SPRING SONDER – 50 Gms

The patience of ordinary things:

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

-Pat Schneider

The easiest way to unburden yourself of being the protagonist in your life – the weight, pressure and focus on ambitions, mistakes, anxieties, accolades and accomplishments that you carry for being the center of your universe – is to realize that everyone around you is leading a life as vivid, complex and profound as yours: that you too are an extra in someone else’s story just as they are in yours.  Therein that realization, lies a soothing connection to strangers, random people, formed not by seeking connection but by grasping that you already are connected- through stories, both theirs and yours. You can choose to express that connection, or observe from a distance. Either way, you’re fine – the story, the connection is still there, working.  What would you feel then? Relief, maybe. How would you express such a connection to the ‘extras’ in your story? Gratitude, maybe. More importantly, how would you express this to yourself, the protagonist?

The teas, like murmuration of starlings, have sonder. They all come from the same bushes but how the note vibrates between being the protagonist to an extra as the season changes, is sonder. Can you notice the spring protagonist as the autumn extra or the autumn protagonist as the summer extra? How even in a single cup, the notes sonder? How easy it is for them to slip in, slip out. Begs the question, do we possess the patience to relax and be thankful for just an ordinary day? I think we all do, just that we’re vibrating on so many levels, it’s creating chaos. The ability to just slip-in, slip-out of a day; could be worthy of a marvel superhero!! Oh, the sweet travails of the human condition!!

This Sonder of Spring comes from the high-region B157 tea cultivars of Darjeeling. We leave it to your sonder to direct protagonists and extras as you wish. Full bodied with a mellow-yellow liquor, smooth, creamy texture and a floral finish, it will meet all your expectations of a Darjeeling Spring flush. Sun withered and minimally oxidized to bring out the sweet mellifluous bounties, the flavor leads with Vanilla and unripe mangoes as protagonists with extras of honey and peach, the sweetness of which gradually progresses as the tea cools down. (Sight peppery and woody ‘extras’ also make fleeting appearances during the opening credits, if you really notice). The second brew further extends the Sonder by changing the protagonist to Basil! The dry leaves smell of mangoes. Sonder trails with a Jasmine/Lavender aroma and sweet condensed milk and a mouthful, lingering aftertaste.

So, what trails your Sonder? Besides the second brew…….

Brewing Instructions: 180ml water with 2.5 Gms of leaves for 3 minutes at 80 Degrees Celsius. Add 30 more seconds for the subsequent till the flavors last.