bucharest

Hello World! 

The title says it all: today i want to show you 3 Romanian cakes. These cakes can be found in any cake shop and even at the supermarket. Or this was my experience so far.

If you ever find yourself in Romania, I think you should try these cakes, but try and make sure you buy them from a cake shop: they taste better there, for some reason, compared to the ones in supermarkets. Ana Pan is where you'll probably find the best tasting cakes, at least in Bucharest. 

i should mention that we do have many other types of cakes available, but i'll present the ones that are specific to Romania, and not imported. 

Ok, enough rambling: on to the cakes!

Cartof Cake

This is a pretty simple cake, and easy to recognize: it looks like a cocoa ball. It's also covered in cocoa powder and sits prettily on muffin-like baking paper. 

Besides cocoa, it also contains raisins, rum, butter, and of course sugar. It has a moist texture on the inside, though it looks dry on the outside. 

"Cartof" actually means "potato" in Romanian, so i suppose the cake is meant to look like a potato, but it's just a ball. 

You can eat it with a spook or fork, or even directly with your hands, but holding it through the paper it sits on. 

I vaguely remember seeing log-like cartof cake. Besides the shape, there's no other difference. 

Savarina Cake

This cake is pretty similar to choux-a-la-creme, I guess. 

This cake has a pretty big chunk of sponge-like cake as the base. I think it is baked in a muffin shape, given that it has some ridges on the upper part.

As you can see, they partially cut a slice on the upper part which they cover with a red jelly. They then use a huge amount of syrup, and then they add a good dollop of whipped cream. 

Unlike the choux cake, this one doesn't have any other cream nor pudding inside. 

While it also comes on some paper or cake cardboard, it's best eaten with a teaspoon or fork, off a plate. Some place now sell them in a small but deep enough plastic container, to avoid the syrup leaking everywhere. 

Excelent Cake

This is another chocolate cake. This layered cake has generous amounts of chocolate cream layers.

This chocolate cream is made with butter, and thus it can be quite heavy for the stomach.  

It's best using some tool like a fork or teaspoon to eat it, though eating with the hands is also possible. This is because it is also served on that specific cake paper. 

The chocolate cream on top and bottom is a different type. The one on top is probably ganache. The slices are about as thick as 2 fingers. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all!

This is a short entry, and I want to talk about a cultural shock I had last year, regarding the use of the word "Hallelujah!"

In English, you'd say "Hallelujah!" when something good happened, or when something you hoped for turned out the way you wanted. 

You'd sometimes say "Hallelujah!" to perhaps mean 'Finally!"

In Romanian, though, "Hallelujah!" is used to mean "What's done is done."

It is usually said in bad situations - when you lose or break something, especially something expensive or that you cared about, for instance. 

So, last year, I shook the sheet on the window. Below, at the ground floor there is a commercial space and they have some sort of shades, made of metal, that stand out and away from the building, in a horizontal position. 

If things fall there, they can't be easily retrieved. 

My sweatpants were wrapped in the sheet, and I grabbed everything. 

Before I could do anything, my pants fell from inside the sheet and onto the shade-thing of the commercial space. 

A told their mother, and her reply was "Hallelujah!" 

The shock! the horror! I was wondering, why is she so happy about my misfortune?!? 

It appears she wasn't: she was just telling me to forget about my pants. 

Desolate. 
Naked bushes scattered on the shalow snow
Make me feel as frozen as the air. 
The cold deserted scenery makes feel welcomed
Others pay no attention -
too much in a hurry to reach their destination
This is how winter nests itself in our hearts. 

Everything is quiet, cold and white. 
In the night, yellow and white lights show the roads blanketed by heavy snow. 
Hungry beasts bear their teeth at anyone daring to venture in the darkness. 

December just started as I start typing this. But knowing me, it will take a while for me to gather my thoughts and finish it.  -As I post this is already the end of January. lack of inspiration.-

However, I need some sort of a conclusion for 2018. It will help me with remembering things when I'll be older. Placing events according to a time frame is not my strongest point.  It does seem like I have many weaknesses, doesn't it? At the very least, one of my biggest weaknesses is (still) cleaning, as we all remember.

I'm sure you remember i drew a couple conclusions at the end of the past years. I'll link the 2017 one here, mostly for myself ... and to be able to compare the 2 years better. 

Last December I made my first resolution for the new year - you know the stuff I'd like to accomplish in 2018. I'll show a picture of it, and then talk about how I did.

The first picture is last year's resolutions. In the second picture I recorded my workout progress or efforts, along with how much i weigh at the end of the month. The last picture shows my resolutions for 2019. 

I think I did pretty well with working out. It didn't turn into a routine, but I did work out more than I expected. I hope to continue on a similar note and to improve. However, so far throughout January, I failed. I also did pretty well with studying Chinese last year. I think the worst was the calligraphy as I practiced nothing in that regard, though I did write by hand throughout the year. Just not for this specific purpose. 

I also did pretty well with less swearing - while i didn't record myself talking, I always tried to censor out all cuss words. I still feel like cussing a lot, and a times i do let out some cuss words. I was cussing a lot in 2017 - this year, so far I think i cussed once or twice. 

This winter came early - the first snow fell at the end of November. Of course people had to make snowmen. The 2nd one seen above, was actually VERY small -maybe smaller than the length of my palm? I had to squat to take a picture at its level. 

This winter didn't only come early, but it's also quite extreme. Last week it rained and there was a strong wind that turned the water into instant ice. It froze the grass, the trees, the fences, the parked cars, everything. Some tree branches even broke because of the weight of the ice.  

It looked beautiful - like a forbidden frozen city from a magical land where people were somehow transported. Yesterday, it all started slowly melting. I'm glad I took some pics. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

So, first things first. This entry is WAAAAY overdue, oops, as the event took place in March 2018. I was so disappointed with it made me delaying talking about it. But I still have the pictures, and I think the idea was rather cute, though some might find it  a bit ... of a cultural appropriation, and you'll see why in just a second. 

A bit of a background

In February of last year, I saw the ad for a school festival, done in Japanese style. In Japanese, "bunkasai" means "Cultural festival ." I believe this was the 2nd or 3rd edition of this bunkasai, and was inspired by the school-life of Japan - most likely because this is the only school in Bucharest teaching Japanese. I learned about the event from Facebook, and it seemed interesting enough to go check it out. Gotta say that such festivals are not done over here, unless things have changed, and I didn't get the memo. 

As you can see fro the above pictures, there was snow on the ground because a couple of days before, a snow storm hit us. 

About the Event

The Facebook ad was mentioning all sorts of attractions at this festival, such as sushi, a haunted house, workshops with origami, caligraphy, drawing and not only, as well as (maid) cafes - basically what you'd expect to see in an authentic event in a Japanese school.

Everything sounded great, at least on screen. But of course, the reality was ... different to say the least.  It was disappointing ... and a bit cringy. Mostly because it looked like a cheap imitation of the real thing - with which i'm familiar only from manga and anime, where it looks different. Add to this, the fact that some of the students organizing the whole thing, were wearing yukata (=a type of kimono worn in summer, made of thin fabrics) in winter! Just no! 

We went there towards the end of the day, and this meant that most of the stuff were over or sold out, if you wanted to buy something. This added to the disappointment. To enter the haunted house [or room, better said] we had to wait in a long line, and we just didn't feel like waiting. 

Let me show you some more pics from that event, though they're not great in any way.

I hope any future similar events will improve. I also think other schools could get inspiration from it and make their own unique events, or events that are more connected to Romania's identity and cultural heritage. 

We didn't spend a lot of time there, so we left. We went to McDonalds at Unirii Square. We got some fries that we gave to the seagulls on the river. It took them a couple of seconds to eat the fries. I don't have enough pics, and the ones I have are not even good enough, but I hope you like seeing some birds.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Romania doesn't traditionally celebrate Halloween. However, it so happens that thanks to the movies, series, and kids learning English in schools, this October event made it somehow in our lives as well.

Of course, over here, we only have the more commercial aspect, and so far, nobody goes Trick-or-Treating. Over the past years, I've seen young adults on the streets dressed up and with weird make-up on going to or leaving some Halloween party. 

We never really cared about it - we never dressed up,  never put make up on, never nothing. However, over the past few years, we always did something: going out to eat, or searching for ghosts downtown, or carving pumpkins. 

I will showcase our past October 31st adventures, and hopefully will be able to explain a little as well. Not all the pictures are nice though, so be warned. 

The earliest pictures I found date back to 2015. That year, around Halloween, i believe I was working the 2nd job I talked about in this post. 

Halloween that year was a grim one for Bucharest and for Romania in general, as a fire devastated a nightclub and 64 people died in total. The fire happened on October 30th, and you can read more about it here. 

I don't remember much else from that year that happened. It seems we went to an Irish pub on the evening of 31st, after the fire. I can't remember what we had, but the place was decorated for the occasion, and I vaguely remember it being full. We barely found a table. I think it was an OK evening out, all in all.

Sadly, for the year 2016, I have no pictures, no memories either. At the time, I was working as cashier in a supermarket. It was a tough job I had no time to go out and have fun. One of the reasons were that the job was also pretty far from home. 

These pictures are from last year, 2017. The big pumpkin is the decoration of a restaurant downtown. I don't think it was real, but I can't be sure as i don't remember if i touched it or not. 

We decided to carve pumpkins, just out of curiosity, and to do something fun. I remember we had a lot of fun while carving them. We took some pictures too, but I can't find them anywhere. I must have lost them somehow. 

One of the pumpkins was already a bit "injured" but we didn't see it before bringing them home. We had to keep them in water with bleach, to try and kill the bacteria, but the black spot still managed to enlarge quite fast. I think we kept them for about a week before we had to get rid of them.

We also tried to go find ghosts downtown, but I can't remember which were those. Perhaps we went before the 31st, or I deleted the pictures. In any case, we didn't find any ghosts because Bucharest is not known for its haunted places. 

This year, I decided not to celebrate Halloween. Mostly because it's a pagan celebration, and it's still this year that i decided to become closer to God. I can't have fun because it's Halloween as it would be against my beliefs. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

This blog entry is long overdue. At least a part of it. and at this point I'm not even sure I can still write it. but I have pictures i'd like to share ... or at least to keep safe somehow. 

So far, I have attended 2 cultural events in Bucharest. Or at least tried to because the first one didn't happen anymore because there was a strike organized by the organizers themselves. 

This happened in April of 2016. The weather was really nice at the time -sunny and all. I think we wanted to see Swan Lake but I can't be sure it's been too long back. 

We got there, got in, and we were waiting for the show to start. Except, we were waiting, and waiting, and half an hour passed and no ballet started. I took the chance to snap some photos there, as you can see below. 

In the end, the leader of the orchestra, or something, took the microphone and he announced there will be no show, that they're in a strike, and that we'll receive our money back. 

It was one of the biggest failures we could experience. It surpassed the failed shopping experiences from here and from here. Though, if i compare those 2 experiences with the failed opera, they might reach the same level. 

At least I got a few nice shots? And we might go again this year. We'll see. 

This is an event that happened in October 2017, and was related mostly to South Korean culture - history, linguistics, and other aspects.

The event happened before noon, and it had free snacks, with croissants and mini cakes. I remember this big guy there, was taking and taking more food. We couldn't really eat at that hour, but we tried to, since the food and refreshments were free, and some of the cookies looked fancy, thus expensive.

Still in the hallway, at the entrance, there was an art exposition. I forgot if they were real paintings or just prints. They were representing various landscapes from across South Korea. Most of them were breathtaking. However i forgot who their authors were - Korean artists or Romanian students who visited Korea. Next are some of the glimpses of the stuff going on before the highlight of the event. 

The venue where the contest was held was pretty small, however, we had very good seats with perfect view of the stage. The contestants were sitting on the first row in front of the stage, and there were 2 stages of contest. When the first part of the quiz was done, maybe 6 out of the 8 participants went on the stage, and they kept on being eliminated until first 3 places could be named.

The public could also participate in extra pop quizzes, still related to the Korean culture, and yes, it included questions related to K-pop as well. The winners received CDs or posters with Kpop music or artists, and other goodies, but all related somehow to Korea. The couple on the stage, in the images below were the hosts, and the man in the last picture was the Ambassador of South Korea to Romania. 

I wasn't lucky enough to win anything - mostly not fast enough to answer? haha But somehow, the event was pretty fun overall. 

I do remember that afterwards, both of us were pretty drained mentally. This was despite having eaten some of the goodies, having drunk and the event not lasting for all that long. But I suppose, the Romanians really are vampires, after all, huh? hehe

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

All living creatures have needs, and being able to take care of them is important. We clearly generally know the type of public toilets we can come across in our home-towns. But how about when we're abroad, or in cities we don't know? 

I obviously haven't been in all public toilets in Bucharest, but I have been in quite a few, and I can give you a few tips of where to go if nature calls. 

First of all, people can find public (and eco-) toilets on the side of the street. They're not the best thing to walk into, as they smell and are quite small, however if nature calls and you can't take it anymore, they'll have to do.  

The picture below is the toilet my grandparents used to have, in the countryside, near Bucharest. They recently revamped it, to look a bit better, but I haven't been there yet to see it. 

Next public toilets in which you can just walk into are the ones in the shopping centers and malls. In my experience, these can be a hit or miss when it comes to cleaness and smells. There are cleaning ladies doing their job on the clock, but sometimes they get overwhelmed as well, or maybe the toilet gets flooded. 

Overall, these toilets are cleaner than the ones on the side of the street. Many of them have a pretty standard design. While some have a rather unique design. For instance, one of the malls that opened quite recently, has an upside-down design, if i can call it that. When i walked in it, i thought i went to wonderland. 

Retro looking sinks and other elements were attached to the ceiling while the fittings you were supposed to use were modern. I believe there were actual toilet seats inside the stalls, hanging from the ceilings, that were fitted into lamps. I surely got dizzy, and expected to fall at any moment, but luckily it didn't happen. Surely this was on purpose, and the feeling I got was because it's not normal to see on the ceiling stuff that are usually on the floor.

If you're going to a cafe, restaurant, or bar, toilets are generally even more clean. They can also have a more unique design. For instance, the restroom at Starbucks coffee in Unirii Square has a really nice look. See the pictures below. 

The first sink is found before entering, and I like it more than the others inside. The wall decoration is really cool too. 

Some locations have more stalls, while others have just one for each gender. There could also be a situation where both genders have to use the same toilet. Well, whoever needs to use it will have to wait for their turn, of course. 

Do's and don'ts in a Romanian public toilet

Do expect privacy: the doors are generally hitting the floor and there is no space between the door and it's frame. 

Do expect to be able to lock the door the stall. We don't like to have to hold the door with our hands, though it could be helpful at times.

Do expect to find toilet paper. The Eco toilets might not have it though.

Do check to see there is topper paper in the stall, before you do your business. 

Don't throw the used toilet paper in the toilet- there are small trash bins in the stall for it, or whatever other trash you have. The toilet can get flooded if TP it's thrown in it. Some people don't follow this rule and flooding and smells happen as a result.

Don't under any circumstance sit on the toilet, nor climb it. You can sit if you have weak legs, but put some TP on its edge. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

2016 was one of the worst years for us. But there have been some nice moments as well. 

I need to remember the good parts of that year, as means to help myself heal from its dark periods. 

Some people .... especially motivational speakers as well as some spiritual gurus say you have the power to change not only the present and the future, but also the past. 

In practice, changing the past is impossible as not even God turned back time when the world was messed up - he just erased and started anew. 

The secret to changing the past/present and future, is to change our perspective of events we've been through or we experience. At the same time, any new experience must be compared to the past ones, and imagine the outcome when we take a certain course of action. 

For instance, if we know we can't help getting really drunk at parties, and that during a very drunk state we do stuff we regret, it would be wise not to go to parties. When the past is involved, when we have events we don't like, we should try and concentrate on the nice[r] or better events that happened at around the same time - like I'll try and do here.

I had a bad period before May. On the 13th we went out to the mall. I don't remember what we did there but we surely tried to relax a bit. 

Seeing the time stamp on the picture's details, i think we wanted to watch a movie. And checking to see what movies were released before then, Allegiant is the only one we could have been interested in at that time. [it takes a while for the new movies to make it to Romania, and i know we saw this series in theaters.]

I remember really liking the decor with these rainbow umbrellas. They were hung at the Starbucks Coffee entrance, in the parking lot. I think it was a sunny day, and the light made them appear more colorful. 

The next day, at about the same hour, we went to eat sushi uptown. 

Let's just say i really like sushi, i don't mind the wasabi one bit, despite my stomach, and im not grossed out by raw fish either .. nor the thought of eating it. 

The restaurant was pretty expensive in my opinion, but im not the one to like to spend a lot of money on a single item. 

Sadly, A didn't really like the sushi there. Somehow we also struggled with the chopsticks despite me having tried using them before. 

The restaurant's name is Yoshi. It reminds me of a movie i watched some 5 times already, and i really like - Bunraku. 

The same evening I also saw a store with high end decors and other items for the house. 

I like animal print, however, seeing it on a bathrobe or towel, i think it's a bit too much. I do like the wall paper though. The plain towels aren't that bad either.

Since they say those are made by Cavalli, i won't even try to imagine the price-tag. Let's not forget the up-town area is pricier than most others. Which is another explanation for the prices at Yoshi.

A few days later we went out again. We had a coffee at McCafe and then we walked along the river. I believe that's a flat white - I used to like it so much. <3 Hmmm, maybe I should try it again. 

I also remember that when it opened, McCafe baristas were trying their best to make really pretty designs on the cappuccinos. I don't think they are doing it anymore. Also at the time I was pretty addicted to coffee. These days I still drink coffee, but only in the morning. I'm trying to convince myself to give it up. 

I think it was at about that time that I started paying attention or being more interested in the traditional Romanian crafts and decors, as McDonalds had on the menu a limited time type of offer with some specific Romanian street food. It's pretty good, but can make one nauseous if it's not cooked well. And it has garlic, but almost everyone and their mother really likes it. I didn't try the Mcds' version, but I think it's better at the fair vendors where it's a common dish.

You guys have to remind me to make a post about all the coffees I drank over the time and to display all the pictures I took.

"A" remembered there was a pretty nice store somewhere uptown, called The British Galleries, if I'm not mistaken. I have no idea if the store is still open, though. 

The place had really cute things to sell, and was set in an old type of building. The merchandise was cute stationery, various items for the many rooms in the house, including kitchen and bathroom, and even souvenirs. 

We didn't buy anything, but we took several pictures there. I always wanted to show those pictures to the world, but I somehow never got to. 

The store was near Victoria Square, as seen in the first 2 pictures below. The last 2 pictures are from the street on which that shop was.

The next day I was returning home from somewhere. On my way I saw this shop with interior decors. The stuff was rather pricey, but there was a really pretty plate in the window. See it below. 

These days. the store closed down for some time. I think it happened sometime in 2017, towards the end of the year. I can't recall anything else opening in its place.

Then I have 2 pictures from 2 places I don't recognize. I also don't remember anything regarding what were we doing there. I think the weather was pretty hot though. 

All I can say is that they're taken on 2 separate days. But somehow I didn't take any other pictures between these two, judging by their names which are actually numbers. Enjoy!

Then It seems that at the very end of the month we went to a cafe. I believe I had a lemonade - read here why. The same day I saw a really cute car, I believe you call it a Beetle? Clearly I had to censor its registration plates, but even now I think it's really cute. 

I think that revisiting the year through these images and memories, did help a bit in purging the negative memories out.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Last night [june 28th] I had another strange dream. Like a visit to a different reality. Again. 

Before I start describing my dream, I want to point out I couldn't breathe in real life - the cold air made my nose stuffed. My partner was also listening to some music in the same room I was sleeping. On with my dream. 

"The sky. The sky is different... [i think to myself in the dream]. It makes me suffocate."

The sky was blue, fake, and had some sort of bubbles. "Am i actually underwater?" The fakery makes me think of a snow globe. "This is scary. I feel TRAPPED and watched ... from every angle - there's no escape". This saddened me, and even though I felt and wanted to cry, I couldn't. 

"What's this vibration? everything feels different than what I know, despite it looking just as i know it" This different vibration makes us be slower. And then HE told me, as we were about to go in the building <even if everything looks familiar, this is not your ****. Things are slower here. MUCH slower.> "What...? what do you mean?" <look behind you.>

And when i looked behind me, as i was trying to close a door, i see a trail of me's that were catching up to me, doing just what i just did. I also couldn't really move faster: i had to wait for my trail to catch up to me. 

I was hoping we would get home, where i could breathe and move freely. The elevator was slow too. HE was there too, and told me it's slower than i know it - and sure enough it was. 

[We got down -i don't know the floor, and HE headed to a different direction than i usually go to get home.]

there are many apartments on a single floor, not just 5 like i know. Some of the apartments had bars on the front door - and it was forbidden to go in them. plus we couldn't because they were locked. And the "ADMIN" had the keys.

We got in THEIR apartment and the TV was on, playing some music. some of THEM seemed to be watching whatever was on TV, but at closer look, they were acting more as if they were in a trance and looking through the TV. 

The energy was very heavy and dense ... that's when i recognized Jewel [im pretty sure it was him], but im not sure who the others were. As soon as I recognized Jewel, I wanted to cry, but my tears were dry. 

 <don't you feel lucky she chose you? She chose to live with you.. i know i do [feel lucky she chose me] ....... very.... very happy.....> [sad voice]

i realised just how badly i wanted to be back home .....and i woke up.. 

Now, about the weird sky. I have a small obsession with looking up at the sky no matter where i am.

This year, in May we had a full moon at the end of the month. According to this site, it happened on May 29th. And I remember going out in the evening to get some fresh air and i noticed the full moon being quite high in the sky [or farther than usual] because it looked smaller than usual. This was either the 29th or the 30th of the month, when the moon still looks full enough to the untrained eye. 

However, as June rolled in, something weird happened: there was no moon on the sky! At all! I didn't go out in the evening every night, but when I did, i looked up to see the moon - and if you live long enough in an area YOU KNOW when and where to search for the moon based of in phases. 

I couldn't find the moon! for several nights! I only recorded the sky in one night, and YES, i know the quality is shitty, and i am really sorry i dont have a better camera to record such stuff. u.u I couldn't see the moon in the sky for at least 4 evenings in a row! 

Then I stopped looking. then the moon phase changed, as did the weather as it started to get cloudy and rainy. 

 But the weird sky didnt stop with a missing moon! NO, sir! The next evening, after i recorded the sky with the missing moon, i noticed a strange light in the sky AFTER the sun set. it was almost 10 pm and there was still light out that evening, and a strange light RIGHT above my building! The source was hidden by a cloud. 

The light was pretty indeed, but WEIRD! the "event" didn't repeat itself the next evening.  

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

In Romania we call tea "ceai" and this word is very similar to the Chinese 茶 "cha2" where it originated from. Romanians have many different types of tea, and most of them are used as natural remedies.

This means that most teas here are made of various parts of various plants or trees. For instance we have cherry stem tea as a mild solution for UTI and not only, or linden flowers tea for a fragrant tea meant to calm you down. 

Caffeinated teas are not traditionally popular or used over here, though in recent years their popularity increased thanks to the international influence and trends. Fruity teas are also raised in popularity quite recently.

The linden tea is one of the more expensive types of tea over here. This must have something to do with the relatively short period in which these flowers can be harvested - end of May through the first week of June.

If you're lucky enough to have linden trees where you live, and you have an enough tall ladder, maybe you can pick some flowers next year. You need to let them get dry for at least a few days before consuming. 

You can mix them with any other tea, of course, but it's best by itself, or maybe with a fruity mix. All by itself, it doesn't even need honey - the tea is both fragrant and sweet enough.

Where to buy

There are several place where you can buy tea when in Romania. The supermarket is the easiest option, and most of them have a decent selection of teas. They are mostly green, fruity, or plant based teas. Some have brought fancy mixes as well that can be even offered as gifts.

Another place is the drug store. Their selection however is not that great, and you're highly likely not to find fancy teas there. They might also be a bit more expensive than in the supermarket. 

Another place is represented by holistic shops. These places sell all sorts of natural remedies, so naturally [sorry about the pun ;) ] they'd sell a variety of teas as well. Their selection of fruity teas might be disappointing, but they have plenty of herbal teas for many health issues.

Some gift shops or book stores are the last place where you could find tea. Of course, in these places the teas are pricier and the fancy and "modern" type. 

How to make

Unlike green tea that you can only brew for less than 30 seconds for it not to get bitter, most of the Romanian teas should be brewed for some 7 minutes at the very least, and generally about 10 minutes. 

For 1 cup, usually 1 teaspoon or maybe 2 of product is [are] needed, if it's a loose tea. If it comes in envelopes, so already portioned, only one envelope per cup. 

They say that if you want to benefit from the "remedy" teas, you should drink them unsweetened. However this is not always possible because sometimes the teas are bitter. If you must add something to make it more sweet, just try to add honey. 

By the way, if the tea is portioned, there are usually 20 servings per box. You can find bigger boxes than that, of course, but it's more rare.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.