Curioser and Curiositea; 'Turkish Apple, Yoghurt & Lime'

Firstly, merry Easter to one and all. Hope your Bank Holiday weekend has been relaxing and fruitful and everything you wanted from it. I also hope you hangovers tomorrow from excess wine and champers on this day of resurrection are not overly painful and that, unlike Jesus, you won't need three days to rise again.

I am well underway with my celebrations. The roast has been cooked and eaten, the vegan brownies devoured, the Oxford Cambridge boat race on the televisual screen and a pot of fancy tea brewed and being sipped upon.

How better to do Easter than with tea? And I figured I ought to share this little bit of Sunday joy with you all.

Today we have opted (amongst many) to indulge in 'Turkish Apple, Yoghurt & Lime'. It was one half of a gift from a friend for allowing her to stay at mine a few weekends ago. It was bought somewhere in York, I believe, from a company called Hebden Tea. In truth, I only know this because their logo is blazoned across the label. I have tried this tea before now, and I am certainly a fan, but this is my first time sharing it with family. I say family; I mean my father. He's like my back up tea drinker, with whom I bounce opinions on tea off of.

This tea is technically not a tea; it is, and I can hear your shudder the other side of the internet, a fruit infusion. I know, I know. I am a heathen. But hear me out. While supermarket bought, mass produced fruit infusions often taste like nought but hot water, or occasionally like it has been sieved through a shirt, artisan fruit infusions can be very pleasant. I have no qualms with finely made fruit infusions.

So, this Turkish tea, what of it? It is made up from solid pieces of dried apple, pineapple and lemongrass; there is also some flavouring, which I presume is the 'yoghurt' portion of this beverage. After letting it brew for a solid six or seven minutes (fruit infusions need this long, otherwise their flavour is weak and pitiful) it was ready for drinking. It has an intense yellow colour and a strong aroma, a heady mix of sweet pineapple and sharp lemongrass.

The flavour is powerful; both sweet and sour, yet well balanced. It reminds me of Swizzel-Matlow's Refreshers; almost fizzy, sugary sweet and biting at the back of your tongue. I find it, much like the namesake of the sweet, rather refreshing. It is not the sort of tea you would drink after a heavy meal, or when you want to relax, but more something on a clear summer afternoon, when you want a pick me up but don't fancy reaching for a chocolate bar. It's the sort of drink I can imagine enjoying while on a laugh-filled picnic with close friends.

When asked, Mr Dad had to say 'it reminds me of lemon meringue or warm Lipton's. I feel that it would be nice iced on a nice, hot summer's day'. I have to agree with the latter sentiment; this would be divine chilled, too cool down. Hopefully I will remember this on the one day of British summer.

Overall, if you dare to venture in to the heretical world of real fruit infusions, this is definitely a good place to start. If you're already a damned tea heathen, then it is still worth sampling if you ever get the chance.