I'm allergic to capsaicin, the chemical that is the active ingredient in chili peppers and other hot peppers. Fortunately it's not a "one taste and OMG bring me my Epi-Pen and get me to the ER" allergy, but it's bad enough. In self defense, I've become very adept at detecting peppers and chilis in food by scent and initial taste, without actually consuming any of it.
This evening I made some herbal tea out of the David's Teas sampler that I got for Christmas/birthday. The tea was called "Sugar Plum Forest" -- sounds like it should be a sweet, fruity tea, right? The description of the tea on the package says: "And this tartly fruity, lightly spiced blend is the perfect winter companion. Just one sip and you’ll have visions of sugar plums dancing in your head. Not to mention apple, hibiscus, ginger and warm winter spices." So I'm expecting pumpkin pie-type spices with a significant helping of cloves and cinnamon.
When brewed, the tea smelled a little spicy, like the cloves I was expecting, but there was something slightly off about the aroma. One mouthful later, I'm spitting the tea into the kitchen sink because I taste *chili pepper* in the tea.
Looking at the ingredients list on the sampler insert, I see: Apple, hibiscus, rooibos, ginger, licorice root, raisins, cinnamon, rose hip peel, plum, cardamom, star anise, bruised pepper, cloves, chili pieces, artificial flavouring. [emphasis added]
WTF. All the WTF. Who puts chili pepper pieces into tea?
Someone who is trying to kill me, that's who.
From now on I am checking all of the ingredients in David's Teas because they cannot be trusted. Harumph.
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