Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 4 Ginger and Sicilian Lemon Infusion



 Alright, so first off - full disclosure - I am not a fan of lemon.  I don't mean that I'm not a fan of lemon in my tea (though that is a side effect of my dislike of lemon), I mean that I dislike the lemon subgroup of citrus as a whole.  I was never the biggest fan of lemon flavoring even when I was younger, but about 8 years ago now, every time I ate or drank something with a strong lemon component, I would get a stomach ache.  This means lemonade is off my list, as well as any tea with lemon in it.  Now, it doesn't happen EVERY time - but about 75-85 percent of the time, anything with lemon just makes me feel icky for a few hours after.

As such - I can't say that I was excited for this flavor yesterday.  Still - I gave it the ol' college try, hoping to land in that sweet spot percentage where the lemon didn't bother me.

Now, you might be wondering why Fortnum & Mason decided to list this as Sicilian lemon and not just lemon.  Well, I remember many years ago, Costco used to sell lemon juice made from Sicilian lemons and let me tell you - it tasted far different than regular lemon juice.  Like Meyer Lemons, Sicilian lemons have a very different flavor profile, hence the need to label the distinction.  Did this tinsane capture the specific Sicilian lemon flavor?  Yes.  Yes it did.


Yes, I did just call it a tinsane - that is because it is an infusion without a single tea leaf in the blend.  What IS in the blend is a WHOLE lot of ginger and lemon.  Oh my goodness the ginger and lemon!  I've had ginger and lemon herbals before and most of them taste like hot water that has been "exposed" to some ginger and lemon in passing.  Not so with this blend.  The ginger is STRONG and spicy and the Sicilian lemon is bold and citrusy.  Honestly, as much as I don't like lemon, I ended up drinking the entire mug because the flavor of this was so spicy and tasty.  The down side is that I paid for it later with a stomach ache that persisted for a good three hours. 


Final thought:  If you like ginger and lemon, you will love this.  However, since it makes me feel ill, it's not the brew for me.

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