tu me manques

Refreshing iced tea blend served with oxymel and fresh blackberries

tu me manques is the first phrase that came to mind when I tasted this new concoction I crafted last week as I felt nostalgic for summers that will never be and lovers who never were. “tu me manques” is how to say “I miss you” in French, except the best part is that you’re not actually saying “I miss you.” The phrase translates to “you are missing from me.” As we all yearn for connection and grieve the ends of life-changing partnerships and connections that will never blossom, the phrase turns over and over in my mind as an epic feeling to yearn for but rarely encounter.

In the summertime, I love to nourish my tea drinking habit by switching to iced. I choose a blend from The Cat & Kettle from my shelf, pop it into my cold brew vessel, and a few days later I see what I have around my kitchen to make a refreshing alternative beverage. Satisfying enough without alcohol, it’s been a welcome alternative to cracking open a beer for many years. At the peak of summer longing, icing Demeter felt uniquely apt.

On ice, TC&K’s Demeter blend is a whisper of a touch and a memory of cozier times both real and imagined. If you’re new here, let me introduce you to The Cat & Kettle, purveyors of tea blends and magic. Demeter is a blend crafted for a mutual friend, complementing Hades & Persephone.

When Persephone returns to her mother after her tour of the underworld, it’s clear that the ache has not just been on the surface as “I miss you” and happening to notice she was gone. It was a literal lack. So much was missing to Demeter and a piece of herself was so clearly not present, that the world as we know it disappears in the winter months. When it returns, it’s not without the memory of what it can be like when it’s all gone.

When I make these iced teas, I love to use it as an excuse to incorporate other ingredients I happen to have but do not use often, like bitters or herbs or oxymel, a honeyed vinegar that I received as a gift from TC&K last winter. The batch I have is tart and slightly sweet, which cuts nicely through the slightly sweet soft cornflowers of the tea, blackberries, and pleasantly fizzy mineral water. Crushing the blackberries not only lets us know it’s summertime but highlights the blue flowers of the blend.

Although this blend may not easy to recreate at home in this precise moment—order some Demeter tea today! buy or make your own oxymel! get blackberries at the Farmers Market!—perhaps this recipe will inspire you to create your own drink at home that features a favorite tea on ice with an assortment of specialty drink ingredients lurking in your cabinets. As you sip, you may remember something you’re missing or never had all along but feel soothed.

Tools

• Glass

• Muddler (optional)

Ingredients

• Demeter tea blend, iced

  • The Cat & Kettle blend includes Hops, Lavender, Oatstraw, Oat Buds, Orange Peel, and Corn Flowers

• Oxymel

  • TC&K’s version features apple cider vinegar, honey, and lemon balm

• Fresh blackberries

  • I tried three variations with blackberries whole, slightly crushed, and muddled. Muddled was the best!

• Mineral water

  • Use fizzier, sparklier water if you have it!

• Ice (optional)

Preparation

1. Muddle or crush blackberries

2. Add one dropper of oxymel

3. Add iced tea and water in proportions you desire, depending on the strength of the tea and your desires. I prefer equal parts.

4. Optional: add ice

5. Sip and enjoy!

Process Pictures

Assembled ingredients: mineral water, oxymel, iced tea, and blackberries

The original version with blackberries dropped in.

Muddled is best!

For another TC&K creation and more nostalgia, check out my other TC&K beverage blend: