Yes, after a long wait, I finally got around to writing a review of the Mystic Monk Blend. I received a plain brown box from the post off that was actually quite lightweight. One need only to look at the shipping label to confirm that it was indeed the tea.
I actually received 3 blends, but this post will focus just on the Monk Blend. The monks ship their teas in nice resealable pouches. This keeps the light out and helps keep the tea from going stale.
The tea comes in nice little pouches that do not have stapled on strings with tags like the cheap big brands do. This saves on cost plus helps the environment.
You then proceed to boil the water and pour it over the bag. I usually decaf my own due to caffeine sensitivity. Brew it between 3 to 5 minutes. The monks recommend 4 minutes, which is about right. Any longer than 5 and the tannins will cause a bitter taste. As with the majority of black teas, except for Darjeeling, one or two teaspoons of sugar should be added to bring out the natural sweetness of the blend.
The brew is a nice amber hue. The monks describe the blend as being creamy, smooth, and having apricot honey characteristics. In order to pick up or the characteristics, you must slurp the tea towards the back of your tongue. It allows you to smell and taste simultaneously to pick up the flavors.
The tea is truly a smooth blend. It is what is known as an afternoon tea. It lacks the briskness that breakfast blends have and can be mellowing. It also has the characteristic of being “full-bodied.” This means that the tea seems to fill the whole mouth with its flavor. The honey and apricot tones are definitely there. They are subtle, so you have to slurp a bit to pick them up.
Finally, who can have a fine cup of afternoon tea without an assortment of cookies. My choice for this cup was a couple shortbreads and a couple Bordeaux.
I truly and thoroughly enjoyed the Monk blend and will be buying it again from the monks. I also encourage other tea drinkers to try their blends. If your not a tea drinker, try their Mystic Monk coffee lines in both whole bean and ground.
Today is a rather sobering day, for it’s the annual March for Life on Washington. Since Roe vs Wade was legislated from the bench over almost 40 years ago, thousands upon thousands of new children were denied a life. In this country, the ringleaders of the abortion movement are Planned Parenthood International. They were founded by the evil Margaret Sanger, an agnostic and white supremacist who wanted to rid the world of black babies. She also was quoted in an interview with Mike Wallace promoting the aborting of babies that would be retarded or a burden to our society.
We must not forget another forgotten means of abortion, The PILL. Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humane Vitae predicted the horrors of unleashing the birth control pill on society. The pill can abort a newly conceived embryo. Sadly, we do not know how many of these occur, but there are sadly even more abortions when you add them to the mix. The sexual revolution in this country is a failure. The calls of population control by progressives are unfounded.
The so called “right to choose” which isn’t a God given right at all needs to be debunked. The progressives claim a right to choose, but they really mean right to abort. Many groups like PP only are out to make a buck, and they are far from being for women’s health. As we speak, there are bills in the house to defund PP and remove abortion legislation from Obamacare. We pray to the Lord that these measures pass to further quash the “culture of Death” in this country. We pray that soon, the Roe Vs Roe decision will be overturned in favor of real constitutional laws, and not just Progressive wet dreams from the bench.
I leave you with a quote from the Vicar of Christ, Benedict XVI
“Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not… with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
Here, on Christmas Eve, we prepare to remember an event that changed the world and man forever. Over 2000 years ago, at midnight, “The WORD was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.” The Messiah, The Christ, second person of the Holy Trinity, broke through time and space and was born to a virgin as fully God and fully human.
This event makes us reflect during this time of Islamic terrorism on Christians in the Middle East. According to tradition, Christ was born and the world was still and at peace. May the Christians of the Mid-East be safe during this Christmas season from terrorist attacks.
I will leave you with a couple of scenes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where a small oil lamp lit shrine marks a metal star. The star encircles a hole in the floor where the original stable floor can be seen. Merry Christmas and God Bless.
Tom
Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois has given a public response to Governor Pat Quinn. Quinn claimed that the Catholic Church inspired him to support a legislative proposal for same sex unions. Bishop Paprocki criticized his remarks claiming ” if he wishes to speak as a Catholic, he must be accountable to Catholic authority, and the Catholic church does not support same sex unions.”
Only heterodox “catholics” that wish that the Church can include all sorts of moral depravities such as gay sex and unlimited use of contraceptives believe Quinn. Real Catholics following the tradition of the Church and her teachings know that the bishop is right. The Church has never allowed unions or marriage of homosexuals and isn’t going to start to.
I’ve been recently pondering finding a tea lover’s equal to Mystic Monk coffee. My search led me to come across Catholici-Tea. It’s a tea company formed by a Catholic couple that is based out of Michigan. They have a small but growing selection of gourmet loose leaf tea’s. Traditional black, innovative blacks, greens and tisanes. They are also planning to carry a line of oolongs. They also have brewed tea candy. Even the tea blends have a patron saint! Every month they choose a Catholic “celebrity” who will designate a favorite Catholic charity or group. A large portion of net profits that month will go to that Catholic charitable cause. At the end of the year, they take a smaller portion that was collected throughout the year and donate it to one of their chosen Catholic charities.
Their not exactly the monks, but they are just as Catholic and deliver a product not yet blended by the monks. Try their products today.
Today marks the anniversary of the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. Their fraternity was founded by John Paul II for members of the Society of St. Pius X who wanted to be in union with The Holy See. Their masses are exclusively in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and their sacraments are also according to the traditional forms. They have apostolates and Personal Parishes across the United States and Europe with a lay associated group entitled The Confraternity of St. Peter. www.fssp.com
Gregor Kollmorgan is reporting over at New Liturgical Movement, that there will be another EF mass next year at St Peter’s. This time, it will be celebrated by Cardinal Canizares at the Altar of the Chair! What are your thoughts? Sounds like we are getting close to an eventual Papal celebration.
Pope Benedict recalled today the last apparition in Fatima. It was on this day in 1917 that the Miracle of the Sun took place. It poured down rain for hours, when suddenly the sun appeared. The sun appeared to dance in the sky, in a multitude of colors. The people, of different faiths, were miraculously dried after having been soaked for hours.
Does anyone recite the Fatima prayer after a decade of the rosary?
Here is an actual photo from October 13th 1917 of the miracle.
You can see the sun in the distance appearing like an eclipse.
Kelly, over at The Careless Catholic blog, is doing a mantilla or chapel veil giveaway. One visitor to the blog will win a long black mantilla made by Joy of JJoy’s mantillas. Joy crochets mantillas and chapel caps to wear to mass in various colors. So stop on over to The Careless Catholic and check it out. Pics of the mantilla are shown.
Today in the Traditional Roman Calender is the Dedication of St Michael the Archangel. It is usually known as Michaelmas. After the Modern calender was implemented, It became known as the Feast of the Archangels. This was because saints Raphael and Gabriel’s feasts were eliminated and combined with Michael’s.
St Michael the Archangel
St Michael the Archangel defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil
May GOD rebuke him we humbly pray
And do thou o prince of the heavenly host
By the power of GOD
Cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits
Who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of Souls.
Amen
The Prayer to St Michael the Archangel, which is a popular prayer for use against evil. It was put at the end of the Low mass by Pope Leo XIII in the late 19th century. It became part of what was known as the Leonine prayers, named after Leo.
How many Michaels do we have out there today? Either first or middle names? My Middle name is Michael
