Those of you who have been around this newsletter for a while know that I don't generally like tea that has been adulterated with other ingredients. Most of the time, those other ingredients exist to mask bad tea; they don't complement the tea, and frankly if I want to drink an herbal-tasting tea, I will simply do that. (I drink a lot of herbal teas! I don't mind them!)

 

Of course, there are some teas that do work. Traditional blends with osmanthus and jasmine are generally pretty nice. I like Friday Tea's blends, in general, because Friday has the same sensibility that I do. But I always try blended teas with trepidation.

 

Anyway, I saw this one and added it to the cart instantly. It's not just because the description for the tea has the exact same caveats I do about how blended teas are often failures. It's not because I trusted the person who was making the recommendation. I've never had a blend from Leo, who runs Tea and Whisk, before. I've enjoyed the tea I've gotten from them, but it's all been single-origin.

 

No, it's because this tea used the magic word.

 

Yuzu.

 

If you have not had yuzu before, it is a citrus that tastes something like a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit. It has the brightness of lime and yet isn't mouth-puckeringly sour. It's a magical, almost perfect, ingredient, and I can't think of any place I wouldn't try it. On fish? Yes. In salsa? Yes. In place of vinegar on a salad? Definitely. A capful splashed on chilled, steamed broccoli? You're talking my language. A splash in a glass of sparkling water? Well, that's only the most refreshing beverage to exist on this planet. 

 

I buy a 750 mL bottle of it from Yakima Orchards (you can get it from Caputo's here with free shipping) and parcel it out over 4 months, making lots and lots of things way more delicious. I also have a stock of both red and green yuzu kosho (yuzu peel mixed with hot peppers) which is also amazing. Add a bit to soup to add brightness and heat; put it on just about any meat; make a flavored butter…

 

Anyway. Back to the tea. This tea was everything I had hoped for. It was bright--so bright--that it felt like a high, clear bell ringing. The tea is a roasted Japanese green, and it was the perfect complement to the yuzu (not the other way around) because everything is always a perfect complement to yuzu. This would go well with…um, anything. Basically. Anything and everything.

Japanese Organic Yuzu Tea comes from Tea and Whisk.

I have been printing whistles.

 

If you don't know why I have been printing whistles, it is because areas of the United States are being invaded by masked paramilitary organizations that are kidnapping people without due process. People are fighting back nonviolently with whistles. 

 

The kidnappers claim to be from the US government, but since they don't generally provide identifying information, as they are required to do, we can't really know that. Also, there have been instances of people claiming to be with the US government, but they aren't, and those people are taking advantage of the current times to do bad things.

 

Here is how the whistles work: the masked paramilitary men show up. If you see them, you blow short blasts on the whistle to signal that masked paramilitary men are in the area. If they start kidnapping your neighbors, you blow long blasts. This lets people know that they should congregate and do the things that are legally in their power to try to, at a minimum, to absolutely tank the morale of the paramilitary organization by telling them things that are true, like “you are violating due process” and “shame on you” in extremely large groups, because that is what we have.

 

Nonviolence is recommended. So are protections for eyes and mouth, because these paramilitary organizations teargas indiscriminately and for no legally justifiable reason. They have teargassed priests. They tear-gassed a toddler who just happened to be in a car that was driving by where an action was taking place: literally just saw a car with an open window and tear-gassed the entire car with the toddler in it.

 

I cannot think of these things too often or I get so angry that I cannot speak.

 

So I have been printing whistles and giving them away in person and also sending them to places that are (at present) knee-deep in ICE agents. I am not alone.

 

I think of the whistles as a community promise that these agents of evil (and I do not use this word lightly) do not act in the darkness, that we see them, and that we are coming for them. Even if there is no justice today, and no justice tomorrow, there will someday be justice for what they are doing. There will be justice again: that is what I think these whistles to me.

 

So here is a giveaway as we head into the end of the year: I'm giving away whistles and tea. I will give out (at least) 30 packs to randomly chosen people.

 

Some ground rules:

 

1. US only. I am very sorry, but shipping and stupid tariffs make it impossible to ship to other countries; also, the point of the whistles is to combat the paramilitary that is currently endemic to the US. One entry per person.

 

2. The winners will not get one whistle. They will get ~100 whistles. Please only fill out this form if you have a plan to give out 100 whistles. That is the goal here: to give out the promise of justice to people in your community (family, friends, coworkers, neighbors) to also have whistles, and for them to know that these whistles are to fight ICE, and to protect our neighbors, loved ones, and possibly also ourselves. There are lots of ways to give them out: in a bowl at the library, while out caroling, on the streets, at a protest, at holiday dinners. Any way you get these to people who will use them is fine.

 

3. You must fill out the form by Dec. 1. Odds of winning are 30/however many people apply. No purchase necessary.

 

4. You will also get a handful of shou-puerh tea balls alongside brewing instructions.

 

5. If you win, you will have to provide an address within three days; if you don't, your spot will be given to someone else.

 

6. Enter by sending an email to whistles4justice2025@courtneymilan.com.

 

If you have a group that is distributing whistles on the regular and need a source, please reply to this email and I will get you in touch with the person I know who is organizing whistle distribution at large. (It's Bree from Kit Rocha; this will not be a surprise to anyone who follows her on BlueSky.) (Please just reply to this email; don't send it to the email above, or I won't see it.)

 

We can get you regular whistles in large quantities.

In order to print whistles, we need filament. If you would like to buy me a gift card on Elegoo, they always have great bulk deals on filament. Send gift cards to contact@courtneymilan.com. (Unfortunately, their smallest denomination is $25; please don't do this if you need the money for anything else or if it will be a stretch for you.) I will share these with the whistle printing group so that we can get as many people printing as possible.

 

If you have a 3D printer and would like to join us in printing whistles, please reply to this email (again, reply to this email; don't send it to the email I list above) and tell me how I can find you on Signal.

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