It tastes like a warm hillside.
On a tea that grew up on the same hill as the temple above it.
The owner brought it without asking. Honey on the side. He pointed at the Acropolis the way you'd point at your own backyard.
Mountain tea is sideritis, a wild herb that grows above 1000 meters in the Greek peaks. It is harvested by hand, dried in the sun, and drunk by anyone with a chest cold or, more commonly, anyone with an afternoon. The Greeks have been drinking it since they were Greek. [^1]
It tastes like a hillside that has been warm for a long time. Honeyed without being sweet. Slightly grassy. Slightly something else — the dust the goats kicked up, maybe.
I drank it watching the cats argue with each other in the alley. The owner came back, refilled the pot without asking, pointed at the Acropolis again as if to make sure I hadn't moved it.
[^1]: The Pelion variety is the most prized. Don't tell anyone from Crete I said that.
- Find it
- Any kafeneio in Plaka or Anafiotika. The older the proprietor, the better.
- Order
- Tsai tou vounou. Don't refuse the honey.
- Pay
- €2.50-4.
- When
- Mid-afternoon, slow. There is no fast way.