SPRING PIRATE – 50Gms

LOG ENTRY: SOL 381 “I’ve been thinking about laws on Mars. Yeah, I know, it’s a stupid thing to think about, but I have a lot of free time. There’s an international treaty saying no country can lay claim to anything that’s not on Earth. And by another treaty, if you’re not in any country’s territory, maritime law applies. So, Mars is “international waters.” Now, NASA is an American nonmilitary organization, and it owns the Hab. So while I’m in the Hab, American law applies. As soon as I step outside, I’m in international waters. Then when I get in the rover, I’m back to American law. Here’s the cool part: I will eventually go to Schiaparelli and commandeer the Ares 4 lander. Nobody explicitly gave me permission to do this, and they can’t until I’m aboard Ares 4 and operating the comm system. After I board Ares 4, before talking to NASA, I will take control of a craft in international waters without permission. That makes me a pirate! A space pirate!” – Mark Watney- Botanist, ‘stranded on Mars’

― Andy Weir, The Martian

“We too have been thinking of our Verities and Balderdash (truths & nonsense) – well, more balderdash than our verities – and here’s another cool part: The distance between the ‘Shahi Litchi’ gardens and Darjeeling is about 500 kms. We are somewhere in between. Robert Fortune, at the behest of the East India Company, sometime in the 1800’s smuggled the tea saplings out of China and into India. Out of the only few that survived, now grow in Darjeeling. He took the sea route, so he clearly was a pirate. Now, production of Shahi Litchi outside its designated area is piracy. Same goes for Darjeeling tea. But if somehow, a tea originally pirated out of China, planted in Darjeeling yields a flavor of ‘Shahi Litchi’ and is traded internationally, then shouldn’t the very drinking of tea also be construed as an act of piracy – more specifically 2 acts of piracy: Shahi Litchi and China cultivar from Darjeeling”!

Now, speaking of more of Verities and less of balderdash: It is rare and bold to see large China cultivar leaves made in Spring – how they did not go the traditionally safe Oolong way and risked a little more oxidation beyond that. And, the risk yielded a Pirate – a little tea that is so sure, so certain of what it has that it risks it all every time and comes out fine! The dry leaves smell exactly like wooden fruit crates, sandalwood and incense. The color is transparent Orange-Yellow – the kind that makes more sense in hindsight when one has experienced the tea. The texture is satin smooth and immediately noticeable is the woody fruitiness that translates to a feeling within seconds of tasting –a feeling of seamless familiarity; like corresponding the face to a familiar voice. One could, very well time the woodiness with the fruitiness.  Absolutely pirated notes! we wouldn’t be surprised if this invokes your references with delightful ‘buts’– the sharpness of Honey, Mango and maybe a little Herby. Then comes the unmistakable Litchi – like putting a face to a familiar voice for a second time and the tea begins again – Woody-Litchi, Woody-Litchi, Woody-Litchi!  Once you find the Litchi, it feels complete. We cannot stress enough, how elegantly consistent the Pirate is – the delivery, the timing, the repetition is absolutely impeccable.

We first learnt of ‘Verities & Balderdash’ from the Harry Chapin album. It was pirated too. We’ve outgrown ‘piracy’ since then but our Verities and Balderdash have stuck with us.