Expectation vs. Reality

[ajb1978]

In the interest of science, I recently acquired separate pouches of rose hips and red reishi powder, for the sole purpose of seeing just what the heck these teas actually taste like.  Going into it, I was expecting rose hip tea to be tart and rather strongly flavored, since they are high in ascorbic acid and are used in making jams, jellies, and even mead.  I expected the reishi to have a bitter coffee-like quality to it, because I have heard it can be added to coffee as a nutritional supplement without noticeably affecting the taste.  The reality was somewhat surprising.

First of all the rose hip tea did not turn out red as I would have expected.  It's actually yellow, and looks like apple juice.  It's also not as tart as I was expecting, but it's definitely perceptible. Faintly tart, faintly sweet, but this is coming from someone who hardly ever consumes processed sugars.  If you're accustomed to sweets, the faint sweetness of rose hip tea may not stand out to you.  I have to admit, I rather enjoy it, and think I will be drinking a lot more of this in the future.

Reishi was more surprising, given that the powder completely dissolved in water to the point that there was hardly any sediment.  The color was about what I was expecting;  a rich, nearly opaque brown.  Holding it up to the window, I couldn't see through it.  But shining a high powered flashlight through the glass, it is a deep reddish-brown, almost a rust color.  The flavor is very subtle, and difficult to describe.  Earthy, not really resembling any other mushroom I've had before, but not bitter like I was expecting.  I can definitely see why this would mix well in coffee, because by itself it doesn't taste like much.  Not really pleasant or unpleasant.   I will finish up the powder I have just to see if it has any effect on my overall health (it is touted as an immune booster, although I rarely get sick anyway), but I don't really feel compelled to buy this again.

So there you have it: My unsolicited pseudo-scientific analysis of reishi and rose hip tea.

[ThePancakeLady]

Neat. I have had rosehip tea and jam before, made both from rosehips on my old farm, taught to me by Gramma. Never have had reishi tea or anything else made from reishis. I think I now need to try it. Thanks for the taste-test report.   

[Luciën]

This is an excellent post, lovely content.

Now who's up for doing a hypothermia review?

[ajb1978]

5 hours ago, Luciën said:

This is an excellent post, lovely content.

Now who's up for doing a hypothermia review?

Closest thing I have is a story about the time I found my friend drunk and passed out in a snow bank in only his underwear.

[Soul Sojourner]

Awesome.

[Luciën]

A drunk friend passed out in a snow bank. That is actually a horrid thought, and quite dangerous too. Good thing you found him! Oof.

I meant the whole thing as a funny remark but I guess nothing funny about hypothermia is there!

[deathbydanish]

I just happened across dried reishi mushrooms at a farmer's market, they are already cut up into pieces. I too was told they will have an earthy taste and go well with coffee. I will try to prepare them by boiling then slow simmering them as was suggested to me by the vendor. I'm not sick at the moment, but with winter upon us, it doesn't hurt to stack the odds in your favor.

[NardoLoopa]

On 8/30/2018 at 11:56 AM, Luciën said:

Now who's up for doing a hypothermia review?

While not quite medically dangerous hypothermia, I do have some experience being "bone cold".  In marathon training, I'd sometimes be running 22mi at 10F in clothes thinner than an Interloper start.  Even though I'm generating a lot of heat, I burn through my calorie store in the 3hrs I'm out there.

But this is the interesting thing to note: one time I got home.  Almost past shivering (so still not technically hypothermic), I hop in bed to sleep under a mountain of blankets.  Except I woke up an hour later almost as cold as when I went to sleep.  Because here's the thing: blankets are not "warm".  They are just insulation.  Which means they mostly reflect your heat back to you.  Though, I was broadcasting no such heat.

So the idea of being cold enough to take condition damage, and then sleeping in a bedroll at the back of some 34F cave, is pretty suspect.

(The next time it happened, I told the dog he could join me in bed.  Fixed everything, and he enjoyed the forbidden fruit of being on the bed)

[Luciën]

4 hours ago, NardoLoopa said:

So the idea of being cold enough to take condition damage, and then sleeping in a bedroll at the back of some 34F cave, is pretty suspect.

That is actually a very important insight. So that heat bonus would only be based on the actual warmth of your body. Which means, by the lack of any dogs, a fire will have to be lit first when in hypothermic position.

[BareSkin]

7 minutes ago, Luciën said:

Which means, by the lack of any dogs, a fire will have to be lit first when in hypothermic position.

Which is actually what we usually do, since being hypothermic you usually have to dry your clothes and stay above freezing for 24h. Not to be confused with Hypothermia Risk.

[ajb1978]

Mylar blankets should be part of everyone's winter emergency kit.  If you are cold, and not radiating enough heat for conventional blankets to be effective, that outer layer of mylar can make all the difference.  Besides being a nice windproof layer, it reflects heat back inwards, helping prevent it from being radiated out into the world.