September 22, 2025 • 34 mins
This delicate stone fruit packs a sunny flavor whether fresh or dried. Anney and Lauren jam on the botany and history behind apricots.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie
Res and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about apricots.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Mm hmmm hmm. The reading was intense on this one.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I have to say, yeah, but fun, fun.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, I'm happy when people write a lot about a thing,
so that's I'm happy that that happened.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
But I was struggling to comprehend some of the.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Scientific papers I ran across.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Oh there's some cool ones, yeah, but right, just just
other than that, apricots are just delightful. I have a
bag of dried ones sitting on my desk that I've
been snacking on for the past few days as I
have been compiling my notes. Here, you're an apricot person,
I like an apricot. Jam, I like a dried apricot.
(01:03):
I've never had a fresh one that was like good.
But also, I you know, we live in Atlanta, Georgia,
which is not where apricots are particularly grown.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So yeah, I'm about the same. I have a friend
who loves apricots like it's the thing she brings.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
She just has us a bag of dried apricots.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Okay, cool and loves them, so I appreciate her for
introducing me to two apricots at large. But was there
any particular reason this was on your mind?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Lauren?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
We did that episode about Amaretto recently, and I was like, oh, yeah,
that's Apricots been on our list for a while, so
let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, and here we are, here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, you can see that episode about Amaretto if you
would like to. We've also done one about plums if
you would like to see that, and a couple of
like cherry related episodes.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Sure. Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And a lot of people brought up Peaches. Yeah, I've
done an episode on Peaches. I remember because we had
to do it twice because the first recording failed.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
On my Are you sure, yes, Lauren? I am sure?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Are you totally positive? Oh? Okay, yeah, no, no, we
have you you're correct?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Great. No, we had to record it twice. I've never
forgotten it. I clearly did.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Oh that was from that was from twenty twenty though.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So that year was a mess. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was a failing on my part. The power went out.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Oh and I lost the recording.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Oh oh I do vaguely remember that. Yeah, yes, so
if you go back and listen to that episode. Just no,
that was a take too, uh, But I suppose this
brings us to our question.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Sure, yeah, apricots.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
What are they?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Well, Apricots are a type of smallish stone fruit with
a pretty orangish color and this tart sweet flavor that's
bright and fruity and a little floral and rich like
sort of golden tasting. They're oval to roundish in shape,
up to like three to four inches long that's about
(03:28):
five to seven centimeters, and have this thin, tender, slightly
fuzzy skin encasing juicy, kind of fleshy flesh itself encasing
a hard pit that contains a seed. And you can
eat them when they're fresh out of hand or in
salads or baked into sweets or maybe studding savory stews
(03:50):
or roasts. But they're often pitted and dried, at which
point they get a little chewy and sort of jelly
like and this kind of honey flavor comes out. When
they're dried. You can still do any of the above,
or maybe like coat them with chocolate or combine them
with choppnuts or something nice like that. Yeah, they're like
(04:11):
the glint off of gold like a really strong glint
like kind of almost blinding bright, but still delicate.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Apricots grow on these smallish trees that are in the
rose family, and generally when you talk about apricots, you're
talking about the species Prunas arminieca, though there are a
bunch of varieties within the species and also a few
other species in the Prunus genus with fruit that are
called apricots. They're close cousins of other stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, cherries, almonds,
(04:54):
and plums. They actually hybridize really easily with plums in particular,
which is why we have some like interesting looking stone
fruits with cute sea names, like pluots, which are seventy
five percent plum twenty five percent apricot, or plumcots, which
are half in half, or apriums, which are seventy five
(05:15):
percent apricot twenty five percent plum. Yeah, anyway, apricot's proper.
The trees grow up to about forty feet tall and
nearly as wide, though they're often kept shorter. They can
live like fifty to one hundred and fifty years. Their
foliage tends to be dense and in the fall, it
will go from green to gold and then shed. In
(05:38):
the spring, before the new leaves come in, the tree
will bloom with these pretty white or pinkish flowers, sometimes
with real pretty red centers. If you've ever seen really
poetic art or photos of cherry or plum blossoms, they
look a lot like those. They do like to have
a cold winter, but a frost once they're flowered will
(05:59):
usually kill the year's crop. If those flowers are pollinated, though,
and most apricot trees are self pollinating useful. Each flower
will grow a smallish fruit that starts out green and
ripens to a shade of pale yellow to orange to
just blushing red. They tend to grow in these bright
clusters on the branches. Apricots come ripe during the early summer.
(06:24):
They are super delicate as a fresh fruit, like finicky
to harvest that they are often picked by hand, and
also finicky to ship and to keep, but luckily they're
pretty good at being dried or canned or preserved as
jams or jellies. They can also be frozen, puaid for
things like baby food or baked goods, or processed into juice.
(06:44):
The kernels can be used for things like amaretto, or
can be ground up to use in cosmetics or pressed
for their oils, which are used in cosmetics. Apricot wood
is often used in barbecuing, like smoking, and in woodworking,
for example, to make this traditional Armenian woodwind instrument called
a de duc, which I never heard of but is
(07:05):
a whole thing. Scientific research has identified a whole bunch
of the aroma and taste compounds and apricots. Some of
the stronger ones include green grass, violets, roses, coconut, bergamont,
general citrus, peach, and banana. The coconut is the one
(07:29):
that really gets me because I'm like, oh, that's sort
of yeah, that like richness that you can taste in them,
interesting sort of creamy. I don't know anyway, but yeah,
they can be used fresh or perade or dried or preserved.
It's kind of obvious, you know, to add them as
a tangy element in desserts, but that tartannus can also
(07:50):
really help cut fatty meats and dovetails well with like
tangy cheeses and vinegars stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yes, I do love a good apricot and like lamb dish, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yes, well, what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
You know, by themselves, apricots are pretty good for you,
especially fresh with you know, good punches of fiber and micronutrients.
They will help fill you up. But to keep you going,
pair them with some fat and protein like a nice lamb.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Sure, yes, well, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah. As of twenty twenty one, American apricot production was
nearly forty two thousand tons, valued at about thirty seven
million dollars. About three quarters of that is grown in California,
with the remainder from Washington State, so like right up
the seaboard on the West. We exported about nine thousand
tons of that and then imported another twenty two thousand tons,
(08:54):
which I just thought was interesting and I also mentioned
because I've been thinking a lot lately about the intricacies
of the global economy.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Anyway, that American production is relatively small, potatoes of small
apricots out anyway, you understand what I'm talking about. Zbekistan
is the second in the world, with five hundred and
twenty seven thousand tons harvested per year as of twenty
twenty five. Turkey is the highest, with around eight hundred
and thirty three thousand tons. Turkey does grow about fifteen
(09:27):
percent of the world's fresh apricots and like eighty to
ninety percent of the ones that are sold dried. Total
production every year around the world is around four point
one million tons.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Pretty good number, pretty big.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, not bad, not bad for apricots. There are a
few festivals around the United States for apricots. One in Patterson, California,
was in its fifty third year as of twenty twenty five.
The Patterson Apricot Fiesta. Yes, the Fiesta happens every May
to June and includes an antique farm equipment show, an
(10:07):
arm wrestling contest, and a cornhole tournament, an apricot pie
eating contest, and a baking contest with separate categories. I
love this for cookies and bars, cakes and pies, miscellaneous
desserts and miscellaneous anything. It's a direct quote. I'm very intrigue,
(10:30):
right right. There's also one in more Park, California, which
is said to be named for the More Park variety
of apricots because they grew so abundantly there not anymore,
but the festival honors that history. And lots of other
festivals around the world as well. There's apricot blossom festivals
(10:54):
in North India, there's several around France and Spain. There's
a really big one in Malatia, Turkey during the last
two weeks of June every year. That's the center of
apricot growing in Turkey and therefore kind of the center
of apricot growing around the world.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yes, apricots are popular. People love them.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Uh huh.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
They like to celebrate them. And that's not a new thing.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
No, no, certainly not. And we are going to get
into that history after we get back from a quick
break forward from our sponsors and we're back. Thank you sponsors, Yes,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So, historians believe that the apricot was first cultivated from
wild populations in two thousand BC in Central Asia. Traders
spread it along the Silk Road, and merchants and nomadic
travelers likely introduced it throughout Eurasia, and over time they
made their way into all of Europe and the Mediterranean apricots.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
That is.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Research though, suggests that there may have been multiple domestication
events in China, Central Asia, and Europe.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah, and this is where some of that fun research
comes into play, because all right, it seems that the
close similarities among modern apricots from all of these different
regions have resulted from convergent adaptations. And not only that,
but they've resulted from convergent adaptations in different parts of
(12:33):
the apricots genome, which is just super cool.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
It is cool, And at least one of the articles
I was reading was like savor model at the end,
more research is needed, but it had all these images
that were really neat to look at about the evolution
of the apricot and where it happened or possibly happened.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yes, I love it. I love that people are looking
into it.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Oh yeah, I did find a lot of mixed states
about this, but some sources claim that wild apricots are
up to six thousand years old. Recovered oracle bones from
the Shang dynasty from sixteen hundred to ten forty six
BC feature and apricot symbol. Oracle bones were usually the
(13:21):
shoulder blade bone of an ox or a tortoise shell
that were used to divine the future and act as
a conduit to the dead. Using a heated rod, a
diviner would produce small fractures in the bones and then
interpret those factors based on the question that was asked.
The question and interpretation were often recorded on the bones,
so some of these bones had apricots on them.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, and in some Chinese traditions going back to about
this time, the apricot is a symbol of medicine and education.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Also, as discussed in previous episodes, some scholars think that
the Bible Tree of Knowledge was an apricot tree instead
of an apple tree. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew
of abricots by the first century CE. Some sources particularly
credit Alexander the Great with bringing the fruit to Europe.
(14:16):
During the reign of the Islamic Empire of Central Asia
and the Middle East from seven fifty to twelve fifty
eight CE, apricots were introduced throughout the Middle East. The
capital Baghdad imported abricots grown in Persia, where court chefs
came up with these dishes to incorporate them. A lot
of these dishes were adopted outside of Baghdad, and a
(14:38):
lot of these dishes used the fruit to give dimension
to meat dishes, perhaps particularly lamb, something the Persians had
been doing for a while. For instance, a recipe from
this region and time was for apricot and lamb stew,
which sounds delicious, but it wasn't just meat dishes. Apricots
were also popular in sweets stuffed with all almonds or
(15:00):
pistachios are made into a syrup, from mixing into drinks,
or puried into a paste and topped with whipped cream
and nuts. Yeah, and in some cultures apricots were used medicinally.
When Spain was conquered by North African Muslims in seven
hundred CE, they planted apricots there. Historically, royals and the
(15:24):
wealthy were fans of the apricot, and because of its appearance,
it was also the subject of authors and artists. A
handful of classic works out of China reference apricot trees
as ornamental, very much like the beauty of it, the
golden apple, all that kind of stuff. M The Spanish
(15:47):
brought apricots with them to the Americas, and the fifteen
hundreds apricot trees were observed in the Santa Fe area
in the sixteen twenties, likely the result of discarded pits.
Records indicate that apricots were being cultivated in California by
the eighteenth century. There was an earlier attempt at cultivation
in Virginia, but it was unsuccessful.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, the climate generally isn't right for apricots in North
America outside of that Pacific region. Similarly, varieties of apricots
were spread throughout other parts of Europe around the same time,
like the fifteen to seventeen hundreds, but they never really
took off as crops anywhere except for the Mediterranean due
(16:31):
to the climate, but were popular like in gardens and
as ornamentals in various places. For example, the aforementioned more
Park variety is from England, named after the more Park
estate north of London. These were in particular pretty posh
for a while, like Jane Austen mentioned them in Mansfield
(16:52):
Park as this variety of apricots so tasty that the
household cook basically hoards them as they come.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Ripe okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
English naturalist canon Henry Baker Tristrom described a wealth of
apricots outside of Damascus in the nineteenth century, and at
the time in Syria, apricots were often deepitted, crushed into
a paste and spread out and sun dried. I read
a lot of takes on this, so about the good
and bad of kind of the roll up apricots this
(17:29):
seems to be a good.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Okay, okay. World War One would spur the production of
apricots in the United States as imports of dried ones
from Europe became unavailable during that time, and there was
like a bit of an apricot boom through certainly the
nineteen twenties at least, and.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Then jumping ahead.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
In recent years there have been efforts to ship fresh
apricots because that's really difficult, they're delicate, as you said,
and to grow so Eastern apricots in the United States
with some success.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Because yeah, climate change is affecting apricot crops. For example,
just this year, a late frost and turkey in April
damaged about ten million apricot trees, like endangering this year's
production of dried apricots. About a month later, some seventy
to eighty percent of the trees had recovered, not for
(18:27):
this season, but hopefully to live and produce again next year,
and growers were working to save the rest of the
trees as well. It's just, yeah, it sucks and it
required more work. And that's where we.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Are, yep, which is unfortunately how we end a lot
of these hotlines.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yep. It's just the reality of what's going on. I mean,
you know, people, people are absolutely working on it though,
and that's really.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Cool they are. And when we say research is ongoing,
research is.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Oh yeah going, Yeah, certainly that genomic study was from
like the last year or two and yeah, and it's
so it's so great. I love all of this.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It is, it is, And I would love for listeners
drite in because I know apricots have a lot of
cultural significances. Yeah, and just as always, dishes that you
like to make with apricots, anything like that, we would
love to hear from you.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah, if you've been around the trees when they're in
bloom if right, yeah, yeah, anything, let us know, yes.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Please let us know. But that is what we have
to say about apricots for now.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
It is. We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listenun I must feel like an apricot
is such a bright, like lovely, delicate surprise.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, I'm meeting with my friend who loves apricots next
weekend and I'll see if she because we're doing like
a cheese night.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Oh they do pair well with the cheese. Sure, yeah, exactly,
so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Kelsey wrote, I am currently listening to your Earl Gray
episode while sipping my favorite earl gray lavender tea from
Adagio t not a sponsor, it totally does have notes
of fruit loops and I just noticed the candle on
my table is Bergamot plus black tea scented aka earl gray.
(21:06):
No big story to share here. I enjoy bonding with
my friends Chelsea and Ashley over tea, especially earl gray,
And while I do like coffee, it doesn't quite provide
the calm energy that a steaming cup of Earl Gray gives.
Regarding the SpongeBob episode, more SpongeBob foods canned bread found
(21:28):
in the grocery store in Tentacle Acres, Squidward gives more
and more soda to SpongeBob and Patrick as they compete
to be his best friend. The carbonation becomes too much
and Squidward's house explodes. Everything in the fry cook games
fans turned into fish sticks, ice cream dives, and of
course chocolate. I did try the Wendy's Crabby Patty and
(21:56):
it was good, but nothing particularly special. In other a
tie in, the SpongeBob craft mac and cheese is definitely
one of the best cartoon shaped varieties. Tea and pet
tax photos included below. I adopted Scooter earlier this summer
and he is all boy, snugly, loves to play and
enjoys a good wrestle. I hope your falls are off
(22:19):
to a good start and that lots more good things
are coming your way.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Oh, Scooter, Scooter. Yes. Attached is a photo of a
black cat with really gorgeous like yellow green eyes and
a very boopable nose.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Very yes, we appreciate the tax. Okay, all right, So
I have to go through these again. I think we
should come back and do a follow up on this
SpongeBob episode.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I'm not arguing with you. I agree.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Cam Bread is from one of the other I feel
like I tried.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
I sent Lauren twenty of my favorite episodes, and I
still have all these other ones. But cam Bread is
from the episode where Squidward moves out and he's trying
to live with in Like all of the similar squid words,
but it gets bored because Squidward actually likes chaos, even
if he doesn't want to admit it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
But can bread was something he bought. I forgot about
this carbonation thing, though.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
So thank you for reminding me about that one the
fry cook games, Yes, I tried to work that in.
That is also something Binging with Babbish has done.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
But yeah we should.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I mentioned that there were food competitions, but we didn't
go in depth in Jay said competitions chocolate. I love
that episode, especially as somebody who had to sell chocolate
when I was in Marching Band, because that's kind of
the plot of it, is Patrick and spongebobber selling these
(23:57):
chocolates and.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Wow, I don't want to spoil it, but anyway.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
There's a guy that just is like screaming chocolate after them.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I related to it. I tried to sell chocolate in
my youth.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah. Yeah, I still need to go through that list
that you sent me and watch the ones that I
have not seen. So yeah, yeah, no future future SpongeBob
continued musings forthcoming.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Also, I think you're correct that, whether correct or not
or not, I'm not sure but I feel like when
you have tea, at least in the United States, that
feels like I'm much more calming. I'm sitting down with
you to have tea, whereas coffee is sort of like
I need the caffeine.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, and I've got to go.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
I mean you can also, I mean you can do
that with coffee, Like you can have a nice calming
cup of coffee. But to quote Giles from Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, tea is soothing. I wish to be tense,
you know, like that's why I drink coffee because right
(25:18):
like I'm kind of looking for that caffeine high. Heck,
Joss Whedon, I am still still a big fan of Buffy. Yeah, no,
that's yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It depends, it depends.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
And furthermore, you can do like a whole coffee ceremony
the way that we kind of have like a koutroumol
for tea. You can do the same thing for coffee,
and it depends, it depends, but it is less caffeinated.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, and it could be like a part of it
is romanticized in a lot of ways for some of us.
But I used to do what I call slow Sundays,
and I would just drink slowly a French Press, like
I would make a French Press coffee which I wouldn't
normally have because it takes more time, and I would
(26:10):
just slowly drink it.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It was lovely.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So yeah, you can absolutely have that experience with coffee
as well. I just feel like, for at least for me,
it's usually coffee is my I've got to go, and
tea is sort.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Of I'm having a cup of a nice thing. I'm
sitting down. Yeah right, I see you, Yeah same, Bart
wrote as your self appointed and utterly unofficial Irish correspondent.
I've been feeling guilty about not finding the time to
(26:43):
write about your recent tea episode. But now that you
combined the Irish obsession with tea with my love of
Star Trek, most especially TNG and most especially still Captain Picard,
I just had to find the time. I was surprised
to learn how uncertain that history is, but happy to
hear that my favorite brand, Twinings, is officially the original.
(27:06):
What I was even more surprised to learn is how
recent an invention Lady Gray is. Growing up in Ireland
in a Belgian family has always given me a slight
outsider's perspective, and I actually grew up not drinking tea
or coffee at all because my parents felt those were
adult drinks and not for kids. I developed my love
of both tea and coffee when I left home for university.
(27:27):
Given the Irish climate, warm drinks are much more appealing
than cold, soft drinks, so I've developed a real fondness
for them. When I look at my Irish friends and colleagues,
they all have their exact brand of tea or coffee
and an exact way they like it, and they drink
many identical cups each and every day, week after month
after year. That just does not work for me. I
(27:49):
like to savor my hot drinks. See what I did there,
So for me, the key is variability.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Mostly.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
The one exception is the very first cup of the day,
because that needs to be said things so routine. It
happens on autopilot. I start every day with a big
mug of Twining's English Breakfast Tea with one Stevia tablet
in it. After that, the variety starts. If I want
a second cup before eleven, it will be something without caffeine.
Often a roebus. Is that how you say that's I
(28:18):
think that's how you say it. But just as often
a herbal or fruit tea. At eleven, it's coffee time.
I grind my own beans, so to ensure I enjoy
every cup, I never buy the same beans twice in
a row. I make sure to very brand, nation of
origin and strength, so each time I open a new bag,
my taste buds get something new to enjoy for a
(28:38):
week or two. If I want another cup of something
before lunch, it has to be caffeine free again, so
I reach for a flavored caffeine free instant coffee from
the wonderful British brand Beanies. Again, I never buy the
same flavored twice in a row, so it's always something different.
Afternoons are usually too busy to faugh about with grinding
my own coffee, so it's a flavored caffeinated be He's instant. Again,
(29:01):
a different flavor every jar, and in the evenings, always
caffeine free, and usually some caffeine free tea I didn't
have in the morning. If I have a second cup
at all in the morning, but then we have weekends,
I like to make those specials, so I start my
day with a chai on Saturdays and an Earl or
Lady Gray. On Sundays, twinings do a plain Chai and
(29:23):
a vanilla chie, so I alternate those, And of course
every second box of Sunday tea is an Earl Gray
and then a Lady Gray, etc. And all that brings
me to my beloved Captain Bicard's drink were I don't
have his exact tea glasses, but I do have beautiful
tea glasses, and they are from Botom. I simply adore
(29:46):
the Botom stuff because they are French and their style
instantly transports me to my Belgian childhood memories. My grandfather
would always order tea citron in Flemish, which is a
light British tea, usually lipped in with a slice of
fresh lemon, one sugar, no milk. It would always be
served in a tea glass, never cup, and those glasses
(30:06):
had plain steel handles and were flared at the top.
It took me years to find ones that looked just
like those I remember, but I did, and each and
every time I drink from them, I think of Den Bumpa,
our Flemish name for my mom's dad. I don't know
if I said that right, sorry, they are from Botom,
and I love them even more than I would the
Picard glasses. Here's the tea glass I'm sipping from as
(30:29):
I type, filled with Twining's Lady Gray of course.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Oh this is all excellent.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous and varied routine.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I love the.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Rules set that you have built for yourself. This is delightful.
It's fantastic, and I love that you have built in
you're going to have different things. Yeah, it's never yea
quite the same as Lauren and I have discussed before.
(31:05):
We are struggling with what day it is, so I
feel like this would be a good way for me
to be like today's Earl Gray tea day, Yeah, because
yesterday was and here you go with right sure yeah,
uh huh oh man. Also the picture drink where is
like like a card adjacent. It's got that kind of
(31:29):
like modernistic sort of I mean it's from Botom, you know,
so's so right, so that's sort of what they do.
But yeah, yeah, oh, I do love. I do love
a glass vessel for teas because they can have such
beautiful coloration to them and as long as I mean
glass doesn't keep heat as well as ceramics perhaps, and
(31:53):
so as long as you get a different type of
handle so you're not heck and burning your fingers all
the time.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah, it's just nice. I think I've told the story before,
but I don't know why this is. I have an
aunt who became convinced I loved collecting teacups.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Oh interesting, Okay, have.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
A collection of tups.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Despite the fact I can't really drink tea, and they're beautiful,
like I really appreciate the artistry of them.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, I mean you can have tea without real tea
in it, you know, you can have like like like
herbal and fruit teas that don't contain Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Yeah, I want.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
To get to the bottom of this though, because somebody
gave me a tea they swore didn't have the thing
that would set me off, and it definitely did. So
I need to figure out Maybe I don't know what
it is. Okay, maybe I actually haven't gotten to the
bottom of other things, but I could put in there.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, other things can contained tannons, and if that's what's
bothering you then yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yeah, this is not a self diagnosis podcast, so we
shall move on.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, yes, hello, good to hear
from another Next Generation fan. John lock Icard is just
a wonderful part of my psyche at all times.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
So yes, we were very excited to get this email.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Also, one last note about that. I don't know about
anybody else who has watched and rewatched Next Generation a
whole lot, but just about like i'd say, like once
every two weeks or so. Qu's line, is there a
John luck Pickard here? Just pops in my head. It
just pops in there. Yeah, y'all, y'all tell me. Y'all,
y'all tell me what lines live red free in your head?
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Oh that is a fun extreme please yes, do.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Well.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Thank you so much to both of these listeners for
writing in.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
If you would like to write to us, you can
our email us hello at saverpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saver Pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Save is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks, as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(34:31):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie
Res and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about apricots.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Mm hmmm hmm. The reading was intense on this one.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I have to say, yeah, but fun, fun.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, I'm happy when people write a lot about a thing,
so that's I'm happy that that happened.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
But I was struggling to comprehend some of the.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Scientific papers I ran across.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Oh there's some cool ones, yeah, but right, just just
other than that, apricots are just delightful. I have a
bag of dried ones sitting on my desk that I've
been snacking on for the past few days as I
have been compiling my notes. Here, you're an apricot person,
I like an apricot. Jam, I like a dried apricot.
(01:03):
I've never had a fresh one that was like good.
But also, I you know, we live in Atlanta, Georgia,
which is not where apricots are particularly grown.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So yeah, I'm about the same. I have a friend
who loves apricots like it's the thing she brings.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
She just has us a bag of dried apricots.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Okay, cool and loves them, so I appreciate her for
introducing me to two apricots at large. But was there
any particular reason this was on your mind?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Lauren?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
We did that episode about Amaretto recently, and I was like, oh, yeah,
that's Apricots been on our list for a while, so
let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, and here we are, here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, you can see that episode about Amaretto if you
would like to. We've also done one about plums if
you would like to see that, and a couple of
like cherry related episodes.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Sure. Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And a lot of people brought up Peaches. Yeah, I've
done an episode on Peaches. I remember because we had
to do it twice because the first recording failed.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
On my Are you sure, yes, Lauren? I am sure?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Are you totally positive? Oh? Okay, yeah, no, no, we
have you you're correct?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Great. No, we had to record it twice. I've never
forgotten it. I clearly did.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Oh that was from that was from twenty twenty though.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So that year was a mess. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was a failing on my part. The power went out.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Oh and I lost the recording.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Oh oh I do vaguely remember that. Yeah, yes, so
if you go back and listen to that episode. Just no,
that was a take too, uh, But I suppose this
brings us to our question.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Sure, yeah, apricots.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
What are they?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Well, Apricots are a type of smallish stone fruit with
a pretty orangish color and this tart sweet flavor that's
bright and fruity and a little floral and rich like
sort of golden tasting. They're oval to roundish in shape,
up to like three to four inches long that's about
(03:28):
five to seven centimeters, and have this thin, tender, slightly
fuzzy skin encasing juicy, kind of fleshy flesh itself encasing
a hard pit that contains a seed. And you can
eat them when they're fresh out of hand or in
salads or baked into sweets or maybe studding savory stews
(03:50):
or roasts. But they're often pitted and dried, at which
point they get a little chewy and sort of jelly
like and this kind of honey flavor comes out. When
they're dried. You can still do any of the above,
or maybe like coat them with chocolate or combine them
with choppnuts or something nice like that. Yeah, they're like
(04:11):
the glint off of gold like a really strong glint
like kind of almost blinding bright, but still delicate.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Apricots grow on these smallish trees that are in the
rose family, and generally when you talk about apricots, you're
talking about the species Prunas arminieca, though there are a
bunch of varieties within the species and also a few
other species in the Prunus genus with fruit that are
called apricots. They're close cousins of other stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, cherries, almonds,
(04:54):
and plums. They actually hybridize really easily with plums in particular,
which is why we have some like interesting looking stone
fruits with cute sea names, like pluots, which are seventy
five percent plum twenty five percent apricot, or plumcots, which
are half in half, or apriums, which are seventy five
(05:15):
percent apricot twenty five percent plum. Yeah, anyway, apricot's proper.
The trees grow up to about forty feet tall and
nearly as wide, though they're often kept shorter. They can
live like fifty to one hundred and fifty years. Their
foliage tends to be dense and in the fall, it
will go from green to gold and then shed. In
(05:38):
the spring, before the new leaves come in, the tree
will bloom with these pretty white or pinkish flowers, sometimes
with real pretty red centers. If you've ever seen really
poetic art or photos of cherry or plum blossoms, they
look a lot like those. They do like to have
a cold winter, but a frost once they're flowered will
(05:59):
usually kill the year's crop. If those flowers are pollinated, though,
and most apricot trees are self pollinating useful. Each flower
will grow a smallish fruit that starts out green and
ripens to a shade of pale yellow to orange to
just blushing red. They tend to grow in these bright
clusters on the branches. Apricots come ripe during the early summer.
(06:24):
They are super delicate as a fresh fruit, like finicky
to harvest that they are often picked by hand, and
also finicky to ship and to keep, but luckily they're
pretty good at being dried or canned or preserved as
jams or jellies. They can also be frozen, puaid for
things like baby food or baked goods, or processed into juice.
(06:44):
The kernels can be used for things like amaretto, or
can be ground up to use in cosmetics or pressed
for their oils, which are used in cosmetics. Apricot wood
is often used in barbecuing, like smoking, and in woodworking,
for example, to make this traditional Armenian woodwind instrument called
a de duc, which I never heard of but is
(07:05):
a whole thing. Scientific research has identified a whole bunch
of the aroma and taste compounds and apricots. Some of
the stronger ones include green grass, violets, roses, coconut, bergamont,
general citrus, peach, and banana. The coconut is the one
(07:29):
that really gets me because I'm like, oh, that's sort
of yeah, that like richness that you can taste in them,
interesting sort of creamy. I don't know anyway, but yeah,
they can be used fresh or perade or dried or preserved.
It's kind of obvious, you know, to add them as
a tangy element in desserts, but that tartannus can also
(07:50):
really help cut fatty meats and dovetails well with like
tangy cheeses and vinegars stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yes, I do love a good apricot and like lamb dish, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yes, well, what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
You know, by themselves, apricots are pretty good for you,
especially fresh with you know, good punches of fiber and micronutrients.
They will help fill you up. But to keep you going,
pair them with some fat and protein like a nice lamb.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Sure, yes, well, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah. As of twenty twenty one, American apricot production was
nearly forty two thousand tons, valued at about thirty seven
million dollars. About three quarters of that is grown in California,
with the remainder from Washington State, so like right up
the seaboard on the West. We exported about nine thousand
tons of that and then imported another twenty two thousand tons,
(08:54):
which I just thought was interesting and I also mentioned
because I've been thinking a lot lately about the intricacies
of the global economy.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Anyway, that American production is relatively small, potatoes of small
apricots out anyway, you understand what I'm talking about. Zbekistan
is the second in the world, with five hundred and
twenty seven thousand tons harvested per year as of twenty
twenty five. Turkey is the highest, with around eight hundred
and thirty three thousand tons. Turkey does grow about fifteen
(09:27):
percent of the world's fresh apricots and like eighty to
ninety percent of the ones that are sold dried. Total
production every year around the world is around four point
one million tons.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Pretty good number, pretty big.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, not bad, not bad for apricots. There are a
few festivals around the United States for apricots. One in Patterson, California,
was in its fifty third year as of twenty twenty five.
The Patterson Apricot Fiesta. Yes, the Fiesta happens every May
to June and includes an antique farm equipment show, an
(10:07):
arm wrestling contest, and a cornhole tournament, an apricot pie
eating contest, and a baking contest with separate categories. I
love this for cookies and bars, cakes and pies, miscellaneous
desserts and miscellaneous anything. It's a direct quote. I'm very intrigue,
(10:30):
right right. There's also one in more Park, California, which
is said to be named for the More Park variety
of apricots because they grew so abundantly there not anymore,
but the festival honors that history. And lots of other
festivals around the world as well. There's apricot blossom festivals
(10:54):
in North India, there's several around France and Spain. There's
a really big one in Malatia, Turkey during the last
two weeks of June every year. That's the center of
apricot growing in Turkey and therefore kind of the center
of apricot growing around the world.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yes, apricots are popular. People love them.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Uh huh.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
They like to celebrate them. And that's not a new thing.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
No, no, certainly not. And we are going to get
into that history after we get back from a quick
break forward from our sponsors and we're back. Thank you sponsors, Yes,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So, historians believe that the apricot was first cultivated from
wild populations in two thousand BC in Central Asia. Traders
spread it along the Silk Road, and merchants and nomadic
travelers likely introduced it throughout Eurasia, and over time they
made their way into all of Europe and the Mediterranean apricots.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
That is.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Research though, suggests that there may have been multiple domestication
events in China, Central Asia, and Europe.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah, and this is where some of that fun research
comes into play, because all right, it seems that the
close similarities among modern apricots from all of these different
regions have resulted from convergent adaptations. And not only that,
but they've resulted from convergent adaptations in different parts of
(12:33):
the apricots genome, which is just super cool.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
It is cool, And at least one of the articles
I was reading was like savor model at the end,
more research is needed, but it had all these images
that were really neat to look at about the evolution
of the apricot and where it happened or possibly happened.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yes, I love it. I love that people are looking
into it.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Oh yeah, I did find a lot of mixed states
about this, but some sources claim that wild apricots are
up to six thousand years old. Recovered oracle bones from
the Shang dynasty from sixteen hundred to ten forty six
BC feature and apricot symbol. Oracle bones were usually the
(13:21):
shoulder blade bone of an ox or a tortoise shell
that were used to divine the future and act as
a conduit to the dead. Using a heated rod, a
diviner would produce small fractures in the bones and then
interpret those factors based on the question that was asked.
The question and interpretation were often recorded on the bones,
so some of these bones had apricots on them.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, and in some Chinese traditions going back to about
this time, the apricot is a symbol of medicine and education.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Also, as discussed in previous episodes, some scholars think that
the Bible Tree of Knowledge was an apricot tree instead
of an apple tree. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew
of abricots by the first century CE. Some sources particularly
credit Alexander the Great with bringing the fruit to Europe.
(14:16):
During the reign of the Islamic Empire of Central Asia
and the Middle East from seven fifty to twelve fifty
eight CE, apricots were introduced throughout the Middle East. The
capital Baghdad imported abricots grown in Persia, where court chefs
came up with these dishes to incorporate them. A lot
of these dishes were adopted outside of Baghdad, and a
(14:38):
lot of these dishes used the fruit to give dimension
to meat dishes, perhaps particularly lamb, something the Persians had
been doing for a while. For instance, a recipe from
this region and time was for apricot and lamb stew,
which sounds delicious, but it wasn't just meat dishes. Apricots
were also popular in sweets stuffed with all almonds or
(15:00):
pistachios are made into a syrup, from mixing into drinks,
or puried into a paste and topped with whipped cream
and nuts. Yeah, and in some cultures apricots were used medicinally.
When Spain was conquered by North African Muslims in seven
hundred CE, they planted apricots there. Historically, royals and the
(15:24):
wealthy were fans of the apricot, and because of its appearance,
it was also the subject of authors and artists. A
handful of classic works out of China reference apricot trees
as ornamental, very much like the beauty of it, the
golden apple, all that kind of stuff. M The Spanish
(15:47):
brought apricots with them to the Americas, and the fifteen
hundreds apricot trees were observed in the Santa Fe area
in the sixteen twenties, likely the result of discarded pits.
Records indicate that apricots were being cultivated in California by
the eighteenth century. There was an earlier attempt at cultivation
in Virginia, but it was unsuccessful.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, the climate generally isn't right for apricots in North
America outside of that Pacific region. Similarly, varieties of apricots
were spread throughout other parts of Europe around the same time,
like the fifteen to seventeen hundreds, but they never really
took off as crops anywhere except for the Mediterranean due
(16:31):
to the climate, but were popular like in gardens and
as ornamentals in various places. For example, the aforementioned more
Park variety is from England, named after the more Park
estate north of London. These were in particular pretty posh
for a while, like Jane Austen mentioned them in Mansfield
(16:52):
Park as this variety of apricots so tasty that the
household cook basically hoards them as they come.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Ripe okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
English naturalist canon Henry Baker Tristrom described a wealth of
apricots outside of Damascus in the nineteenth century, and at
the time in Syria, apricots were often deepitted, crushed into
a paste and spread out and sun dried. I read
a lot of takes on this, so about the good
and bad of kind of the roll up apricots this
(17:29):
seems to be a good.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Okay, okay. World War One would spur the production of
apricots in the United States as imports of dried ones
from Europe became unavailable during that time, and there was
like a bit of an apricot boom through certainly the
nineteen twenties at least, and.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Then jumping ahead.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
In recent years there have been efforts to ship fresh
apricots because that's really difficult, they're delicate, as you said,
and to grow so Eastern apricots in the United States
with some success.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Because yeah, climate change is affecting apricot crops. For example,
just this year, a late frost and turkey in April
damaged about ten million apricot trees, like endangering this year's
production of dried apricots. About a month later, some seventy
to eighty percent of the trees had recovered, not for
(18:27):
this season, but hopefully to live and produce again next year,
and growers were working to save the rest of the
trees as well. It's just, yeah, it sucks and it
required more work. And that's where we.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Are, yep, which is unfortunately how we end a lot
of these hotlines.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yep. It's just the reality of what's going on. I mean,
you know, people, people are absolutely working on it though,
and that's really.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Cool they are. And when we say research is ongoing,
research is.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Oh yeah going, Yeah, certainly that genomic study was from
like the last year or two and yeah, and it's
so it's so great. I love all of this.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It is, it is, And I would love for listeners
drite in because I know apricots have a lot of
cultural significances. Yeah, and just as always, dishes that you
like to make with apricots, anything like that, we would
love to hear from you.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah, if you've been around the trees when they're in
bloom if right, yeah, yeah, anything, let us know, yes.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Please let us know. But that is what we have
to say about apricots for now.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
It is. We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listenun I must feel like an apricot
is such a bright, like lovely, delicate surprise.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, I'm meeting with my friend who loves apricots next
weekend and I'll see if she because we're doing like
a cheese night.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Oh they do pair well with the cheese. Sure, yeah, exactly,
so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Kelsey wrote, I am currently listening to your Earl Gray
episode while sipping my favorite earl gray lavender tea from
Adagio t not a sponsor, it totally does have notes
of fruit loops and I just noticed the candle on
my table is Bergamot plus black tea scented aka earl gray.
(21:06):
No big story to share here. I enjoy bonding with
my friends Chelsea and Ashley over tea, especially earl gray,
And while I do like coffee, it doesn't quite provide
the calm energy that a steaming cup of Earl Gray gives.
Regarding the SpongeBob episode, more SpongeBob foods canned bread found
(21:28):
in the grocery store in Tentacle Acres, Squidward gives more
and more soda to SpongeBob and Patrick as they compete
to be his best friend. The carbonation becomes too much
and Squidward's house explodes. Everything in the fry cook games
fans turned into fish sticks, ice cream dives, and of
course chocolate. I did try the Wendy's Crabby Patty and
(21:56):
it was good, but nothing particularly special. In other a
tie in, the SpongeBob craft mac and cheese is definitely
one of the best cartoon shaped varieties. Tea and pet
tax photos included below. I adopted Scooter earlier this summer
and he is all boy, snugly, loves to play and
enjoys a good wrestle. I hope your falls are off
(22:19):
to a good start and that lots more good things
are coming your way.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Oh, Scooter, Scooter. Yes. Attached is a photo of a
black cat with really gorgeous like yellow green eyes and
a very boopable nose.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Very yes, we appreciate the tax. Okay, all right, So
I have to go through these again. I think we
should come back and do a follow up on this
SpongeBob episode.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I'm not arguing with you. I agree.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Cam Bread is from one of the other I feel
like I tried.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
I sent Lauren twenty of my favorite episodes, and I
still have all these other ones. But cam Bread is
from the episode where Squidward moves out and he's trying
to live with in Like all of the similar squid words,
but it gets bored because Squidward actually likes chaos, even
if he doesn't want to admit it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
But can bread was something he bought. I forgot about
this carbonation thing, though.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
So thank you for reminding me about that one the
fry cook games, Yes, I tried to work that in.
That is also something Binging with Babbish has done.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
But yeah we should.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I mentioned that there were food competitions, but we didn't
go in depth in Jay said competitions chocolate. I love
that episode, especially as somebody who had to sell chocolate
when I was in Marching Band, because that's kind of
the plot of it, is Patrick and spongebobber selling these
(23:57):
chocolates and.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Wow, I don't want to spoil it, but anyway.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
There's a guy that just is like screaming chocolate after them.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I related to it. I tried to sell chocolate in
my youth.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah. Yeah, I still need to go through that list
that you sent me and watch the ones that I
have not seen. So yeah, yeah, no future future SpongeBob
continued musings forthcoming.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Also, I think you're correct that, whether correct or not
or not, I'm not sure but I feel like when
you have tea, at least in the United States, that
feels like I'm much more calming. I'm sitting down with
you to have tea, whereas coffee is sort of like
I need the caffeine.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, and I've got to go.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
I mean you can also, I mean you can do
that with coffee, Like you can have a nice calming
cup of coffee. But to quote Giles from Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, tea is soothing. I wish to be tense,
you know, like that's why I drink coffee because right
(25:18):
like I'm kind of looking for that caffeine high. Heck,
Joss Whedon, I am still still a big fan of Buffy. Yeah, no,
that's yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It depends, it depends.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
And furthermore, you can do like a whole coffee ceremony
the way that we kind of have like a koutroumol
for tea. You can do the same thing for coffee,
and it depends, it depends, but it is less caffeinated.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, and it could be like a part of it
is romanticized in a lot of ways for some of us.
But I used to do what I call slow Sundays,
and I would just drink slowly a French Press, like
I would make a French Press coffee which I wouldn't
normally have because it takes more time, and I would
(26:10):
just slowly drink it.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It was lovely.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So yeah, you can absolutely have that experience with coffee
as well. I just feel like, for at least for me,
it's usually coffee is my I've got to go, and
tea is sort.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Of I'm having a cup of a nice thing. I'm
sitting down. Yeah right, I see you, Yeah same, Bart
wrote as your self appointed and utterly unofficial Irish correspondent.
I've been feeling guilty about not finding the time to
(26:43):
write about your recent tea episode. But now that you
combined the Irish obsession with tea with my love of
Star Trek, most especially TNG and most especially still Captain Picard,
I just had to find the time. I was surprised
to learn how uncertain that history is, but happy to
hear that my favorite brand, Twinings, is officially the original.
(27:06):
What I was even more surprised to learn is how
recent an invention Lady Gray is. Growing up in Ireland
in a Belgian family has always given me a slight
outsider's perspective, and I actually grew up not drinking tea
or coffee at all because my parents felt those were
adult drinks and not for kids. I developed my love
of both tea and coffee when I left home for university.
(27:27):
Given the Irish climate, warm drinks are much more appealing
than cold, soft drinks, so I've developed a real fondness
for them. When I look at my Irish friends and colleagues,
they all have their exact brand of tea or coffee
and an exact way they like it, and they drink
many identical cups each and every day, week after month
after year. That just does not work for me. I
(27:49):
like to savor my hot drinks. See what I did there,
So for me, the key is variability.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Mostly.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
The one exception is the very first cup of the day,
because that needs to be said things so routine. It
happens on autopilot. I start every day with a big
mug of Twining's English Breakfast Tea with one Stevia tablet
in it. After that, the variety starts. If I want
a second cup before eleven, it will be something without caffeine.
Often a roebus. Is that how you say that's I
(28:18):
think that's how you say it. But just as often
a herbal or fruit tea. At eleven, it's coffee time.
I grind my own beans, so to ensure I enjoy
every cup, I never buy the same beans twice in
a row. I make sure to very brand, nation of
origin and strength, so each time I open a new bag,
my taste buds get something new to enjoy for a
(28:38):
week or two. If I want another cup of something
before lunch, it has to be caffeine free again, so
I reach for a flavored caffeine free instant coffee from
the wonderful British brand Beanies. Again, I never buy the
same flavored twice in a row, so it's always something different.
Afternoons are usually too busy to faugh about with grinding
my own coffee, so it's a flavored caffeinated be He's instant. Again,
(29:01):
a different flavor every jar, and in the evenings, always
caffeine free, and usually some caffeine free tea I didn't
have in the morning. If I have a second cup
at all in the morning, but then we have weekends,
I like to make those specials, so I start my
day with a chai on Saturdays and an Earl or
Lady Gray. On Sundays, twinings do a plain Chai and
(29:23):
a vanilla chie, so I alternate those, And of course
every second box of Sunday tea is an Earl Gray
and then a Lady Gray, etc. And all that brings
me to my beloved Captain Bicard's drink were I don't
have his exact tea glasses, but I do have beautiful
tea glasses, and they are from Botom. I simply adore
(29:46):
the Botom stuff because they are French and their style
instantly transports me to my Belgian childhood memories. My grandfather
would always order tea citron in Flemish, which is a
light British tea, usually lipped in with a slice of
fresh lemon, one sugar, no milk. It would always be
served in a tea glass, never cup, and those glasses
(30:06):
had plain steel handles and were flared at the top.
It took me years to find ones that looked just
like those I remember, but I did, and each and
every time I drink from them, I think of Den Bumpa,
our Flemish name for my mom's dad. I don't know
if I said that right, sorry, they are from Botom,
and I love them even more than I would the
Picard glasses. Here's the tea glass I'm sipping from as
(30:29):
I type, filled with Twining's Lady Gray of course.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Oh this is all excellent.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous and varied routine.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I love the.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Rules set that you have built for yourself. This is delightful.
It's fantastic, and I love that you have built in
you're going to have different things. Yeah, it's never yea
quite the same as Lauren and I have discussed before.
(31:05):
We are struggling with what day it is, so I
feel like this would be a good way for me
to be like today's Earl Gray tea day, Yeah, because
yesterday was and here you go with right sure yeah,
uh huh oh man. Also the picture drink where is
like like a card adjacent. It's got that kind of
(31:29):
like modernistic sort of I mean it's from Botom, you know,
so's so right, so that's sort of what they do.
But yeah, yeah, oh, I do love. I do love
a glass vessel for teas because they can have such
beautiful coloration to them and as long as I mean
glass doesn't keep heat as well as ceramics perhaps, and
(31:53):
so as long as you get a different type of
handle so you're not heck and burning your fingers all
the time.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah, it's just nice. I think I've told the story before,
but I don't know why this is. I have an
aunt who became convinced I loved collecting teacups.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Oh interesting, Okay, have.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
A collection of tups.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Despite the fact I can't really drink tea, and they're beautiful,
like I really appreciate the artistry of them.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, I mean you can have tea without real tea
in it, you know, you can have like like like
herbal and fruit teas that don't contain Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Yeah, I want.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
To get to the bottom of this though, because somebody
gave me a tea they swore didn't have the thing
that would set me off, and it definitely did. So
I need to figure out Maybe I don't know what
it is. Okay, maybe I actually haven't gotten to the
bottom of other things, but I could put in there.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, other things can contained tannons, and if that's what's
bothering you then yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yeah, this is not a self diagnosis podcast, so we
shall move on.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, yes, hello, good to hear
from another Next Generation fan. John lock Icard is just
a wonderful part of my psyche at all times.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
So yes, we were very excited to get this email.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Also, one last note about that. I don't know about
anybody else who has watched and rewatched Next Generation a
whole lot, but just about like i'd say, like once
every two weeks or so. Qu's line, is there a
John luck Pickard here? Just pops in my head. It
just pops in there. Yeah, y'all, y'all tell me. Y'all,
y'all tell me what lines live red free in your head?
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Oh that is a fun extreme please yes, do.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Well.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Thank you so much to both of these listeners for
writing in.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
If you would like to write to us, you can
our email us hello at saverpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saver Pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Save is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks, as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(34:31):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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