As Valentine’s Day 2023 approaches, here’s a love story from our friends in the Republic of Georgia.
In August of 2021, Mary and I traveled to Georgia to meet with our then soon-to-be tea suppliers and friends who own and operate the Georgian Tea Museum in Tbilisi. During our visit, tea master George Bitadze led us through an extensive tea tasting. It lasted several hours as we sampled every tea and tisane available.
When we were finished, George told us about some of the new teas and tisanes he had been developing. One was a tisane in which he was especially excited. With a proud gleam in his eye and gentle affection in his voice, he lovingly referred to it as “his baby”. Unfortunately, he had only made a small batch and didn’t have any available for us to sample. However, he promised to send us some, as well as several others we weren’t able to try.
George then began describing this medley of Georgian botanicals and herbs which included; natural rose buds, mountain mint leaves and flowers, lavender petals, and Mandarin peel. He said when brewed it had a unique and beautiful green colored liquor. In addition, it was particularly nice to enjoy before bedtime, as it has no caffeine and actually helped you fall asleep. In fact, george told us they called it “the sedative mix”. With a wry smile I replied, “George, if we sell this in the U.S., we are going to have to come up with a different name”.
Not only were Mary and I intrigued by George’s description of this tisane, but also by his obvious delight in his creation of it. So, we pressed him for more details. He sheepishly admitted he had developed it as a testament of his love and affection for his fiancee, Miran. They were to be married in 2020, but the COVID pandemic forced them to postpone the wedding to an, as of yet, undetermined date.
Several weeks after returning home, we received our sample package from George, as promised. Mary and I watched the steeping “sedative mix” turn the water to the most beautiful and brilliant emerald green color. The aroma was an inviting bouquet and the taste was like nothing either of us had ever experienced. It was obvious to both of us this uniquely special tisane needed a name worthy of George & Miran’s love story.
And with that. . .
Miran’s Emerald Dream was born!
