Tea people

To choose tea, you need to have a good nose

3 August 2010
To choose tea, you need to have a good nose

When you taste tea, you first start by smelling it. This is a very important stage in the tasting process. You look at the infused leaves, inhale them and by doing so you already get lots of information on the tea. You could for example easily detect problems such as an over-drying, an overly long oxidization process if it’s black tea, or inappropriate fermentation. But of course it also allows you to identify the qualities of the tea and the different scents you could find again in the cup in more or less similar ways.

It’s only after smelling the infused leaves (what is called “infusion” in the trade) that we actually taste the liquor itself.

Here, in Badamtam (Darjeeling), Binod Gurung has his eyes closed. His nose is plunged in the damp, warm leaves. He inhales, analyses, all in a state of complete concentration.

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Cheerful plucker looking like a tea missionary

16 July 2010
Cheerful plucker looking like a tea missionary

On the Terai plain (area straddling Nepal and India), I’ve seen them use strange crosses to mark the height of tea plants. The cross is stuck into the ground and only the shoots growing above the horizontal bar are plucked. It makes this cheerful plucker look a bit like a tea missionary.

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Ye Yingkai, producer of Fujian teas

9 July 2010
Ye Yingkai, producer of Fujian teas

Ye Yingkai, pictured beside me, is a great connoisseur of Fujian teas. His story is singular, as he started out working for the State Corporation in charge of tea exports in his province, before forming his own company. He then acquired a farm, fields, in order to produce his own tea. Parallel to that, he hunts out great Tie Guan Yin, rare Da Hong Pao, as well as extremely fine jasmine teas.

He has been working with Le Palais Des Thés for nearly 20 years, and of course he’s a great friend of mine.

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My tea travelling companions

11 June 2010
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.

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How to forge good business relations in Japan ?

11 May 2010
How to forge good business relations in Japan ?

There is a Japanese tradition that is completely unrelated to tea, but I like it so much I want to tell you about it. It is about the famous onsen, the hot springs.
In a volcanic country like Japan, with all that matter fermenting together underground, it is no surprise that boiling water erupts from the ground everywhere. There are many hot springs in the land of the rising sun.

The water temperature is so high that even in the middle of winter, it can make you hot even when your shoulders are exposed to the cold air.

The onsen are an extremely popular destination among the Japanese: they bathe in them to relax, rest and even cure themselves. They spend weekends, even entire vacations, in them. You go to the onsen with your family and your friends. When you go with a client, or a business contact, it is known as “hadaka no tsukiai”, or “naked communion”. The Japanese believe that bathing together, naked, is a way of showing yourself as you really are, with nothing to hide. This is important, they say, if you want to forge transparent business relations.

Here, near lake Tazawa, the deepest in the country, I am taking part in “hadaka no tsukiai” with Koichi Fujiki, a producer of tea canisters. We want to work together, for a long time, to be able to trust each other in business, without hiding anything. And this is how you do it!

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How to forge good business relations in Japan ?


How to forge good business relations in Japan ?

There is a Japanese tradition that is completely unrelated to tea, but I like it so much I want to tell you about it. It is about the famous onsen, the hot springs.
In a volcanic country like Japan, with all that matter fermenting together underground, it is no surprise that boiling water erupts from the ground everywhere. There are many hot springs in the land of the rising sun.

The water temperature is so high that even in the middle of winter, it can make you hot even when your shoulders are exposed to the cold air.

The onsen are an extremely popular destination among the Japanese: they bathe in them to relax, rest and even cure themselves. They spend weekends, even entire vacations, in them. You go to the onsen with your family and your friends. When you go with a client, or a business contact, it is known as “hadaka no tsukiai”, or “naked communion”. The Japanese believe that bathing together, naked, is a way of showing yourself as you really are, with nothing to hide. This is important, they say, if you want to forge transparent business relations.

Here, near lake Tazawa, the deepest in the country, I am taking part in “hadaka no tsukiai” with Koichi Fujiki, a producer of tea canisters. We want to work together, for a long time, to be able to trust each other in business, without hiding anything. And this is how you do it!

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What a welcome in the tea plantation of Fuding !

2 April 2010
What a welcome in the tea plantation of Fuding !

Travelling is all about meeting other people. Many of the regions I’ve been to are not at all touristy. So the arrival of a foreigner is a big attraction for the children. Their reactions vary from surprise to hilarity. Here, in Fuding (China), I was welcomed with a cheerful and noisy fanfare! This strange bunch calls me “Big Nose”, as this is how Chinese people call us, whites.

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Tea, a simple drink

19 March 2010
Tea, a simple drink

Tea is a serious matter, it requires much hard work and science to grow it, harvest its leaves, wither them, heat them, roll them, oxidise them, dry them, sort them and more. But tea is not just about that. It is also a simple drink, an everyday act, an affordable pleasure. Here, in Kolkata, this street seller, just opposite the New Market, is enjoying his chai tea. He’s drinking it from a little throwaway earthenware cup.

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Tea pluckers at the Longview Tea Estate

2 March 2010
Tea pluckers at the Longview Tea Estate

These tea pluckers at the Longview Tea Estate (India) are laughing because I’ve brought them some photos I took of them several years earlier in the tea plantations. I like this way of connecting with people. I like going back to places I’ve been before, seeking out the same faces, giving them the photos I took. And then sitting down to enjoy them together.
We can make these kinds of connections on my blog, too. Do comment if you feel like it, tell me what you’ve enjoyed, or what you don’t like. Send me a few words from time to time, make yourselves known, it will give me a sense that you are there, that you are part of the journey!

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Hisanori Masuda, designer de théières

23 February 2010
Hisanori Masuda, designer de théières

J’ai le plaisir de vous présenter mon ami Hisanori Masuda. Hisanori est un fameux designer Japonais qui a créé de très beaux modèles de théières en fonte. Il a exposé dans différents pays du monde (au MoMa, à New York, par exemple), et il enseigne à l’université au Japon. Nous nous connaissons depuis une quinzaine d’années grâce à Kayoko Nishikawa avec laquelle j’ai voyagé à plusieurs reprises dans le nord de l’archipel, notamment dans la province d’Iwate. C’est en effet dans cette région que l’on fabrique les théières en fonte. Encore aujourd’hui elles sont fondues une à une.
Hisanori a également dessiné de très beaux modèles de bouilloires, au design simple, rigoureux et traditionnel à la fois. Les théières Hikime, Chokaku et Natsume sont de parfaites illustrations de son travail.
J’ai retrouvé Hisanori la semaine dernière à Francfort lors du salon Ambiente. Il est venu sur le stand du Palais des Thés et j’ai pu le présenter à notre équipe qui avait hâte de faire sa connaissance. Cette photo a été prise à cette occasion.

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