“Here the thing about accidents – they are always original! Original in method (or madness) and in effect. “In a world where nothing is original, as in, everything has its roots elsewhere, only accidents are original! No matter how disastrous it appears, wait for its originality to be seen and have the courage to follow it – “That’s right!” factor the accident right into the outcome – that’s how you become truly authentic”. “Holy Smoke!” we just might be on to something, here!”…….
We don’t really think anybody followed that chain of thought, when they accidently smoked the same leaves as the Troubadour, back at the tea garden! Well, it must have been more like an exchange of few choicest curse words, initially, with a loud reading of the Riot Act to conclude. We don’t let our imagination run amok and speculate but we, without suggesting, would like you to add some ‘Karate and Voodoo’ too, to that image on your own. We also don’t think that the thought process really helped anybody sleep better that night, as nothing could be said with certainty without tasting the tea, but we had no hesitation in turning them into lesser fools, when we, upon learning about the incident, just chanced upon the opportunity to factor in an accident to ‘expand’ our decision-making process. “Yeah! It was time to be an accident, not just witness it!”. “Opportunity to be the greater fool!” We acquired the batch right away, without ever tasting, and must say, that we can never fully tell you about the week we had to wait to taste it! A word of advice though- “Words and thoughts don’t work like anti-anxiety medication, although in retrospect they sure seem so. Nevermind, we’re not doing this twice!”
Ah, the tasting! Let us begin by saying that relief feels nothing like its meaning. You’re too busy being surprised, happily-shocked and astonished in a haze of “Holy smoke!” to notice that the anxiety is gone. Also, that it is so easy to pass the incidental as intentional when the outcome is right, but why, oh! why, lose a perfectly good story along the way. We’re not greater fools for nothing!
It’s perfect! Couldn’t have done a better job intentionally; balancing the smokiness with the woody aroma of the tea. (On second thoughts, how could they, considering this is the first time they smoked a tea that was great to begin with!) Barely a minute into settling with the pinewood smokiness, just when you think that’s all there is, a seemingly accentuated sweet woody aroma takes prominence. Seems like it has been intentionally smoked ever so mildly. With no muscatel, the inherent sweet woody flavor of the China leaves and the added smoke seems to make the woodiness ‘large’– a little malty. There’s still the toffee mixed with the aroma of tomato vines. It is very reminiscent of tomato brine. The aftertaste is very sweet, creamy and woody.
If you’re not a fan of smokiness then this is exactly the kind of accident you should factor into your decision making and if you are a fan then it’s exactly the kind of intention you’d want in your tea. The best part about Tom Waits is that you can be both a fan and disagree at the same time! We kid you not.
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