SC - Small Feasts-'unpl

[DianaFiona at aol.com]

In a message dated 97-10-22 12:19:32 EDT, you write:

<< 
 Others have mentioned assorted mint drinks. Some years ago, a
 "Persian mint" beverage was common at feasts in northern Ansteorra.
 (Bear, ya listening?) My current difficulty with that version was
 the amount of sugar or honey involved -- Type II diabetes, striving
 for control via dietary means, and one glass of that *now* would be
 far too much of a shock to the system...
 
 What mint-intensive beverages (beyond simple "teas") have others
 encountered which might substitute / be an acceptable alternative?
 
  >>
      Have you considered making the base with the artificial sweetener of
your choice? In this case, you would basically make a mint vinegar and then
sweeten to taste. If you don't mind tart drinks, you could just leave it
unsweetened, also. Since you typically use a small amount of the base
relative to the water it wouldn't be all that bad. Well, at least not to
me........, though if your opinion of vinegar matches my lord's that *won't*
work at all! ;-)
      There is also a South American herb called Stevia that is many times
sweeter than sugar that you might be interested in. I'm not overly fond of
the flavor, but it's not as bad to my palate as the artificial stuff, which I
don't like at all. And there are even some indications that Stevia can
actually be benificial for diabetics. It's not extremely easy to find, but
Frontier Herbs carries it. You might be able to convince a local health food
store to order it for you--Frontier will sell to anyone, but only sells bulk
herbs by the pound. As I recall, Stevia only costs about $18.00--$20.00/lb,
though. Not bad considering how far that will go, even if you like it well
enough to use a lot. It works pretty well in cakes and bread-y things, where
there are enough other flavors to  mask it's own, but I don't care for it in,
say, regular hot tea, myself. I have too much of a standard flavor that the
tea needs to match for me to like it....... But that's me--you might love the
flavor, especially if you are used to artificial sweeteners.

       Ldy Diana
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