SUMMER ENNUI – 75 Gms

The thrill is gone; no more demons to slay; catastrophe has lost courtship; sand castles and glass camels seem absurd; prizes and perils are jejune now; If love is a red dress, then hang me in rags!

Sylvia Plath wrote a sonnet about it; Walter Sickert painted ‘Ennui’ in oil; Virginia Woolfe described it as an absence of crisis; Baudelaire personifies it as a soul deadening ‘delicate monster’; the blues attempts to discard it by including it in expression; but most and easiest understood of all, it can be heard in the voice of Maria McKee singing ‘If love is a red dress, then hang me in rags!’

Dictionaries all define Ennui as ‘boredom’, ‘weariness’ and ‘dissatisfaction’ but it is in fact a paradoxical wish- a wish for desire when desire seems to have lost appeal. It is the wish for a crisis when all crises have been overcome.

As much variation in expression that human beings might have, we all share the same experiences. In our day and age where fear of boredom has become a commodity, ennui is no exception.  There’s no way to avoid it completely no matter how passionate our pursuits, as it comes right after we have achieved goals, claimed comfort, established routines and prolonged our relief.  It is not in aversion that we experience ennui, we very much inadvertently slip into it unwarned.  However, this delicate monster can be slayed by inclusiveness, meaning and expression- very much like the blues include it, writers define it and singers express it. You see, inclusion and expression will always create a ‘crisis’ – exactly what’s needed to escape Ennui. There is this sadness to experiencing ennui but that sadness is immediately transformed in expression. The leaves seemed to have included it in their expression with an unexpected, profound sophistication. The inclusion of ennui in expression is not ennui!

The summer teas, to put it crudely, all have a bit of an edge to their sweetness. Ennui has a rather sophisticated edge.  It took us a while to realize what we were dealing with, but we did. We experienced the opulent flavors, dressed fabulously in red, but asking to be hung in rags. The comforting opulent ‘red dress’ mood is immediately set by the aroma of marigold and honey. The tea greets you with the first sips with a stone minerality and a delayed sweetness. It says goodbye with the last, the same way too. The flavor of fresh turmeric root and gooseberries is unmistakable when the initial delayed sweetness turns thankfully prompt. The sweetness is accompanied with a citrous, slightly sour, muscatel taste with a bit tang that reminds of absent lemons and thus begins the sharp expression of ennui– Far from dullness and in no rush to discard, the notes seem to be expressively aware of their lack of crisis.  A bit of perfume with expressions of tuberose and rose also create little ‘crises’ in the cup as the tea cools down. Dry leaves, having plenty of tips plucked from the AV2 cultivar with a citrus smell appear sophisticated but unimpressed with themselves. The dark amber brew seems curated to make aroma rise to the top and layer the fleeting flavors for a perfect delivery.

With a sweet tangy aftertaste and mild stony minerality, ennui exits exactly as it arrived – silently and unobserved.