China – Page 7 – Discovering Tea

Plucking tea from full-sized tea plants

7 September 2012

There are few places in the world where tea is harvested from full-sized tea plants. On most plantations the camellia bushes are maintained at waist height. However, in regions where Pu Ers are produced, as well as here on Feng Huang mountain (China), the leaves of large tea plants are considered to have a superior aromatic quality.

If you have never tasted them, I suggest you try Dan Cong Wu Long as well as the oxidised Dan Cong – both are exceptionally subtle. They come from these large tea plants and were plucked by Mrs Huang, pictured here hard at work.

Looking like a vineyard…

4 September 2012

In southern China, on the slopes of Phoenix Mountain, tea bushes are planted on terraces due to the steep gradients. This way of organising tea bushes is quite a rare sight around the world. Here, it makes this tea plantation on a mountainside where some remarkable wu longs are grown look a bit like a vineyard.

Feng Huang Shan mountains, China

31 August 2012

Have you ever tasted a Dan Cong tea? These famous wu longs are produced in Guangdong province (China), in the Feng Huang Shan mountains where I took this photo, facing in the direction of the sea.

A good reason to use a tea boat

28 August 2012

When you make tea according to the Gong Fu method, you fill your teapot right to the top, even letting the water spill over to get rid of the scum. Hence the use of the tea boat, the recipient on which the teapot is placed here, which serves as a receptacle.

A show detailling how to prepare tea

24 August 2012

Many of you would probably say that you make your tea perfectly well. But can you imagine yourself up on stage, performing under the spotlights while a commentator stands beside you with a microphone, detailing your every graceful move to an attentive audience?
This is exactly what is happening at the moment at the Hong Kong Tea Fair.

Price hike at the Hong Kong tea fair

21 August 2012

The Hong Kong tea fair is taking place at the moment, and the context is particularly difficult for western buyers. For the past few years, erratic weather conditions have affected harvests, and the quantities produced have fallen sharply. In addition, production costs, whether in India or China, have risen considerably, as has the cost of sea freight. What is more, the very low value of the euro is pushing up the price of tea, which is generally traded in dollars. On top of all this, in China and India, the world’s two biggest tea producers, the middle classes, which did not exist in the recent past, now represent several hundreds of millions of people, many of whom enjoy drinking good quality teas. They aspired for so long, and now they have the means at their disposal. So in these two countries the domestic markets have expanded massively, and there are plenty of Indian and Chinese tea connoisseurs who are now buying the best teas that used to be reserved for export only. We can understand them, even if it is costly for us.

Swapping the kyusu for the tea boat

17 August 2012

As I am leaving Japan for China, I am also swapping the “kyusu” for the tea boat. You pour the tea into the first cup, which is quite narrow. You then empty this cup into the wider one. The smelling cup retains the fragrances of the liquor for a long time and allows you to explore the tea’s bouquet. You drink from the second cup, the tasting cup.

Carine Baudry helping in the making of a Long Jing

25 July 2012

This year, during the Long Jing harvest, the team from Le Palais des Thés lent a hand – in the wok. Here, Carine Baudry, head of the Tea School, is listening carefully to the advice being given by Professor Liang. Yuerong Liang is director of the Tea Research Centre at the Agricultural University of Hangzhou. He explains the great skill involved in processing Long Jing: it requires an extremely precise hand movement, and you must be very careful not to burn yourself.

When you have taken part in the making of a tea, you appreciate it even more when it comes to tasting it.

The best Taiping Hou Kui is produced here

20 July 2012

Taiping Hou Kui is known as a precious tea among the Chinese, but very few have had the opportunity of tasting it even once in their life.

Here, we are in Hou Kui, in the famous “Village of the Monkeys”, the birthplace of this tea and its most well-known production site. In the main factory of the village, employees work beneath the gaze of the Russian president, who is very fond of this fine Chinese tea and received some as a gift from Hu Jintao. The tea given by the Chinese president to his Russian counterpart was made in this very factory, so you can imagine the pride of all the workers.

If, like Vladimir Putin, you like Taiping Hou Kui, then this is the time to make the most of it. The 2012 plucking is now available.

How to make Long Jing

17 July 2012

Long Jing is processed in a large wok. The work requires plenty of dexterity as the tea must be kept moving at all times. The leaves are withered, rolled and dried in a continuous process and in the same recipient, simply by varying the hand movement.

In the cup you will find a note of roast chestnut, which comes from this toasting of the leaves.