Taking the treat home

In my yoga studio after most classes the entire class (never more than six people) sits around and drinks tea out of Moroccan glass tea cups. The aprés class thé is a nice tradition. I cannot quite imagine it in America, as we are always rushing off to something else. Though I did attend one class where we came close to such a tradition, with an after class coffee on occasion (a la Christine in Golden Heart Yoga, Annapolis, MD).

What made this new tradition so lovely was not so much the camaraderie, my burgeoning French skills don’t allow me to feel at ease the way I do during the actual practice, but the actual tea itself. I discovered a new kind of tea. What was even more interesting to me, was that the tea was a generic brand found at the local Casino (French supermarket chain) as I discovered from the familiar graphics on the box. Not only was it delicious, but it wasn’t even some secret expensive tea leaf picked by monks on far away mountain tops. I could get it wherever I wanted! Here was a new tea, which apparently must be as common to the French, but completely foreign to me. It was mint with something else, and finally I got a look at the box and discovered Menthe Réglisee.

The following is the composition:
Réglisse, mint douce, arome de citron

The secret is the réglisse… the licorice!

I bought myself a box today and have now made my first cup at home. It is as good as in class, even if I am not drinking it out of Moroccan tea glasses.