The Goji Berry. A blessing.

One of the magical ingredients Erik picked up on his Chinatown adventure was a big bad of dried goji berries. Normally they are SO expensive in health food stores, the bag he got in Chinatown was $5 and we were just at Wholefoods last night and checked the same size bag was $18! So I did a little research this morning on Goji berries. Always on my pursuit of new ingredients for my own tea recipes!
So here's what I found out about the Goji. They are also known as Wolfberries. Or Happy Berries. They are high in antioxidants. They protect the liver, help eyesight, improve sexual function and fertility, strengthen the legs, boost the immune system, improve circulation and promote longevity. Apparently this tiny pink blessing in higher in vitamin C than oranges, higher in beta carotene than carrots and higher in calcium than broccoli! I think those last three are only if you eat them though. It's funny to me that almost every little herb and berry you research is a miracle medicine and if you drink or eat it you'll live forever, poop a lot, have a million babies and have clear shiny skin. I'm not mocking it, I'm sure it's all true, it's just funny how often it seems to happen.
Most people tend to recommend just throwing a small handful into your cup of tea in the morning to add a little pink tartness to your brew and then they're re hydrated and perfect for eating! Which is how you can get all that vitamin C, beta carotene and calcium!
I saw one recipe for goji berry tea that had cacao and I got inspired! I happen to have a bag of raw cacao beans! My wheels started turning and I started inventing. A super antioxidant tea! Goji berries, rooibos, cacao beans and a little crushed dried orange peel for flavor and added vitamin C. Yum! In theory. So I brewed my first pot. It's sitting here next to me, brewing. And now it's ready to be tried.
Ok.
Fingers crossed . . . .
Hmmm.
Yes.
Yum.
Not YUM!!! though. It needs a little tweaking for sure. It doesn't feel like anything. I don't feel wintery. Or summery. Or like I just got on a boat. Or the want to go to bed. I don't feel like I'm in a cabin in the woods. Or on a long hike. Or like by morning I'll feel better. I can drink it and enjoy it because it tastes like a witches brew. (Oh. I just named it! "Witches Brew," a cauldron of antioxidants.) It's rather earthy. Only earthy in fact. I think that's probably the cacao, that stuff is STRONG. (Don't ever think it's a substitute for chocolate. Because it's not.) I can taste the berryness, the tartness, which is the goji. The orange peel I used came from a bag of Chinese spices so maybe that's why it tastes so medicinal- you know, it's got that coatedness that reminds me of drinking herbal remedies, not neccessarily happy teas. It smells more like soup than tea. Which again, I happen to like, but may not be a good selling point. Ok, so a little tweaking is in order. I think I'll make a bag for Erik and a bag for people at work and ask for their opinions. The tea bag itself is so pretty! It's got the dark red of the rooibos then the wet dark of the cacao then the bright pink of the goji and the pale orange of the orange peel.
Perhaps some cinnamon might do the trick.
I don't know. Maybe it is good. Just as it is. I'll ask around.
And I'll keep you posted.