janvier 30, 2010
No Comments

The tea flower looks like a camellia

How could I have showed you the seed of the tea plant and not talked about the tea flower? So here it is, and if you’re thinking that it looks like a camellia, then you’re right, because the tea plant is a member of the large camellia family.
In the tea plantations you see very few flowers. Because the young shoots are picked throughout the year, the tea plant is prevented from flowering, it is frustrated, you could say. The tea plant puts all its energy into growing leaves, so if you see a tea plant covered in flowers it’s not a good sign: it means the plantation is a bit neglected and the harvesting isn’t done regularly, or else it means that the tea plant is old, because a mass of flowers is a sign of degeneration. This pretty little tea flower I wanted to show you was found at the Happy Valley tea plantation not far from the city of Darjeeling in India. It doesn’t have much of a scent, it’s just pretty to look at, especially because its bloom fades quickly.


Posted in Country : India, Tea plant by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : , , , , , , , ,
janvier 29, 2010
No Comments

The seed of a tea plant, the seed of a blog

blog3

The seed of a tea plant, the seed of a blog. The start of a blog is like a birth. It is like sowing a small seed, giving it time to germinate, then watching it emerge and grow until finally it becomes a mature plant. Something that links you to others by sharing a part of life, of love. So to begin my blog, I have chosen a photo of a seed. The seed of a tea plant, of course. I can’t remember exactly where I took this photo, but it doesn’t really matter. The fruit of the tea plant seen here is a type of nut. Inside are up to six seeds. Before choosing which seeds to plant, the grower does something interesting: he collects lots of seeds, then soaks them all in water for 24 hours. When he returns, he throws away all the seeds floating on the water’s surface, and keeps the ones that have sunk to the bottom. He knows that only those seeds will produce good tea plants.


Posted in Tea plant by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : ,
janvier 26, 2010
No Comments

Discovering Tea, a Tea Traveller’s Blog

An indefatigable globetrotter, François-Xavier Delmas has been touring the tea plantations of the world for more than 20 years in search of the best teas. Throughout India, China, Nepal, Japan, Taiwan and Sri Lanka, he has scaled the remotest mountains on his quest for the rarest teas.
How would he describe himself? Tea researcher? Tea explorer? Tea sommelier? Tea-trotter? It is difficult to summarise in just a few words these journeys inspired by tea, except to say that they are motivated by the desire to offer, through Le Palais des Thés’ stores, the finest pluckings, the rarest, most fleeting harvests, those that fetch a small fortune, on condition that he knows the growers, is in regular contact with them and, in many cases, is a longstanding and loyal friend. The aim of www.dicoveringtea.com is to follow the peregrinations of “FX” and to understand tea through the words and images of a passionate man. And not just tea – for there is much more besides – but also the people, traditions and cultures of the world that he encounters on his travels.


Posted in Country : India by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : , , , , , ,

The author

François-Xavier Delmas is a passionate globetrotter. He’s been touring the world’s tea plantations for more than 20 years in search of the finest teas. As the founder of Le Palais des Thés, he believes that travelling is all about discovering world cultures. From Darjeeling to Shizuoka, from Taiwan to the Golden Triangle, he invites you to follow his trips as well as share his experiences and emotions.

Articles classified by themes

Blogs on tea in English

Blogs on tea in French

Cooking

Links to Le Palais des Thés

Past travels

Community

Login with Facebook :
Last visitors