Homemade Tea

If you aren't familiar with my blog here... I am a frequent patron (test subject) of my local Acupuncture school. I'm just trying it out to see what it's all about (that rhymed). Well, for the first time, I tried some herbs as recommended by my intern doc. I was given a bag of goodies and instructions on preparing it. I guess you turn it into a tea drink. If you look at the pic above: it looks like pine cones, seeds, tree branches, tree bark, berries and cut up logs. Can I at least have some dried apple in there? Well after boiling it for a while and seemingly steeping the flavors out, I strained the water (which looked like unfiltered apple cider) and gave it a little taste. I guess I was expecting bland tea but what I got was the most bitter, foul tasting sh*t you can imagine mixed with dirt taste. And with a lingering aftertaste of vulcanizing rubber in my mouth.

Ugh, I can still taste it. I was like there is no way I can drink this... like this. I thought to myself... dude, I'm adding brown sugar or something. But instead I added a bit of water and some peach juice I had from Trader Joes. Still rubbery and bitter but I knocked the drink down quick having the liquid avoid my tongue. It made me feel sick later. I had a headache and had to go to the bathroom. When I later cleaned the pot out, it looked like I just cleaned out the rain gutter.