Episode Details

The cup is dark and smoky, the colour rising fast from the leaves—amber, then mahogany, then the brown of an old violin. The aroma is wood smoke, not from a fire burning now, but one that burnt last night, with resin and pine beneath, and a sweetness that waits its turn.

The taste is gentler than the scent, the smoke lingering long after the sip. In the Wuyi Mountains, the story goes, this flavour began as an accident—leaves dried over pine fires in a hurry, a fix that became the thing itself. Sometimes what people love most in us started as a way through an emergency, and it takes someone else to see it for what it is.
Today's cup: Lapsang Souchong — Camellia sinensis, smoked over pinewood. 1 tsp, 200mL, 100°C, three minutes. It takes a second infusion.
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A tea and a musing every weekday morning.

Before It Begins is made by Impala & Peacock Artisan Teas, blended by hand in Melbourne. To join our tea ritual - ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here.⁠⁠⁠