Blog – Page 20 – Discovering Tea

Man Kumar Mukhiya’s wonderful tea

24 July 2020

It is not easy for us to get hold of the wonderful teas of Nepal, as the former Himalayan kingdom is not fully out of lockdown. Nonetheless, we received a number of tea samples by post and have made a very good selection. The teas should arrive in France in the coming days and weeks.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Man Kumar Mukhiya, an old friend. Man Kumar comes from a farming family and is passionate about tea. He has successfully started up his own farm, with his own tea fields. Today, he dreams of producing the best teas in Nepal and making his plantation, Mai Pokhari, famous among connoisseurs. No doubt we will always be there to support him. I recommend his remarkable Mai Pokhari Red Summer, which we are really looking forward to receiving.

Sensory exposure

17 July 2020

Right now it’s best to minimise your potential exposure to a vicious virus. Much better to be safe at home, drinking delicious teas. Admire the look of the liquor before shutting your eyes and swilling it around your mouth. Pay attention to the sensations, aromas and textures in your mouth, the flavours on your tongue and palate. Then, once you’ve swallowed, you’ll be transported by the lingering finish.

Staying at home is a wonderful opportunity to expose your senses to gastronomic experiences.

Without a roof

10 July 2020

In Nepal, among people who are finding lockdown challenging are those who still have no roof over their head. In remote villages of this ancient Himalayan kingdom, I still come across isolated hamlets where the houses remain in ruins and have never been rebuilt since the last earthquake, despite all the international aid.

Green and rosy

3 July 2020

On the radio, I keep hearing that the Greens have done well in France. So I listen more closely. Green is my colour. Tea fields are green, tea leaves are green, the nature surrounding the tea plantations is green. Everything around me is green when I walk among tea plants, in an infinite variety of shades: yellow green, jade green, luminous green, matt green, dark green, pale green and everything in between.

In these landscapes I love so much, surrounded by green, I’m happy, I’m at peace. Everything looks rosy.

Beware the heat!

26 June 2020

Tea plants don’t like extreme heat. In the hottest regions they are grown under cover, like here, in Taiwan. This is not quite the same as shade-grown tea. It means that from time to time the delicate little shoots get a bit of respite, and the leaves are not subjected to direct sunlight throughout the day.

Worth waiting for

18 June 2020

When I buy a freshly picked rare tea, I have just one thing in mind: to make it available to all of you who enjoy premium teas. But it’s not that straightforward. One of my conditions is that the tea must be clean. It’s common sense. When I buy a tea from a plantation or a farm with organic certification, I can depend on the certifying body and only need to carry out random checks. However, for teas without certification, as soon as they arrive in France, instead of being sent straight to the stores, they are dispatched to a specialist laboratory for analysis. This takes a week. A week longer before you can try the teas in our stores and drink them with peace of mind.

A beautiful landscape does not always produce good tea

12 June 2020

Sri Lanka’s tea plantations are among the most beautiful in the world, but that is not always reflected in the quality. You have to learn not to be influenced by landscapes. The best teas on the island are in the south, in a less mountainous region. Here, west of Nuwara Eliya, you won’t enjoy a remarkable tea, but the views are magnificent.

Celebrating the end of lockdown in Kenya

5 June 2020

Today, I’m taking you to the slopes of Mount Kenya. There, at nearly 2,000 metres, a well-structured, aromatic black tea is grown. Quality varies from one plantation to the next. One of the most famous tea research centres is located here, meaning that the region’s farmers benefit from valuable advice that complies with organic practices, which are very common here.

The row of white posts bearing the names of the cultivar makes this plot resemble a memorial site. We remember the victims of this pandemic and look to the future with hope.

Heading to Rwanda

29 May 2020

How would you like to accompany me on a trip to a tea plantation in Rwanda? We’re a three-hour drive north of Kigali. Before reaching the Sorwathe plantation, situated on the high plateau, we will travel for miles along a stunning valley covered with tea plants.

The road resembles a long scar. In the evening light, this gash of earth turns shades of blood red.

Let me take you to Kolkata

20 May 2020

There’s nothing like armchair travelling to keep us inspired as lockdown measures ease. Today, I want to take you to Kolkata, a wonderful city for tea. In the evening, Bengalis gather along the banks of the Hooghly River, a tributary of the Ganges. They perform their ablutions and dive into the sacred waters, while others wait for the ferry to take them to the other side of this majestic river that floods this sprawling city with joy.