I love looking at Bookish items on Etsy and one of the items you see often is book-inspired tea. For example, Agatha Christie’s world-famous private detective Hercule Poirot loves chamomile tea (as it is clearly stated in the short story “The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb” in the short story collection POIROT INVESTIGATES, first published in 1924), so people make tisane blends with chamomile and a few other herbs which remind us of his character. I personally think lavender is a clever choice because its grayish blue color reminds me of his supreme “gray cells” and the combination of chamomile and lavender is so calming. As a meticulous person, I secretly find it comforting to read about Monsieur Poirot making a fuss about the size of his boiled eggs. “I feel you, mon ami,” I say in my mind and take a sip of steaming hot chamomile and lavender tea… Ahhhh, perfect.

I’m always tempted to buy those literary tea blends from Etsy, but the international shipping cost forces me to think twice. Oh, how I wish I could smell them all first and then decide which ones to buy!

So, I decided to make it myself. (<– So typical of a DIY person!)

I went out to local shops and came home with a several different types of tea (Darjeeling, Ceylon, White tea, etc.) and some flavor-enriching ingredients like hibiscus, dried forest fruit, freeze-dried strawberries and cacao nibs for possible “whimsical effects”. I always have Earl Grey, Japanese green tea (sencha), rooibos and chamomile at home, so I didn’t bother buying more of those.

The first tea that I came up with is a HIBISCUS & FOREST FRUIT BLEND. Maybe it’s not creative enough because all I did was “mix” (what else could I do anyway!), but I seriously love it and I want to share the excitement with you! Honestly, I love its iced version so much that this vitamin C-rich herb tea is now my favorite thirst quencher for this spring and summer! And look how beautiful it is! While cold brewing the tea, I just mindlessly put the jug on the windowsill where sun beamed through. Look what I saw at the bottom of the jug: a red sunset on a beach!

I just had to give a thought about which book or character I would dedicate this tea to… It didn’t take so long before the perfect one came to my mind: Circe. Madeline Miller’s CIRCE (2018) is one of my favorite books that I read in the last few years. It reads easily and the Greek mythology-based story is so gripping, but more than anything, it really changed my view on Circe, the powerful enchantress. When I was a child, I was a big fan of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, from Homer’s ODYSSEY and consequently hated Circe for seducing Odysseus and keeping him from returning home to his wife after the Trojan War. As I grew older and my understanding of the world deepened, however, I somehow could not hate Circe anymore. I still thought Penelope as a clever and respectable woman, but I also felt that Circe, too, should deserve respect for who she was. After all, she was not human, and it was not fair of me to judge her with my mortal values. She deserved a happiness of her own. That’s when I saw this book in a bookstore and I was really drawn to it.

The fact that Circe is a daughter of Helios, the Sun God, and Perse, the Oceanid nymph, and that she lives on the island of Aiaia virtually alone makes this ruby sunset tea fitting for her. The crimson color also reminded me of her femininity. It’s not only her love and passion, but also her anger, pain, despair and sometimes her bloodiness, as well as her strength and weakness as a woman and a witch, are all reflected in this one shade of red.

That is also the reason why I personally don’t want to make this herb tea sweet. The aroma is wonderfully sweet from the berries, but the delightful sourness gives it a kick. To me, it’s like a statement that we women are not only sweet, soft and lovely, but also sharp, strong and playful… and much more!  

Below, I give you my recipe of this herb tea (if I can call this a recipe… it’s really nothing!). I hope you’ll also like this refreshing and empowering drink.

How to make my iced Circe tea

The ingredients are from De Tuinen (photo):

*Hibiscus bag: 100% hibiscus flowers.

*Forest fruit mix (Bosvruchten melange in Dutch) bag: a blend of hibiscus flowers, rose hips, apple, elderberries, forest berries, black current leaves, strawberry leaves and aroma.

I mix 1.5 tsp (heap) of hibiscus and 1tsp (heap) of forest fruit mix to 1 liter of water. If I have time, I add those dried ingredients to 500ml of hot water and brew it strong for 10 minutes or so. I don’t feel the need to make it sweet at all, but if you like, add honey or maple syrup and stir while the herb tea is still warm. When the strong tea is cooled down enough, add 500ml of cold water and put the jug in the fridge. When I don’t have time, I just cold brew it, meaning I just put ingredients directly into 1 liter of cold water. It requires a bit longer steeping time, but the results are basically the same.