~ Hobble Tea ~
While Avaleer is well known for its sophisticated apple wines, Avaleans prefer to spend their evenings sipping on hobble tea. It has a mildly sweet taste with little alcohol, but if you have one too many cups, you might find yourself hobbling home, as the name implies. Like most teas, the base is simply water, but hobble tea’s flavor does not come from dried leaves. No, instead, the key ingredient to this brew is flickerwood bark.
The flickerwood tree is very common throughout Avaleer. It prefers a damp climate, has a bright brown trunk, and its leaves are shaped like triangles. It has a high amount of sugar within it, most of which is concentrated in its sap, or drops as Avaleans like to call it. As flickerwoods grow in size, their outer layers lose more and more sugar, but in exchange, the bark begins to cultivate small amounts of alcohol within it. The larger the tree, the more potent the bark becomes (15 years minimum for the bark to begin changing). Once removed from the tree, the bark will retain its alcoholic quality for about two weeks (assuming it is kept in a cool place away from the sun).
After you have chosen a tree, look for bark that bends, not cracks, as you peel. Rip off several strips and place them inside a pitcher of tepid water. Let the bark sit then for 3 hours or so, dying the water mud brown. If you would like the the tea to be stronger, break the bark apart inside the water. When enough time has passed, pour the tea into a pot, bark and all, and boil the brew for several minutes. Finally, as you pour the now heated tea back into the pitcher, use a strainer to remove the bark (no one wants a splinter in their mouth). Before it gets cold, pour the tea into cups and enjoy a silly evening of Adults hobbling about.
Lemon cookies are best in the fall