A year ago on this day I was in Agra experiencing amazing things (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, omg food, ALL the birds) and the less than amazing things (the fallout from the great rupee note recall, peaked emotions in our group after the American election, that scary alpha male langur who was a living embodiment of Two-Face).
I probably wouldn’t have made a note of that if it weren’t for this rose tea evoking all the rose lassis, desserts and syrups I managed to consume on that trip (I also drank it alongside butter chicken, but that’s irrelevant, I swear). Me and rose-flavoured things have a deep, unshakable bond that often drag me down memory lane, to all the other “roses” I’ve ever met in my life. A lot of those “roses” are no longer here – our dormant yellow rose bushes, my Grandmother’s old bedroom (doesn’t everyone’s Grandmother have something rosy scented?), Butiki’s Champagne & Rose Cream, etc.
Rose is a special scent and flavour. Some people abhor it, or find it overwhelming, but I’ve always embraced it. It’s also one of the very few floral notes I can pick out in a lineup, and I’m very proud of that fact (yay for distinctiveness and familiarity).
What I’m trying to say is that this tea and I have history, even though we have never met. We also have a long future ahead, although the tea doesn’t know it yet. Thank you, Daylon R Thomas, for pointing this one out to me and “reconnecting” us.
Um… a more short and serious tea-centric note, with a rating, will come in the future.
Also, here’s one of the fantastic birds of Agra.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSSGNjbBLaR/?taken-by=jeskihil
Steep Count: 4
(2017 summer harvest)
Flavors: Cream, Rose
