Review: Lemon & Ginger - Twinings

Type: Herbal/Tisane
Producer: Twinings
Origin: Unknown
Brewing Parameters: 100°C, 3-4 min., 1.8g tea bag (recommended)
Appearance: Trapezoid-shaped paper tea bag with small chunks of ginger and some strands of unknown herbs
Rating: B+ | 88/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
The story behind this teabag is another short one. I think we received a box (or my parents returned with one) from Singapore or Philippines. One of my aunts included this tea in there, and I ended up taking it and drinking it often for colds, sore throats, and other ailments. Knowing that I'd review it eventually– it's been more than a year now– I put away a single tea bag for a day like today. And here we are now!

Since I threw away the box listing all of the ingredient information a long time ago, all I can really identify is the ginger. I'm guessing there might be lemongrass, but I really have no idea. After brewing for four minutes, the liquid came out a very dark, dull yellow with a bit of cloudiness. Sweet lemon was the main scent coming off of the tea, with some light notes of the ginger hiding in the back. Unlike most teas with ginger, I actually found the ginger to not be so overpowering; it's mainly a light lemon flavor that's more savory than fruity. The ginger mainly comes in as a feeling, rather than a taste. The spiciness of the ginger lingers on the tongue after the lemon taste quickly subsides, but is complemented by a subtle sweetness. It's been a while since I've had this last, but I can see why I went through the box so fast. I like it– and I think if you added honey, it'd emphasize the natural sweetness that's in this tea.


Other Notes
Today's album is Under the Western Freeway by Grandaddy. I mentioned Sophtware Slump, by the same artist, awhile ago in another review, but this is the album that got me into Grandaddy. In particular, the song AM 180 is one of my favorite songs by them; I have some fond memories associated with it. At my second California Extreme, I think, I brought my friends to the music showcase to listen to Slime Girls (the first of a few times I'd be listening to them) very late at night, around maybe 2 AM. They opened with that song, and I just remember being half-asleep, sitting down and hearing AM 180 in a tiny room that made me half-deaf after a few songs. It might have been one of the first concerts I actually wanted to go to.

Busy week. Finished at the DA's office for this week, with my last day next Monday. On the Fourth, I went to a friend's house for some food (really good ribs) and then worked at the ice cream shop, which was, you guessed it, very busy considering the holiday. Some notable things from that night were a conversation with a girl visiting from Virginia about college applications and another group of girls getting excited over my UCLA hat and talking to me thinking I went there (no looking back now about Cal, though. Trying to work on moving on from choices I've made without regrets).

My unitmate, who also works with me at the shop, called me out on flirting with them (which, admittedly, I sort of was) and says there's something about me that makes girls, but not guys, want to talk to me. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing but I guess she's right; I haven't done a single thing with any of my guy friends this summer. Hopefully that changes on Saturday, since I plan to watch a movie with the boys. Other things I have planned are a spontaneous trip to Golden Gate Park tomorrow (no idea what we're going to do, but that'll be fun), a tour around San Francisco with one of the people I met at UCLA on Friday, and a grad party on Sunday. After next week, I should finally be free to do more things since the Justice Academy finally ends. Still going to work at the ice cream shop, though.

Now, I've been procrastinating on an essay I need to write for my Berkeley online class. Expect a new post on Friday! My new schedule, if you haven't noticed, is a new post every two days.