It’s been a long night, and my fingers smell like tobacco. I spent over an hour on my balcony, taking things apart, and piecing them back together. I went through three cigarettes, which, as I’ve mentioned before, I detest. I make a habit to drink this tea whenever I smoke, because it’s a detox for the nicotine.
I bought this tea for college, because I knew I’d be taking in a lot of tobacco and alcohol. I started smoking right before I came here, and my roommate is 25 – and more than willing to bring into the dorm anything from beer to sake into the dorm.
This isn’t a very tasty herbal. In my first experience tasting this tea in the Puripan shop, (don’t bother searching for a local one unless you live in Korea or the San Francisco Bay Area), I found it a bit repulsive. But, as the need came, I bought it, and, like most peculiar flavors, it’s a taste you acquire.
I’ve only got a cup or so left of the stuff. I’ll need to buy more when I go back home for thanksgiving.
I smoke to remind myself that I’m a hypocrite, and that I do things that are in no one’s best interest. I drink Lotus Leaf tea, because I want to clean up and fix things. It’s a hard taste to get used to, and it takes time. Gradually, I’ll make the confrontations, admissions, and apologies. For now, I continue to make smoke clouds, and look for repentance in lotus leaves.
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I don’t want to get preachy on you, because I used to be a social smoker. [Now, the smell of cigarettes, when noticeably pungent, makes my gag reflex start to quake.] But, seeing as how you’re someone who seems to value his palate, I want to gently point out that cigarettes are not very forgiving to your sense of taste and smell over time. I’m not going to mention all the other shit it does to you because you seem to be aware. It can be a difficult thing to drop, once you get around to wanting to do so.
Perhaps another vice might be in order? I found photography. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily something you’d be interested in, but I’d let you borrow it if you want.
I have wondered whether other people who write here smoke since I often find teas flavorful that others describe as not tasting like anything and find some teas overpowering that others find just right.
My experience with smokers on other taste issues has been that their palates are not as sensitive as mine, so I try to discount the possibility of smokers when I read tasting notes here. Of course, not knowing who is a smoker and who is not means that I must simply give all teas the benefit of the doubt, which I suppose is overall good.
I appreciate and understand the concern.
Fear of losing my sense of taste is why I never got my tongue pierced.
I smoke lightly. Very lightly.
A three-cigarette night is a rare one for me, and a day with a smoke at all is uncommon.
But, alas, I am a poet before I’m a teaist, and thus exploration of the self, destructive or otherwise, takes precedence.
I’m also waiting for someone to force me to stop. Or to distract me enough that I don’t have reason to smoke. I live mostly in the hours between sunset and sunrise, and those times get particularly dull and lonely sometimes. So I make clouds of smoke to pass the time. Voila.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re ‘fixing’ the damage done by smoking. Nothing can really mitigate the effects of the smoke/tar/nicotine on your body. Tea is a much better, and healthier addiction I find.
Oh, of course I know that.
You read too literally into what I say.
Mate, this is a tea forum and tasting notes, not Dr Phil
Not looking for support or understanding.
Just expressing my experience and connection with this tea.
I don’t want to get preachy on you, because I used to be a social smoker. [Now, the smell of cigarettes, when noticeably pungent, makes my gag reflex start to quake.] But, seeing as how you’re someone who seems to value his palate, I want to gently point out that cigarettes are not very forgiving to your sense of taste and smell over time. I’m not going to mention all the other shit it does to you because you seem to be aware. It can be a difficult thing to drop, once you get around to wanting to do so.
Perhaps another vice might be in order? I found photography. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily something you’d be interested in, but I’d let you borrow it if you want.
I have wondered whether other people who write here smoke since I often find teas flavorful that others describe as not tasting like anything and find some teas overpowering that others find just right.
My experience with smokers on other taste issues has been that their palates are not as sensitive as mine, so I try to discount the possibility of smokers when I read tasting notes here. Of course, not knowing who is a smoker and who is not means that I must simply give all teas the benefit of the doubt, which I suppose is overall good.
I appreciate and understand the concern.
Fear of losing my sense of taste is why I never got my tongue pierced.
I smoke lightly. Very lightly.
A three-cigarette night is a rare one for me, and a day with a smoke at all is uncommon.
But, alas, I am a poet before I’m a teaist, and thus exploration of the self, destructive or otherwise, takes precedence.
I’m also waiting for someone to force me to stop. Or to distract me enough that I don’t have reason to smoke. I live mostly in the hours between sunset and sunrise, and those times get particularly dull and lonely sometimes. So I make clouds of smoke to pass the time. Voila.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re ‘fixing’ the damage done by smoking. Nothing can really mitigate the effects of the smoke/tar/nicotine on your body. Tea is a much better, and healthier addiction I find.
Oh, of course I know that.
You read too literally into what I say.
Mate, this is a tea forum and tasting notes, not Dr Phil
Not looking for support or understanding.
Just expressing my experience and connection with this tea.