste like pumpkin pie, which most pumpkin teas do. This is more like a pumpkin soup or something savory. The gentleman that makes it only makes small batches of it, so some times the tea madame runs out before I can visit. It is such a hit, I think the gentleman could become a millionaire on that flavor alone, if he sold it all year.

    Have a great day.

    Reply to whit's comment

    • Susy on April 7, 2014 at 9:44 am

      Yep, boiling sap instead of boiling water.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • whit on April 8, 2014 at 8:07 am

        Wow! That sounds rather awesome! I wonder what it tastes like? I thought sap was bitter until it caramelized.

        to whit's comment

      • Susy on April 8, 2014 at 8:36 am

        Nope not bitter. It tastes like slightly sweet water. In tea it gives it a sweetness but not too much.

        to Susy's comment

  4. amy on April 7, 2014 at 10:30 am

    Chai….My recipe has a rooibos/black tea base. Maple syrup and honey are my preferred sweetners……I tried stevia and sucanat for ages and still prefer the syrup and the honey:)

    Reply to amy's comment

  5. daisy on April 7, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    I’m a coffee drinker by nature, but sometimes peppermint tea just hits the spot.

    Reply to daisy's comment

  6. David on April 7, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    A good ole Arnold Palmer…iced tea. I’m nto a huge tea fan in general but I love iced tea and lemonade. It has become my version of coffee.

    Reply to David's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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