So Very Dark

It’s weird, isn’t it, how tastes can change suddenly?

When I was a child, I thought brie cheese was disgusting.  I’m not going to say what I thought it tasted like, but my comparison was not complimentary.  Then one day when I was in my early 20′s, much to the detriment of my waist-line, I changed my mind. 

I was at the one-and-only garden party I have ever attended (garden parties are nice.  we should have more of them.) and a plate of cheese and crackers was included in the light and lovely snacks.  As this was yuppie Sonoma County, the cheeses were, of course, of high quality and included a very nice brie.  Suddenly, I wanted some.  I remembered what the cheese tasted like, but the memory of that taste no longer repulsed me.  I spread some of the cheese on a cracker and discovered that the flavor was indeed the same one that I recalled, but I liked it very much now for some reason.

This incident has been much on my mind for the past week or so, because I have had a similar interaction with a different substance…in this case, Early Grey tea.  Now, the brie issue, one can chalk up to the maturing palate of an adult in comparison to the more simple tastes of childhood.  But the tea…I swear that until a week or two ago I had a strong dislike for the flavor of Earl Grey (except when mixed into dark chocolate…quite delicious) and not through ignorance or stubbornness…I had sampled it many times and the flavor simply did not appeal to me.

Then, at some point last week, I was making a cup of tea to accompany me as I dodged my homework, and decided that rather than two bags of Lipton’s, I’d throw in a bag of Earl Grey (I think I was low on the former).  I made the tea, added cream and sugar and have been drinking it almost daily since then.  Due to the fact that I disliked the tea all through my 20′s, this is unlikely to be a case of an adult palate…something in me changed, very recently and suddenly, and now I love Earl Grey tea.

I may be possessed by the spirit of a bitter Englishman who drank Earl Grey daily and was murdered for a family heirloom.