Today, I’ve decided to just do the Sunday Tea and Books on Steepster only instead of my blog, because my most recent blog post (non-tea-related) is getting a lot of traffic and I don’t want to bury it.
The tea
When I first opened the bag of dried leaf to get a sniff, I couldn’t wait to brew it up. The leaves were a dark sage green, slightly powdery, and smelled intensely of berries. It even smelled a bit leathery – together, I really thought of those fruit leather strips, like SunRype, that you can get at the grocery. For a minute there, I thought I had been given a black tea by mistake, the smell was so different.
Brewed up, the smell and taste were quite similar. Complex, a bit smoky, but also intensely sweet and fruity. Above all else, I thought of stonefruits – apricot in particular. The mouthfeel was great, too – not to thick, not too thin, not brothy or soupy, but not insubstantial. As I proceeded through the teapot, the tea became astringent, but I was able to handle it.
I steeped it twice, actually. The first time for 4 minutes (I wasn’t watching the clock and let it go) and the second time for 3. The first steep was a bit strong, the second steep a bit weak, so I’m thinking that 3.5 minutes is the sweet spot. Both steeps were a beautiful peachy rosy colour.
The book
The fact that the tea was so immensely fruity, and so reminiscent of stone fruits in particular, made me think back to a specific character in classical mythology – Pomona, a wood nymph whose special domain was fruit trees and orchards.
I have a fondness for the Pomona and Vertumnus myth in The Metamorphoses because Pomona seems to have a greater level of independence than other women in classical myth. Importantly, although she spurns many lovers, she isn’t punished for it. At most, the man who loves her most, Vertumnus, makes an impassioned speech that she shouldn’t be alone, and at the end transforms infront of her eyes, the sudden beauty and impact of which finally overcomes her heart. It’s not perfect – yeah, it’s heteronormative and the guy still gets the girl in the end – but at least she’s not turned into a woodpecker or a tree or what-have-you for the gall of not immediately yielding to amorous advances.
Here’s a special taste of the section of The Metamorphoses that introduces her. This translation was by Horace Gregory:
In Procas reign there lived a nymph, Pomona,
Who literally bloomed at raising flowers;
She had a “green touch” and made fruit trees bear.
That’s how she got her name, but was indifferent
To other trees or how bright rivers ran.
Her one delight was tending fields and orchards;
She never went out hunting, but instead
Held a curved knife in hand which trimmed rough hedges,
Rose-bush or cherry — or a clever twist
Would save a fruitless tree and pierce for grafting
An aged trunk to make large apples grow.
Flavors: Apricot, Fruity, Leather, Smoke
