Drink and Read of the Month: June 2021
Happy Summer! It’s June in Texas, and boy has it been warm. The ninety-something-degree days have had me craving all the cold drinks. And there’s just something about reading outside, being enveloped in the (admittedly hot) sunshine that makes me feel like I’m on vacation. So, I’ve been doing a lot of that in my free time lately. Enjoy the June installment of the Drink and Read series!
Drink
In the last few years, I’ve slowly become infatuated with boba drinks. Few things can top creamy milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls. It’s such a fun kind of drink, and there are so many varieties and ways to customize it. This month, I’m especially enjoying thai tea.
Thai tea is a super popular drink that typically consists of black tea, spices like cardamom and star anise, vanilla, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. The most popular way to drink it is iced (and often with boba). It has a vibrant orange color and a sweet taste. It’s hard for me to fully describe the taste.
In fact, before I tried thai tea for the first time, I tried searching online to find out what it was supposed to taste like. I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, and the search results I read couldn’t really describe the taste. So I guess it’s just a fact of life that you need to try thai tea for yourself to know! I highly recommend it, especially on a humid summer day.
Read
I’m currently over halfway through Paradise by Toni Morrison. I’ve loved Morrison since I read some of her other books when I was in high school. A few years ago, I found a copy of Paradise in an estate sale for like five bucks, so of course I had to get it.
Prior to diving into this book, I didn’t realize it would be so slow to read. Not that the storyline is slow, but with the abundance of different characters that Morrison introduces, it takes me a while to read each chapter. It’s just a lot of people to remember. But I’m really enjoying the story.
Paradise is the fictional story of Ruby: an all-black town that was founded in the nineteenth century by a group of African Americans who wanted to create a place for themselves where they fit in for a chance. Sounds like it should have turned out an amazing town for these people, right? Eh, not so much.
This book explores what happens on one fateful day in Ruby, and all of the twists and turns that lead up to it. Reading Paradise is like meeting 100 people, one after the other, and learning how they fit into each other’s lives and the big picture. Unfortunately, I can’t say much more since I don’t like spoiling stories and, oh yeah, I haven’t finished the book!
I’m going to finish reading now, actually. And I might just have to have some thai tea to go with it! To me, this has been the best way to spend June afternoons. As long as you have a good book and a tasty drink, what more could you need?
Do you have any suggestions for books or drinks to try? I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me a DM on Instagram @ashlyncarmichaelcopy. Happy sipping!