Early in elementary school, a classmate occasionally brought, showed off and ate crazy foods he made, just to gross out others. One was a bologna and whipped-cream sandwich. The mindset: different just to be different, and get animated reactions to the uniqueness of his bizarre culinary combinations.

I thought of his sandwiches when seeing this product in a variety pack of Vahdam's relatively young line of turmeric-based herbal teas. How could such a thing not be disjointed and wholly self-contradictory, if not outright disgusting?

Surprisingly, it kinda-sorta works, but only because the typically mildly mustard-like turmeric takes a decided backseat to cinnamon and mint, instead of being held on more equal footing. Fortunately, it's not *quite* like squirting a dob of mustard on a peppermint pattie and popping it into the piehole. The cinnamon imparts a warming effect more than the mint imparts cooling, so there's some oddness not even related to the turmeric, which appears more in the aftertaste and dry-bag aroma than in the actual in-cup sip. In fact, the dry aroma is the most disjointed, a mishmash of smells seemingly wafting from different kitchens to arrive in the nostrils at the same time. The drink was surprisingly tolerable, but I won't sing ravishing laud about the flavor, as if it were actually excellent. It ain't. It's unique, yes. Besides, I can't sing, and I promise, you don't want me to try.

This is best treated as a novelty tea just to say, "Hey, I consumed something truly different today." That's still rather like the first time that kid pulled the bologna and whipped-cream sandwich out of his "Jetsons" lunchbox.

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