Doulton’s Shakespeare: a Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act I scene 1
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In complement extern, ’tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.
Othello Act I, scene 1, 61-65
Today my Shakespeare prize that Doutlon created arrived to a standing ovation. I am rather overwhelmed by her generosity and will definitely “pay it forward” in the future as soon as I can put together something even half as lovely as what she did. There’s even a lovely handmade knitted tea cozy included – I’ll create a flickr account just so I can post a picture. It’s so perfect for my teapot Tim! There’s a beautiful block print card featuring a scene from Julius Caesar with a handwritten note. Thank you so much Doulton!
Now, to the toughest part: choosing the very first tea. After oohing, aahing, and squeeing over all the samples I knew the one that would persuade me. The one that I’d been avoiding because I knew my heart might break once this series was sold out. Caravan by A&D.
Throughout these “Shakespeare” tasting notes I’m hoping to label each tea either a comedy, tragedy, history, sonnet, or character. This one’s a character and one of my favorites: Iago. Here’s the persuasive bad boy whom I love to hate (and vice versa). I really didn’t think I’d find him so soon into this box if ever. This is different than any smoky tea that I’ve had so far. Most smoky teas remind me of campfires. This is not a campfire. This is the remains of a forest fire that happened at least a year ago. It’s rugged and masculine and it makes me jealous. I do not want to share this tea with anyone. There’s so little of it for such a short period of time and it brings out the irrational MINE feeling.
I think that I won’t fall into the same trap that Othello did. Or at least I hope that I won’t. I feel like I’ve finally made peace with all “limited edition” teas and am willing to have my heart broken when they’re gone. I shall openly wear my heart on my sleeve and be willing to have the jackdaws peck away. No ulterior motive. No jealousy. I just want wonderful tea while it lasts. TG
