S and I received another loathsome cafe experience today. To be truthful, I had been there once before and resolved never to come back. For the sake of coherency and to avoid accusations of libel, let me re-name it the Mauve Leek Cafe. The sneering, passive aggressive undergraduates; the wobbly, unaccommodating tables; the inexplicable racket that suggested a cockfight at the bar were only a few of the more outstanding reasons for me not to return. However, the one item of redemption is that this particular cafe is open later than most, providing a rare, if somewhat offensive, locale for those studying into the wee hours of the evening. The lateness and the chilling bite of the hour was persuasive in directing S and me back to the cafe, and we thus we went, harboring the small hope that we would not leave as vexed as before.
Alas, it was not to be! As I have indicated in the beginning of this entry, it was indeed a loathsome experience. Aside from the sneering undergraduates and invisible cockfight, S’s expedition to the lavatory was rewarded with the absence of toilet paper and mine own was rewarded with no working toilette; was there no greater persuasion to utilize the men’s lavatory! The caffeine-free tea that I ordered was impressive as well, managing to present itself in an incredible likeness to gardening mulch in both smell and taste.
As I silently weeped over my disappointing libation, the idea of a hot savory beverage appealed to my senses. While reposing inside on a particularly tempestuous winter afternoon, why shouldn’t a piping hot mug of savory hot be as complimentary as a hot cocoa? Aside from the famed and much aligned beef tea, what else can we drink that is neither sugary nor sugarless? Coffee is one suggestion, although I cannot give any advice about it, choosing to abstain from it. In my endeavoring, I have found a few alternatives that might please you, dear readers. Should you have any other suggestions, please feel free to engage in correspondence.
Beef Tea
- Recipe, courtesy of Soup Song
The standard. Should you find yourself in a pinch, heating a can of low-sodium beef broth will suffice.
Vegetable Tea
- Recipe, courtesy of Astray.com
A bit time consuming, but nutritious.
Tomato Tea
- Recipe, courtesy of Earth Clinic
Disregarding the claims to its homeopathic elements, this recipe is very good. That it also contains substitutes in the case that you are out of the required ingredients.
Reading about hot savory drinks
Savory Characters (Washington Post) - Mainly about the chilled alcoholic beverages. Bacon-infusion?
Staffordshire Foods: Bovril (BBC News) - History behind the classic instant beef tea.
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