It started out as a simple scratch in the back of my throat, something easily ignored by the active schedule of handyman duties I was to perform over this last weekend.
The weather was crisp and autumn-esque, the kind of day that just makes you want to run outside and play football, or take a walk through the woods. In short, a pleasant change from the swelter of Summer.
As the sun slowly sank, a new fire began to consume me. I could feel it in my head, I could feel it behind my eyes..
I think I might have a fever…
I thought as I trudged up the stairs to get the thermometer. Sure enough — 102.4! I decided to go to bed early and see how I felt in the morning.
Well as you can imagine things went from bad to worse and I ended up with the worst case of Strep throat I have ever had in my life. My throat was transformed into a raw mass of nerve endings that screamed in constant pain with each swallow.
For most of my convalescence, coffee was replaced by ice water, slurpees, and milk shakes. Last night in an act of desperation I tried a herbal tea concoction that was “guaranteed” to cure my throat.
Cayenne Pepper Tea.
Yes, you heard me right. Mixing Cayenne Pepper and hot water, the insane person (me) is to gargle small amounts of this mixture for as long as possible, spit and repeat. Supposedly the results of such an activity would be a throat free from Strep and on the ready for recovery.
Well, in the name of Coffee I decided to try this herbal remedy. What did I have to lose? I was already on horse pill sized antibiotics, had pain killers, and figured..
After drinking Kopi Luwak coffee, Cayenne Pepper tea seemed rather timid, why the Hell not try it?
In the end, I still needed another day to recover. Did the Cayenne Pepper tea work? Hard to say, but like Kopi Luwak, it was one of those things you just have to try once in your life to say that you did.I am happy to report that I had my first coffee in four days and it was amazing. Stay tuned friends, I have several products under review as we speak and look forward to discussing them with you in the very near future.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:58 AM
Glad you’re doing better! I was wondering why you hadn’t posted in a while. I’ll be looking forward to more reviews.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:37 AM
Glad to hear you are still with us Jon! I am not a sickness prone person, and this was the worst I have felt in ages.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:56 PM
Here’s an interesting slant I can offer - try adding cayenne pepper to your coffee grinds. Better yet, add cummin, paprika, cinnamon, or cardamon (sp?). I have experimented with a good mix of spices in my grinds that add some extra punch to the coffee. I’ve enjoyed a common chili powder mix; maybe a teaspoon for 4 cups of coffee. The combination of spicey and black coffee is really good. I also found that slicing a 1/4″ ring from an orange and placing them on my grounds is a really great mixture. Turns out, citrus in general does marvelous things to coffee during the brew.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:43 PM
Alright… I tried this. *cough*… hot things lover that I am, I won’t be doing this again any time soon. lol… but it was interesting to say the least.