AUTUMN EXILE – 75 Gms

I wanted a poem to come out of my sadness, but no poem came. I wanted a revolution to come out of my burnout, but no revolution came. I wanted a bird to fly through my open window, but my window was closed. I wanted sun on an evening when it was already dark. I wanted just a bit of grief rather than despair. &, in my shame, I wanted my childhood back. I wanted to walk backward out of the room where I kept my secrets. I wanted to say I’m hurt before my hurt became a character trait I told no one but myself. When I wanted unknowing, I was given certainty, & when I wanted the hard & fixed line, I was given mystery. Sometimes, I wanted to give it all back, but to who, I wondered, & how? I wanted a life to come out of my life, but instead I was left with my life. All that wanting, I think now, & still I woke this morning to light & the memory of the time a bird did fly through the open window of my apartment, &, scared & senseless, shat all over the couch before leaving. All that wanting, right? Sometimes it happens & sometimes it doesn’t & sometimes it happens worse. Make do, little friend I call myself. Walk backward out of the room you have made out of your wanting into the room of where you are. The poem is here. The revolution, too. & love, still, even in the evening, when light still shines. – Devin Kelly

Autumn – Its songs are limited, so its Grooves run deep – pointless to be philosophical about, when it’s easier to be just present than assert your presence! Wherever you are – exiled into your wants or exiled out of your wanting, its all still here! Come to terms with your ‘exile’ and its forever Autumn in your heart!”

Here’s an exile from summer, forced to reconcile with autumn – fragrant in the most non-floral and bohemian of ways. So, what happens to black teas in Autumn? Let’s just say, they record their greatest album and not a single song makes it to their greatest hits! Autumn flavors linger – they coat the soul with thick impenetrable longing and poke little holes, so longing can breathe. The Exile with its densely packed notes holds dear all that it was able to carry from summer and the season extracts the essence of all that it was able to carry. Turns out, the essence is not just an expression of all that was carried – it makes ‘extraction’ a part of the essence too, turning it delicious.  Little do they know; the season of their exile slowly heals them sweet and delicious – without an edge.  And so it begins, with a thickness in the mouth and a dessert cream texture carrying the consolation of something healed but still laden with the longing to get back to woody, musky summer notes.  There’s prominent Vanilla in tightly packed notes in every sip. The brew slowly reveals its summer longing, turning woody, slightly musky with citrous and floral appearances, as it cools down. The fully oxidized, partially red leaves smell of flour, butter and biscuits.

“If you feel like an ‘Exile on Main street’ you must also know you’re not the only one”.

Brewing Instructions : 4 Gms in 180ml at 90 degrees for 4 minutes.