The Occidental kombucha kraze being safely over, I can now express my (recently-acquired) conviction that you can’t find a better vinegary breakfast cereal. Anyway, I’m obliged to support any beverage you can manufacture in a small closet. And by “you” I mean you, i.e. not me.

Thanks to: Leonard, Ann, Black Cat.

*Note – no added water.

You see a thing like ^that on a menu, and you might become excited!

But don’t bother.

Plus, tangerines.

I faint.

This wonderful drink is bettered only by the homemade raki provided by Adonis’ 90-year-old Cretan step-grandfather. Mr. Very Old Man adds sour cherry juice to his moonshine, and bottles it in even sketchier containers than the one depicted above.

See that hill on the left? Basically, I got lost back behind there. I did a similar thing to myself this exact same time last year: wearing too many clothes, wandering off into some barren back country, carrying no water, and eventually jogging in a half-panic. Always just to look at some lighthouse, or ruins, or whatever idiot thing. However, this time I found some killer pistachio trees, and I did not miss my appointment.

Then I stayed up too late drinking fresh retsina, and listening to some amazing music:

But, annoyingly, my mind kept wandering back to cheesy indie-pop instead…

Sigh.

One girl traded me a strawberry plant for a bag of whole, dried hibiscus flowers that a friend had just sent her from Mexico.

It would be subtle misstatement to say that agua de jamaica is a “traditional drink” of Mexico; the drinking of jamaica is pre-Columbian.

It’s been a long time since I had freshly-made jamaica (i.e. not bottled/with sugar added). On its own you get a bitter & tart & frighteningly red liquid. Delicious!

But then there’s BEN’S SPECIAL®, described on the menu as
“…a combinations (sic) of the choicest true fruit flavors and other pure ingredients blended with utmost care. $1.95.” Sounds good, eh?
Well, despite the glowing recommendation written on the menu (nevermind the big handpainted promo sign on the wall!) the old server behind the counter recommended against ordering BEN’S SPECIAL®!
Naturally, I took it anyway – with a straw in an 8 oz. glass.

It’s red.
It resembles neither “true fruit”, nor any other kind of fruit.
It resembles liquid bubblegum.

Anyway, aren’t their slogans old-timey and quaint? Oh dear, yes. Here’s what the place looks like inside.

Anyway, I have lots of miniature roses (which I used to breed) some citrus (which I used to breed) beautiful chiltepin peppers, wild strawberries from the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and one mint plant.

This mint is commonly known as “chocolate mint” (mentha x piperita f. citrata).
It makes a delicious drink when the leaves are steeped fresh. I do this all the time, and though the plant is vigorous – it looks poodle-esque from all the trimming I’ve done. It’s difficult to keep the æsthetics – I’m thirsty. It’s a beautiful little variety of mint and you can buy it anywhere now. It’s capricious, though – so be careful.

So the question is: What should I call this drink. IT IS NOT TEA. There is no TEA in this drink. Just mint.
Mint water? Mint juice? Mint tincture? I don’t know. But one thing it is not: Tea. No, I insist.