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After the week spent me like life was a slot machine, I haggardly drew the conclusion that my lifestyle – currently characterized by sleeping like garbage, going to work at 4AM and chugging 400mg caffeine in energy drinks before 9AM just to make it to noon – needed a reboot. What I mean to say is that energy drinks are expensive and I dropped a pant size in a week, so a friend has pressured me into DAY 1/7: no caffeine excepting whatever I get from tea. After passing an insomniac episode all night playing a PC game called “A Night in the Woods” (a cute, cartoonish side-scroller centered around a feline protagonist in a story with an intriguing balance of wholesome mediocrity and unexpected darkness), Day 1 has met me with a weird start.

Escaping work early, I decided to finally check out a nearby tea shop and foolishly thought I might find a couple teas that could pique my interest. The moment I stepped in, I was quickly overtaken by my folly in underestimating their selection. There wasn’t a single tea I didn’t want to try, and I fear the old adage against shopping while hungry also applies to shopping while under-caffeinated, because I shelled out for a bag full to the brim with goodies and a freshly brewed cup of their Karma Kahwa blend for the road. Does it constitute a relapse if I haven’t gone a day without caffeine yet?

Unfortunately, the ambush-like stealth of Tin Roof Teas’s formidable selection forbids this tea being on their website (I think it may be seasonal as well), so I am attempting to conjure the ingredients from memory and taste. Clove is easily the foreground of this flavorful tea with a colorful supporting cast of spices like cardamom and cinnamon lending complexity and complementary sweetness in the background – the almond is there if you look for it and rounds out a festive, dessert-like profile. A little bit drying, this tea was the perfect accompaniment to a sunny but cool day uncertain of its seasonal loyalties and meteorological temperament. I wonder how it tastes with a shot of espresso in it…damn it. Focus on the mission!