Recently my husband and I took a cruise that allowed us to go to multiple countries. We were lucky that our flight had a long layover in Amsterdam, giving us time to explore the city. My number one priority was to visit the Anne Frank House, which we were able to do since we bought our tickets 2 months in advance. I have to say, it was definitely worth a visit. Seeing the tiny rooms and the original bookcase hiding the part of the house everyone stayed in was sobering. The Anne Frank House is situated by a canal, similar to the one pictured below.
Across the canal from the Anne Frank House is a Tulip Museum, Cheese Museum, small shops and a store that sells both coffee and loose leaf teas. We went into the tea shop and spent waaaay too much time in there. I had a very difficult time deciding which tea I wanted to buy as my “souvenir” from Amsterdam. I was so indecisive that we had to leave the store to go to our timed ticket to enter the Anne Frank House. After our visit, we went back to the tea store. I’ve gotta give kudos to my husband. He patiently sat in the store waiting for me to make this “monumental” decision. I finally decided on the “Miracle of Amsterdam” Simon Levelt tea.
Like most teas in northern Europe, tea leaves are imported to the country but they use local flavors to add to the imported tea leaves. This particular tea is black tea, orange peel, marigold, jasmine and lavender. This has more of a floral taste with an orange peel bite at the end. If you like sweet teas, this one is not for you.
Why did I call this “Confessions of Amsterdam”, well you made it through the rest of this blog post so I guess you deserve to know the confession. Here it goes…I bought a single THC DRUG REMOVED cannabis FLAVOR tea bag as a gag gift for my best friend. I knew she was not going to drink it, but thought it would be funny. It was. She was just going to throw it out. Being the tea geek I am I wanted to try this DRUG REMOVED cannabis FLAVOR tea…just to know I don’t like it. I made a cup and literally only had 2 very small sips and threw it out. It was gross. It tasted like hay. Each summer I work on a hay field, so I know what hay tastes like. I assume this may be controversial, so I am going to defend myself. The drug in cannabis that is illegal was not in this FLAVORED tea. Even if it was, 2 itty bitty sips would not do any damage. I’ll never try it again and don’t suggest it to anyone else.
Rory, Tea & Me 