December 2020 – Discovering Tea

Papayas and tea

25 December 2020

People are always experimenting, and when you’re lucky enough to be a tea researcher, you’re well placed to see all sorts of things. Here, on a coffee plantation in Tanzania that has branched out into growing tea, there is no lack of innovation. The latest initiative is to remove the flesh of papayas and fill the skins with a semi-oxidised tea that has been withered and rolled. After a short oxidation, the wet leaves are stuffed into the hollowed-out ripe fruit and become impregnated with its delicious scent.

Accompany your tea

18 December 2020

Lots of things are used to accompany tea. In some countries people add mint, spices, milk or sugar to the teapot, or directly in the cup. There are many different customs. In other countries, people serve marbled quail eggs or seeds alongside their brew, or a cardamom pod, held in the mouth while drinking, like they do in Afghanistan. It gives the tea a delicate flavour. Here, in Ilam Valley in Nepal, these golden Himalayan raspberries add a touch of sweetness to the delicious green tea produced in the surrounding hills.

Travels with tea

11 December 2020

I met Sidonie when she invited me to be on her RTL radio show. That was a few years ago. We stayed in touch and, after chatting over a cup of tea one day, we thought, why not? Why not combine our passions and take our listeners, tea enthusiasts, on a journey to their favourite tea-producing country? This idea led us to launch a new podcast, or balado, as our Quebecois friends would say.

Join us at https://www.palaisdesthes.com/fr/podcast/ and on your usual podcast platform. These tales of travels and tea are for you. (In French only.)

Around Maskeliya Lake

4 December 2020

Would you like to come for a walk with me around Maskeliya Lake in Sri Lanka? Here, we’re halfway between the high-grown and low-grown teas; between those from the mountains of the Nuwara Eliya region and the often-remarkable teas produced in the jungle around Sinharaja forest further south. This is the view from the front of the bungalow on the Moray Tea Estate. The artificial Maskeliya Lake is surrounded by tea plants and the magnificent flora particular to this region, including flamboyant cassia and poinsettia. The yellow and red brighten up the eternal green of our camellias.