I called on Poseidon, I searched for all his sons

[sovay]

Because the weather has flipped suddenly autumnal and it is now possible to spend more than five minutes outside without melting into protoplasm, rushthatspeaks came by this afternon and sat on the front steps and we talked in person rather than over the iPad, which suffered a near-death experience on Friday and now has a new charger courtesy of selkie, since these days mayflies are envied their lifespans by Apple products.

The excuse for Rush-That-Speaks' visit was a packet of Mermaid Latte which originated with their friend ambyr and which they thought there was a strong chance of my actually liking, since the stuff is essentially an algae-based herbal chai; they requested only that I send them pictures when I tried it. I took a couple of minutes to look up the sole unfamiliar ingredient in order to double-check that it wouldn't kill me—it hasn't so far—and then asked spatch to pull out his phone.



I felt immediately like an unboxing video.



Or one of those recipe blogs that is secretly Marcel Proust.



I wasn't sure what to expect from the advertising, but I would in fact call that color marine blue.



Which I then had to dilute in order to get the rest of the cup of goat's milk in.



It was still blue!



Latte art was out of the question, but the swirl of the spices on the surface made a nice substitute.



Drinking from the mermaid's cup.



With great satisfaction.

Verdict: it's delicious! It actually tastes less like honey-dipped kelp than I had been hoping, but there is a distinct tidal flavor with vegetal undertones combining to suggest that when a salt marsh and a peat bog love each other very much, they go to a coffee shop and order a vegan chai latte. Having never before encountered butterfly pea flower, blue spirulina, ashwagandha, or whichever species comes under the header of "Arctic sea algae," I'm not sure how to distinguish their contributions from the general air of drinkable littoral, but the coconut and the honey and the five-spice powder are all present and correct. And it looks oceanic, which charms me even without latte art. I haven't had a powdered chai mix I could drink in years. I am delighted this is the one I've got.

P.S. And a package from yhlee just arrived, containing books and a beautiful jellyfish by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. This has been a significant improvement of a day.

Comments

[rachelmanija]

Amazing. I love that this exists and I want to try it.

[sovay]

I love that this exists and I want to try it.

It comes from Australia and I hope the post office is not too borked to ship it to you! (I hope the post office is not too borked for a lot of reasons, but I think a continuing supply of this stuff is one of the healthily selfish ones.)

[niqaeli]

...I'm going to be honest, I died a little laughing my ass off at the description on their web-site of Mermaid Latte, and then had to perform a dramatic reading of it for my audience going "...?" at me.

That said, I'd actually really enjoy trying something like that! It sounds really interesting, from a flavour standpoint.

[sovay]

...I'm going to be honest, I died a little laughing my ass off at the description on their web-site of Mermaid Latte, and then had to perform a dramatic reading of it for my audience going "...?" at me.

No judgment. (See rollover text on the first photo.) I have resigned myself to their earthy-crunchiness in the same way that I am resigned to the existence of [FōMū], which has the single most pretentious business name I have encountered in the wild but also makes the best coconut-milk ice cream locally available, so.

That said, I'd actually really enjoy trying something like that! It sounds really interesting, from a flavour standpoint.

I hope you can find some to try! I would even have enjoyed it seaweedier, but I am a person who has been known just to eat ribbons of kelp.

[julian]

So I take it there's something in usual chai to which you're allergic?

[sovay]

So I take it there's something in usual chai to which you're allergic?

Not in the strict sense, because in the strict sense I (knock wood) have no food allergies, but from about the time I was twelve or thirteen my one reliable migraine trigger has been caffeine. It's one of the reasons I never ate very much chocolate even before I was medically warned off it. Tea—real tea, even decaffeinated—is right out.

[kore]

....okay, the unboxing photos are just fucking adorable. Really.

[sovay]

....okay, the unboxing photos are just fucking adorable. Really.

Thank you!

[gwynnega]

It's a very pretty blue drink!

[sovay]

It's a very pretty blue drink!

A definite bonus!

[ambyr]

I'm so glad it was a success!

The tea originated with morbane, so truly, it is a well-traveled tea.

[sovay]

I'm so glad it was a success!

It was. Thank you so much for sending it to rushthatspeaks!

The tea originated with morbane, so truly, it is a well-traveled tea.

Now I feel as though I have inherited an obligation to pass it on to the next person, so I hope no one in the chain will mind that I plan to keep it and drink it instead.

Re: Latte Art

[nodrog]

I'm seeing a pastel watercolor of Earth, there.

Re: Latte Art

[sovay]

I'm seeing a pastel watercolor of Earth, there.

See rollover text. So did I.

[oracne]

Yum!

[sovay]

Yum!

I unironically like it!

[genarti]

Oh this looks fascinating! And like something I might very possibly find delicious as well as photogenic; ALGAE and BLUE.

[sovay]

And like something I might very possibly find delicious as well as photogenic; ALGAE and BLUE.

I found it both of these things! It may also be the first time I've seen spirulina outside of the kind of smoothies that terrify me and I'm glad to know it's not confined to them.

[yhlee]

I may have just ordered Mermaid Latte and Matcha Latte, although God knows, with the post being what it is, if they will ever arrive. We'll see? XD

[sovay]

I may have just ordered Mermaid Latte and Matcha Latte, although God knows, with the post being what it is, if they will ever arrive. We'll see?

Godspeed! I didn't look at their other lattes until now—I admire their commitment to the visual experience.

[isis]

Oooh, blue drink! I am intrigued!

[sovay]

Oooh, blue drink! I am intrigued!

I found it rewarding!

[thawrecka]

That looks delightful! I had an algae latte at a vegan brunch place once a few years ago, and it was so much better than I had expected it to be.

[sovay]

That looks delightful!

The packaging is a little medicinal, but I enjoyed the drink itself very much!

I had an algae latte at a vegan brunch place once a few years ago, and it was so much better than I had expected it to be.

Oh, nice. I'd had no idea algae lattes were even a thing until rushthatspeaks asked if I wanted to try this substance and I said absolutely yes. As alluded above, I had previously encountered spirulina in context of supplements and smoothies that tend to involve too many dark green vegetables for me not to classify them as dinner.

[nineweaving]

Take pleasure in your drinkable littoral. Blueness!

Nine

[sovay]

Take pleasure in your drinkable littoral. Blueness!

Thank you!

Algae chai strikes me as very Time City.

[ashlyme]

If you'd asked me before this post if I wanted to try an algae-based, blue tea, my answer would have been a flat "nope". Now it'd be "Hmm, can I find this in the UK? And if not, why not?" That really does sound quite lush.

[sovay]

If you'd asked me before this post if I wanted to try an algae-based, blue tea, my answer would have been a flat "nope". Now it'd be "Hmm, can I find this in the UK? And if not, why not?"

I feel I have accomplished something.

[asakiyume]

Wow, what an amazing color!

And you look very delighted by it, which speaks acres (or, um, fathoms).

Is there actually tea in it? And how come you haven't been able to drink powdered chai in years--is it that you can't have caffeine (in which case I'll take my first question as answered)?

[sovay]

Wow, what an amazing color!

I believe that's mostly the butterfly pea flower, plus the spirulina and Arctic algae.

And you look very delighted by it, which speaks acres (or, um, fathoms).

Thank you!

Is there actually tea in it?

No, despite calling itself "Blue Matcha Chai," it is entirely herbal, which is why I can drink it. The company seems to use "matcha" to mean a style of powdered tea, in this case the caffeine-free butterfly pea flower. I read the ingredient list and researched carefully before trying it!

[gaudior]

Yay!

[sovay]

Yay!

*hugs*

[nineweaving]

Fascinating. Like hydrangea, Clitoria ternatea (prudish botanists have tried to change the name of the genus) is pH sensitive, and the tea turns purple with a drop of lemon juice.

Nine

[sovay]

Like hydrangea, Clitoria ternatea (prudish botanists have tried to change the name of the genus) is pH sensitive, and the tea turns purple with a drop of lemon juice.

I don't know that I want to experiment with my latte, but I definitely want to experiment with the tea.

[brigdh]

Oh, wow, that looks fantastic! And your description of the taste sounds so good, too. I'm sad to see they're currently sold out, but I've put myself on the list to be notified when there's more in stock.

[sovay]

I'm sad to see they're currently sold out, but I've put myself on the list to be notified when there's more in stock.

I hope that's soon! I should have guessed that my friendlist would be interested in hot drinks that taste like tidepools.

[starlady]

That looks really cool! The color is remarkable.

[sovay]

The color is remarkable.

I'd never seen food that color that wasn't artificially dyed. (Or, you know, toxic.) I'm really pleased with it.