2007 saw the start of a spectacular craze for pu er in China. In the space of a few weeks, this previously barely-known tea became the subject of frenzied speculation, and it took two or three years before prices came down again. Now it seems this same phenomenon is about to be repeated. Once again, the Chinese are queuing up to buy cakes of this tea, which is said to improve with age. As before, the cause is speculation. At the Canton Tea Fair, which has just taken place, we saw pu er cakes selling for over €1,000 each.
ARCHIVE FOR November 2013
Strange shapes in the Japanese tea fields
Because tea plants don’t like frost, Japanese tea fields are populated by strange shapes. When their blades are turning at the top, these fans prevent freezing air from stagnating above the bushes.
Tasting a fine tea using the Gong Fu Cha method
To appreciate a tea as fine as the Taiwanese “Black Pearl” I recently selected, there are two options: either use your usual teapot, or prepare it according to the Gong Fu Cha method. This involves placing the tea in a very small teapot and steeping the same leaves several times in succession. It is a different way of discovering the rich aromas of this fine tea, whose fairly sweet notes make it perfect for the season.
New Palais des Thés store opens in Bordeaux
The day after the opening of the new Palais des Thés store in Bordeaux, I have chosen this photo with a nod to the region’s vineyards. I know the topography is different, but I must say that tea bushes and vines are very similar in terms of the lines they form within the landscape.
Tea: a simple, delicious and comforting drink
There are many ways to make tea and to drink it. Some ceremonies must be learnt, like the Japanese Cha No Yu. Other rituals have rules that are no less specific, like the British, Chinese, Moroccan, Tibetan and Russian customs, and many others. But we should never forget that for a quarter of the inhabitants of our planet, tea is the most simple drink there is. It is consumed without fanfare, anywhere, at any time of day or night; it is the most obvious thing in the world, both delicious and comforting; it is served in the street; it is tea, plain and simple.