portrait of a lady grey

The latest tea and a book choice is Henry James' classic Portrait of a Lady and Twinings' classic Lady Grey.  The 1881 novel is full of quirky Jamesian characters and the unusual romantic suitors of Miss Isabel Archer, and the citrusy tea is delicious hot or iced.  And what tea lover could resist this opening paragraph?

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. There are circumstances in which, whether you partake of the tea or not--some people of course never do--the situation is in itself delightful. Those that I have in mind in beginning to unfold this simple history offered an admirable setting to an innocent pastime. The implements of the little feast had been disposed upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I should call the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon. Part of the afternoon had waned, but much of it was left, and what was left was of the finest and rarest quality. Real dusk would not arrive for many hours; but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows were long upon the smooth, dense turf. They lengthened slowly, however, and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps the chief source of one's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour...

(Pictured:  The Hour of Tea, Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1914)

sober but still spirited sangria

For those of us lucky enough to live near supermarkets that are turning more Hispanic in food offerings, you're probably going to be able to find wonderfully grapey-sangría flavors of soda made by Goya or Señorial.  The latter comes from Mexico, and the former from Secaucus, New Jersey.  Drinking this soda straight is a little too sweet for me, but I like to use it to make non-alcoholic sangría.  Just in case you're craving sangría but still want to keep a clear head -- and the fun thing about the Señorial version is that it seems to taste slightly more fermented and alcohol-based, even though it's not.  You'll need: 

1.58 quart bottle of Señorial Sangría flavored soda or 3 12 ounce bottles of Goya Sangría soda (pre-chilled)

One 12 ounce can of orange, lemon or lime seltzer water (pre-chilled)
A good-sized navel orange
2 small limes
6 ice cubes
About one and a half cups of sliced fresh fruit -- like grapes, peaches, strawberries, melon, cherries -- whatever you prefer

Combine sangría soda, seltzer water and ice in a 2 quart pitcher.  Add the juice of one lime, then save the other lime for garnish.  Cut the orange in two and squeeze the juice of one half into the pitcher with the other liquids.  Cut the remaining sections from the other half of the orange and add to the pitcher along with the rest of the fresh fruit.  Refrigerate for another 10 minutes and then serve in glasses garnished with wedges from the remaining lime.

¡Mucho gusto! -- and the hotter the weather, the better this seems to taste.