The Best Tea for Time Travel
by Christine Shultz
Time travel can be a thirsty business.
Go back too far in time, and one has the choice of various alcoholic drinks — ales, wines, and if one is lucky, mead — and not much else. Water? Unfiltered, probably not safe. Milk? An unpasteurized bacteria playground. Coffee? Cocoa? Tea? All unknown in Europe before the 16th century, and nothing raises the suspicion of an indigenous people faster than quaffing unexplained liquids. For forays into ancient China, black or green teas might be safe, but the true time safari begs for a more durable beverage solution. Time travelers seeking to avoid anachronism — and hangovers — would do well to pack an herbal infusion. And the best choice among herbal teas is undoubtedly chamomile.
Chamomile, a short plant with feathery leaves and tiny, daisy-like flowers, grows wild throughout Europe and Asia. Egyptians have used it as an herbal remedy since ancient times. Even today, chamomile tea is recognized as a calming draft, often packaged with other herbals as a “sleepy-time” tea. And in the Utopian Collective of 3027, it will be one of only three approved beverages distributed free of charge.
So before you hop in that time machine, be sure to pack a pouchful of loose leaf chamomile tea. (Skip the tea bags, invented by a New Yorker in 1908.) You’ll be ready to visit anywhere and any-when, be it Cleopatra sunning herself by the Nile, or Shakespeare performing at his original Globe Theatre.
Bon voyage.
Tea Info:
Loose Leaf Chamomile Tea
Can Be Purchased: Adagio Teas
Website: www.adagio.com
Cost: $9/8-ounce bag
RedFence Rating: 9 (out of 10)
