Gratitude: Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat Tea

When I am sick or my throat is a bit scratchy or I'm even just craving something warm and soothing, I make a big cup of lemon echinacea throat coat tea by Traditional Medicinals Tea.


A good friend of mine recommended the tea a few years ago when I was feeling under the weather, and since then I always make sure to have some around.

Even if you're not a tea fan, if you have a sore throat I think you'll find it makes life much better—or at least makes swallowing more bearable.

I finally got Conservative Hubby to try it a few evenings ago. Of course, I had to give him my germs first. But then, for the first time in what may be the history of our relationship, he asked if I would make him some tea.

Tea! This is the fellow that until about a year ago hated all hot beverages and refused to drink coffee. Now he regularly drinks coffee in the morning and requested hot tea. I thought I was going to pass out from shock.

So I made him some lemon echinacea throat coat tea and he drank it all without a word of complaint. When I asked if he liked it, he even nodded. Perhaps not the emphatic yes I was hoping for, but he didn't say it was nasty and slam the mug down in disgust.

See? So you'll like it too. I'm just sure of it.

Plus each tea bag comes with an inspiring message. And you can't beat that.

Iced Tea

It's not that I've never had iced tea before. I have. Of course I have. It would be an atrocity not to drink iced tea in my family, considering that it's a staple for a good number of The Eleven (as I've decided to call my father and his siblings–yes, there are eleven of them).

And no, not sweet tea. Can't do it. It's unsweetened or nothing, baby.

What this post is about is not the standard Lipton iced tea like I make on occasion. Rather, this is Ancient Happiness iced tea. Try it and I promise you it will make you happy happy happy, whether you are ancient or not.

You see, there is a wonderful little tea shop in Des Moines' East Village that I used to frequent quite often (and even got to write about for a National Geographic Traveler story on the neighborhood). It's called Gong Fu Tea and it's this absolutely serene spot filled with the most wonderful selection of teas that the owners pick from all over the world.

Although I no longer live in Des Moines, I still get email newsletters from Gong Fu Tea and buy my favorite loose leaf teas whenever I'm back in town. (You can also order them online, by the way.) So when I received a newsletter the other day for iced tea, I had to try it with some of my Ancient Happiness (shown above).

It's easy. And the result? Let's just say I'm itching to make another glass, and I may never go back to Lipton again.

Want to try it yourself? Here's what you do:

1. Steep the loose leaf tea as you normally would when making hot tea, only use 1/2 the amount of water. (This makes a concentrated cup of tea that you will dilute later.) So, in the case of Ancient Happiness, I poured a teaspoon of the tea leaves in my teapot, poured hot water over the top (remember, only half as much as usual), and steeped it for 3 minutes.

2. While the tea is steeping, fill a tall glass with ice cubes. Drop some on the floor for your dog to try out, if you're so inclined.

3. Pour the brewed tea over the ice cubes until the glass is 1/2 to 3/4 full.

4. Leaving the glass on the counter (it may be hot!), swirl it in a small circle (the folks at Gong Fu recommend doing this four or five times) so the hot tea melts the ice.

5. Add more ice so the glass is full.

6. Revel in your Ancient Happiness. Or, depending on the tea variety you selected, enjoy your time on Cloud 9.