ARCHIVE FOR August 2017

Les 4 étapes du mao cha

25 August 2017
Les 4 étapes du mao cha

La fabrication d’un mao cha se fait en 4 étapes. Rappelons tout d’abord que l’on nomme mao cha le thé qui va servir à fabriquer un pu erh, que celui-ci soit cru ou bien cuit. Précisons également que la façon de faire le mao cha a évolué avec le temps.  Un simple flétrissage suivi d’un séchage au soleil est devenu plus complexe au gré des modes et de l’engouement incroyable des Chinois pour leurs thés sombres. Aujourd’hui, voilà comment cela se passe. Après avoir récolté les feuilles, on les laisse se flétrir durant environ 2 heures. Puis on fixe les feuilles au wok (photo) à 200 degrés durant environ 30 minutes. Ensuite, on va rouler les feuilles durant 10 minutes avant de les laisser sécher toute la journée au soleil. En théorie, le mao cha est destiné à être compressé, mais il n’est pas interdit de le déguster tel quel et de savourer ses notes minérales, fruitées, végétales et animales.

 

Share on Facebook. Tweet this!

The situation is dangerous in Darjeeling

18 August 2017
The situation is dangerous in Darjeeling

The situation in Darjeeling has become dangerous. All the shops have shut, the hotels have closed, the roads are blocked. Work has ground to a halt on the tea plantations. It has been like this for 70 days. We are facing a major shortage. Worse, clashes with the army have left some dead. I don’t know if a political solution will be reached between the central government, the leaders of West Bengal and the separatists. I don’t know if demands to create a new state, Gorkhaland, within the Union of India, will lead to anything. What I do know is that the plantations are under threat and that it will take several weeks to get back to a situation where they can start producing tea again. It will require a massive effort in terms of clearing the ground and pruning before the bushes can grow in the right way for harvesting. The summer crop is already spoilt. The autumn harvest could be saved if the conflict ends quickly. Otherwise, we will have to stop tasting Darjeelings for a while, and instead send positive thoughts to everyone living in those mountains; the people I know well and am so fond of, who do not deserve to live through such difficult times.

Share on Facebook. Tweet this!

A black tea factory that is now a museum, in Taiwan

11 August 2017
A black tea factory that is now a museum, in Taiwan

The island of Taiwan is famous for its Oolong teas. They are oxidised to varying degrees and so develop notes that are more vegetal, or on the contrary, more woody. But these teas, which are also known as blue-green teas, do not represent all of the island’s production. There are also green teas and black teas in Taiwan. Regarding the black teas, here is the building where they were processed, at the time of the occupation and when the Japanese were toying with the idea of making Taiwan one of the world’s biggest producers of black teas. The Japanese wanted to compete with British teas made in India.

Share on Facebook. Tweet this!

Nepal is still waiting to be rebuilt

4 August 2017
Nepal is still waiting to be rebuilt

In Nepal, the effects of the earthquake are ongoing. Whole villages are still in ruins, their inhabitants living among these ruins, in houses that have half-collapsed, covered over with a tarpaulin for a roof. In Kathmandu, only the old town was affected. There too, there is no sign of reconstruction. A significant number of the capital’s most beautiful monuments have been reduced to dust, and surrounding houses are in a fragile state. While they await repair, they are being propped up by wooden struts, and signs warn people of the risk of collapsing buildings.

 

Share on Facebook. Tweet this!