Suntea

Summer memories are filled with suntea. Mom would use a glass gallon jar, fill it with water, and add tea bags. Then it sat on the porch in the sun for an hour or two until it was just the right shade of brown. Then we’d add sugar and lemon. Even to this day, as soon as the weather turns warm and sunny, I pull out a clear container add water and tea bags and set it in the sun.

Kandi’s Suntea

1 gallon cold water in a glass container
3 Stash Chocolate Hazelnut tea bags
1 Stash Peppermint tea bag

Sit in sun until dark brown. Then serve sweetened or not with ice.

It was a warm spring day with a hint of summer heat. The morning started with the heat of the bright sun beating down on the girls’ backs as they flew into Boeskay to do their market shopping for the day. Later that afternoon, the heat had intensified. The girls relaxed with some of Duskya’s iced tea out in the yard under the shade of an oak.

“Serena,” Carryn said, “what do you want to do after you’re promoted?”

“I don’t know.”

“I know what I want to do,” Carryn announced. “I want to stay right here and help Ma and Da. I might even try to help Da with the hatchlings. He is so good with the little dragons.”
From Dragon’s Cure, book 4 of the Dragon Courage series by Kandi J Wyatt

Tea Parties

In April of my freshman year, our family moved. For the first time since third grade, my mom didn’t have to work to keep the kids in private school because there was no private school to attend. So, each day after school, we were met with a tea party. Grandma’s tea cups and saucers and Mom’s fancy dishes held tea with some snack to go with it. My sister and I would sit with Mom and chat about our day. These tea parties set the tone for the purpose of a cup of tea.

I remember a time after being married and having kids that I returned to visit a friend who was more my parents’ age than mine. She met me at the door with a welcome greeting, led me to the dining room table covered with a nice tablecloth, and set the water on to boil. We sat and chatted over a cup of tea. Later, my kids had tea parties as well. Sometimes it was with play dishes and other times with the china. One summer, I made sure to have a tea breakfast every morning using the good dishes.

Tea parties are a great way to connect with your child or a friend.

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A little hand pulled on her own. “Come on, Grandma,” Glen said. “Mere told me to get you. Will you give us tea and tell us a story?”

She bent down to his level and tickled his tummy. “You want a story?”

He laughed, unable to talk, but Mere had rounded the corner and answered, “Yeah, Grandma. Tell us a story! One ’bout riders and dragons.”

Duskya looked them both in the eyes. “Have I ever told you about the rider who didn’t want to be a rider?”

“No!” they both said in unison, their eyes wide in amazement.

“Well, come have some tea, and I’ll tell you.”
From Dragon’s Cure, book 4 of the Dragon Courage series by Kandi J Wyatt

Leaf tea

When I lived in Ecuador, I distinctly remember a season where I came down with a cold. The locals came bearing gifts and advice to get rid of the cold. One of the gifts was a twig. “Heat this in water until it boils, and drink the broth.” I smiled and nodded, but there was no way I was going to drink a branch! It wasn’t until at least five years later when I was pregnant with my youngest that I learned about making my own tea.

Tea from the yard

My midwife introduced me to plantain. I had come down with a cold; so she led me out to my yard and found the weed. She picked a leaf or two, brought it back inside and created a tisane, all the while explaining that Plantain, what I had always thought of as a fun weed to pick the seeds off, actually is a natural antihystamine. When brewed with lemon and honey it sooths the throat.

Differences in Teas

About that same time, a tea shop came to town. It became my second to youngest’s favorite hangout. Unlike my grandpa, he despises coffee but loves tea. So, we’d often go for a cup of tea and sometimes a scone. We learned how to store black tea, and how to brew tea leaves. We, also, learned the difference between black and green teas and tisanes. (Black tea is made with fermented leaves, while green tea is made from non-fermented. Tisanes are anything other than the tea leaf camellia steeped in hot water.) We also discovered that green tea and tisanes are made with almost boiling water, while black tea must be boiling. Knowing what I know now, I’d love to return to Ecuador and take the manzanilla branch that was offered to me so long ago and make homemade chamomile tea!

“If I can have some hot water, I’ll make tea,” Kyn said.

“I will go get it,” Ben’hyamene offered. “I will, also, see how many rumors we will have to put out.”

“Thanks, Ben’hyamene.”

Kyn reached out to Deverall’s thoughts and found them completely tangled. Healing this man’s mind would be like having to unravel the knots that had formed when he braided dragon leads as a youngling. It was going to take work. Kyn wondered how much time he would need.

Ben’hyamene returned with a kettle of water. “You owe me, ray’a,” he said as he entered. “The isha of the house is very curious. Not only did I have to spin a tale about our sick and slightly intoxicated brother, I had to promise to bring her some of your tea. It had better work as well as you indicated.”

Kyn looked at him. “What do you mean? I never indicated how well it works.”

Ben’hyamene stared at him. “I could have sworn you told me. So, I told her. She will take a cup.”

“Okay. I should have enough for everyone.”
From Dragon’s Revenge, book 3 of the Dragon Courage series by Kandi J Wyatt

My husband on the other hand is an avid tea drinker. Only after twenty-two years of marriage has he finally begun to realize he can add enough milk and sugar to make coffee palatable. So, many hours have been spent with him over a cup of tea. When our eighteen-year-old was in third grade or so, a tea house went into business in the town north of us. We tried the place out and fell in love. Our little third grader would ask to visit the “Tea Cozy” any time we were in town. When I had the funds or if it was just him and I, we’d go in and share a pot of tea. Several years ago, the middle three kids and I spent a week in San Francisco. As we visited Chinatown, I was with my eighteen- and twenty-year-old. We went into a tea shop. The gal invited us to sit down and try some of her tea. Realizing this was a cultural offer to share from her life to ours, we gladly accepted and sat across from her at a short counter while she poured us tea. At his first sip, the eighteen-year-old inhaled wrong. His subsequent exhale sent tea all over the counter and just barely missed our hostess! It was social blunder, that the hostess took in stride outwardly, but I often wondered what she thought afterward.

One year for Christmas, I found a recipe for Chai Tea. I created packets to give out to my family members. It was a simple recipe and the grounds for a conversation between Kyn and Shylah in Dragon’s Revenge.

Dismounting from Wylen, Kyn greeted her. “I see mint, and thyme. I am surprised they can grow in such wet a climate.”

Shylah didn’t even bother to turn. “They do, along with fennel, dill, and cardamom.” Turning, she now looked Kyn over with a discerning eye. “’Ow do you know yer ’erbs, rider?”

“I was trained by a healer and an herbalist to identify plants from dragonback—that would be the back of my drake. They also taught me how to blend the herbs to make compresses and teas.”

“Then you would appreciate learnin’ cardamom. It adds a nice flavor to tea, along with ginger and pepper.”

My second year in Ecuador, I had a friend suggest I use a plant and make a tea. At that time, I pushed away from the thought. Boil a bush and drink the water? I don’t think so! Was my response. Several years later, I realized that bush, the manzanita, was the same thing as chamomile! I should have listened. That was my first introduction to home remedies. Fourteen years ago, my midwife introduced me to plantain. I remembered it as a weed that I’d strip the seeds from as a kid. She showed me how to go out into my yard, pick some of the leaves, boil water, pour it over the leaves, add lemon juice and have a tea that was a natural antihistamine. Later, I learned to add my own home grown lemongrass, mint, rosemary, and thyme to the plantain and make a very tasty tisane.

Now, I enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning, or a cup of tea. Either one works fine for me. I use a little bit of brown sugar to sweeten it and some milk to color it, unless it’s Celestial Seasonings’ Tension Tamer or Stash Peppermint tea. Those are fine without sweetener or milk. What about you? Which do you prefer? Any special teas of choice?