My tea travelling companions

Most of the time, I travel on my own. Nothing’s better than solitude to meet others, be receptive and start up relations. I go foward at my own pace, going from one plantation to another as I like. I stay there the time it takes to strike up a friendship with tea producers and learning the most about their work. In the evening, I look for a friendly inn and right after having sat down, I start up a conversation with my neighbours.
 
I make other trips with companions, study trips of example, during which we aim at learning everything possible about teas coming from a specific area. We then have to take notes, talk with producers or farmers, learn about the manufacturing process of each tea, ask endless questions and take lots of pictures at the same time… In that case, two or three of us are not too many to accomplish all these tasks!
 
My best trip companion in that case is Mathias, on the right of the photo, with whom I have been sharing the same passion for more than ten years. And Carine, on the left, who is in charge of the Tea School, is a perfect complement to us thanks to her career as an aroma specialist.
 
This photo was taken in Beipu, Taiwan, to be precise. Behind us, bamboo trays on which Bao Zhong tea leaves are left to sweat.

Did you like this article ? Share It !

In a tuk-tuk through the jungle of Sri Lanka

I don’t know which means of transportation you took to get to work this morning. As for me, I didn’t really feel like walking that day. It had just poured masses of water and I feared that it would start again. So in this jungle close to the forest reserve of Sinharâja in the South of Sri Lanka, nearby the plantations where you find the best FBOBEXSP teas (grade that defines the finest teas), I hailed a tuk-tuk. For several kilometers, I followed a small road and zigzagged between the puddles. The air was warm. Thanks to the smell of wet earth and ripe fruits, my trip to the Tea Factory become an amazing olfactory journey.

Did you like this article ? Share It !

Darjeeling, its violence, its hope

I feel sad today. A guy, a political leader to be a little bit more precise, has been assassinated in Darjeeling. In facts, violence has been raging in Darjeeling for 30 years. Tension is often tangible. And blood sometimes flows.

To explain the problem to you in a few words and in a way that is much too brief, Darjeeling, where mainly Indians of Nepalese origin live, is located at the extreme north of the Indian State of West Bengal. In this particularly backed-off spot, roads are in a disastrous state, water is scarce, infrastructures are generally in an apalling state. Thus, many inhabitants of these mountains wish to create a new state called “Gorkhaland” within the Indian Union. And this, in order to stop keeping waiting for money that never comes from Kolkata and to enjoy an easier life like the Sikkim neighbour who depends directly from the Central State, namely Delhi.

I hope that they will be able to solve these problems using reason rather than violence. Couldn’t the inhabitants of Darjeeling be given normal life conditions, suitable roads, running water and some autonomy so that they can decide what is best for themselves?

Between political leaders who don’t do anything, those who are corrupted, those who make promises the day before elections and forget them the following day, those who divide instead of assembling and those who arouse masses, people would be in a grief to decide who to confine their destiny to.

I choose this adorable toddler, coiled up in his mother’s arms with his life in front of him, to wish Darjeeling, its mountains I love so much and these Nepalese people who are dearest to me, a better future.

Did you like this article ? Share It !

China, birthplace of tea

I have just acquired the first flush green teas from China for Le Palais des Thés.
China was the first country in the world to produce tea. It has been growing there for thousands of years. In comparison, India and Sri Lanka have only been producing tea for 170 and 140 years, respectively.

The legend about tea drinking goes back to Emperor Chen Nung, more than two thousand years ago. He had apparently stopped beneath a shrub to take a nap, a bowl of hot water beside him, as it was his custom. A gentle breeze then came up and removed from the shrub a leaf which dared to settle in the imperial bowl. We can imagine a host of devoted servants rushing forwards to change the dirty bowl, rinse it, dry it and refill it with nice clear, rippling water. But the Emperor, just from a sign of the hand, told his servants to stand back, and with a single index finger raised towards the sky, he said these few words:

“From what the Sky sends Us,
Is born harmony in Us.”

The Emperor then lifted the bowl to his lips. He tasted, he drank. He appreciated. He then asked what the name of the shrub was.

And so tea was born.

Did you like this article ? Share It !