Chapter 3209: Calamity Leaf Tea

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Cosmos Corridor, Unknow

“What do you think about the Calamity Leaf Tea?” I asked BoBo in anticipation as I poured it into a tiny pixie-sized cup and dish for BoBo.

We collected the best of my World Calamity Tree form’s leaves, dried and ground them to make tea in boiling spring water while using the essence of Calamity Fruit instead of sugar. Since the Calamity Incense Sticks were a hit, I thought, why not try the Calamity leaf Tea? This was something I was saving to try with DreDre, but since BoBo volunteered to be the guinea pig…

“It smells different from the natural calamity fragrance and the Calamity Incense Stick, but it’s just as great,” BoBo said, sniffing the concentrated drop of Calamity Leaf Tea in her tiny teacup.

“Go ahead, try it,” I urged, seeing that BoBo was lost just taking a sniff of the hot Calamity Leaf Tea.

Nodding her tiny head, BoBo immediately drank her tiny cup empty. Then, with her eyes closed, she kept moving her mouth as if savoring the taste of the tea.

And when she finally opened her eyes, they seemed to sparkle as she reported, “It’s not as tasty as the Calamity Fruit itself, but it has its own unique taste and aftertaste. Also, I think it needs more Calamity Fruit essence.”

“Another cup with more Calamity Fruit essence, coming right up!” I said as I began to make a new pot of Calamity Leaf Tea using the tiny tea set BoBo had created from my memories.

I didn’t know much about traditional tea-making except for a few documentaries and introductions in those fancy restaurants and at parties I attended back on Earth. The basics were the same for all the teas out there, or if not, please forgive me for my ignorance. But what mattered was that BoBo was enjoying it. Besides, making tea for her reminded me of the chemistry labs back in my school days. Not the chemicals, but the accurate measurements and units of mixing.

“How’s the new one?” I asked, having poured the new brew into BoBo’s teacup and watched her empty it in a single sip again. I guess I will have to teach her how to enjoy the tea properly, not that I knew how, just the comments my friends and clients gave me when I was at one of those fancy restaurants or parties.

I would always wait for the tea to cool down a bit before drinking it in a single sip, while the extra sugar that settled at the bottom would give me a sugary aftertaste. Since I was mostly drinking sugar, I knew it as a sugary drink and not as an addictive drink that one couldn’t go about their day without having every morning, using guests as an excuse to have some more.

I never understood the allure of tea or coffee, though I did develop an acute addiction to instant black coffee with two packs of sugar. It kept me going day and night, even if I missed a couple of meals or nights of sleep.

Noticing my habit, my friends and colleagues mistook me for a coffee lover and kept trying to introduce me to their favorite blends and mixes. I didn’t have the patience to make, order, or try them, and I only remembered those mixes as sugary drinks. That was partly my fault because I always added two extra packs of sugar, even though they had specifically told me they’d already added enough.

Though this was only true when I was busy with experiments, which was all the time. I tried to minimize the time I spent on small, unimportant decisions like what to wear, what to eat, and so on. But when I was stuck, I would indulge in all of those things until the answer I was looking for revealed itself to me. The switch wasn’t easy, especially the waiting. The art was in keeping yourself busy.

Sometimes I would start another small research project or experiment that had once intrigued me. These were only for fun, so I could leave them unfinished when the answers I had been waiting for finally came and come back to them when I had nothing better to do.

Now, that process was hardly in use, since my active soul control percentage meant I no longer needed external stimulants, and my soul pupils meant I never had to wait for an answer to come to me.

“This one’s perfect!” BoBo exclaimed, having emptied the cup in a single sip. The temperature of the tea didn’t seem to bother her. Well, she was a Primordial Pixie responsible for the Myriad Cosmos.

What I meant was that she wasn’t enjoying the Calamity Tea itself, but the essence of the Calamity Fruit, just as I had enjoyed the sugar and not the bitterness of the tea leaves or coffee beans. If that was the case, she might as well eat the Calamity Fruit directly instead of going the long way around.

Shaking my head, I asked, “Are you sure it’s tea you like or just the Calamity Fruit essence?”

“Is there a difference?” BoBo asked in confusion.

“This time, don’t drink the whole thing at once. Take a small sip, let it linger in your mouth, and savor the flavor. Try to enjoy the tea instead of just downing it down your throat,” I said as I brewed the initial recipe I had tested and prepared for DreDre to taste.

As I did that, BoBo emptied the pot of Calamity Tea that had a higher concentration of Calamity Fruit essence than the Calamity leaves or the water itself.

It’s not that I’m trying to teach BoBo something I didn’t like, just trying to find a common leisure activity that we would both come to like. And my first thought was liquor, but then I toned it down to tea. Since birds, insects, and some animals have been known to enjoy tea, I didn’t think a pixie would hate it. Especially if it was made from the World Calamity Tree.

“Um, I see what you meant. The boiled dried leaves have a distinct taste to them. It’s not bad, but I liked it more with Calamity Fruit essence.”

“Then you might as well just eat the Calamity Fruit.”

“No, this is different from eating the fruit itself. The distinct taste of the leaves complements the Calamity Fruit essence, creating a new flavor of sorts. It’s not different from the taste of Calamity Fruit, but it’s tastier.”

Listening to BoBo, I wondered if it was like the difference between adding salt to lemonade and leaving it out. Lemonade with salt and lemonade without salt were two entirely different drinks, even though they were both citrus drinks.

That made me wonder if she would love Calamity Leaf Tea with extra Calamity Fruit essence as a cold beverage rather than a hot one. I recalled that there were countries that sold cold teas of various flavors in vending machines.

“Okay, you don’t have to force yourself to drink this pot. Let’s try to make cold tea.”

“What’s cold tea?”

“It’s the same one, served chilled.”

“Okay!!”