I've been enjoying some Hojicha green tea from Teaism that manservant Erik provided for me. If you haven't tried it you are missing out on some bold nuttiness as it is indeed quite nutty. It's basically bits of stem and the like that have been toasted so the brew smells like shredded wheat. I use a little basket to submerge my tea in water and this Hojicha floats like the fallen trees and other flotsam that clog rivers and streams after natural disasters:
small trees clog my cup
a discovery channel
of my very own
Nostalgia and tea go hand in hand. I am reminded of my days playing in an acoustic rock band in San Francisco. One of the downsides of playing in an acoustic rock band (or living in San Francisco) is the high probability that some gnarly old dude will opt to "sit in" with the band for a few (hours) tunes. Without a wall of amps any band is prone to ad hoc personnel changes, and one night we were joined by a guy who sang with us the greatest song he ever wrote, a long-form ballad called "stems and seeds." The song explored the rocky terrain of a life that is filled up with the blues and capping this mountain of sorrow it must be noted that he was "down to stems and seeds again." You get the idea. I will never un-hear that song.
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