milk AND lemon. . . .

I was probably 12 when I learned that, although milk and lemon were almost always on hand when tea was on offer, there was a reason I was always asked "Milk or lemon?"

It was a church reception of some sort. I ended up with no adult supervision at the tea table when faced with the choice.

"Why not have both?" I thought to myself, reasonably.

I quickly learned why not. Horrified at the curdled mess that resulted, I slunk into the kitchen and hid the evidence.

Now - would the same thing happen, do you think, if you put milk in tea that has lemon verbena in it?

I'll let you know. . . .

Meanwhile, I'm drinking Lapsang Souchong - no milk OR lemon - which I affected a liking for soon after that experience. It was in a novel I was reading at the time: Smoky, the Cow Pony - or something like that. The cowboy with Smoky was partial to Lapsang Souchong. "Smoky-tasting", he called it. Somehow I never once thought he meant it tasted horsey. . . .

I was all grown up by the time I finally came across to real honest-to-goodness Lapsang Souchong. . . . and he was right. It is smoky-tasting!