Blog – Page 3 – Discovering Tea

Wild and tamed nature

29 March 2024

This photo is a beautiful sight, in my humble opinion. Tea bushes grow amid dense vegetation. A rugged, sloping landscape, numerous trees of different species… There’s a harmony between the cultivated plants and wild nature. It’s easy to imagine the wealth of flora and fauna to be found in such a diverse environment. For the amateur photographer in me, there’s pretty much only one colour – at first glance. On closer inspection, what a multitude, what variety! What better way to celebrate spring than with this abundance of greens?

The cuttings nursery

15 March 2024

To make good tea, you need to know your tea bushes well. It’s a lot easier if you’ve tended them yourself from a young age. Many plantations – like this one in Satemwa, Malawi – take their own cuttings and then grow them in a nursery for eighteen months. Shaded to protect them from too much sun and too little humidity, the cuttings develop their root systems. Later, the young tea plants are planted out in the ground and begin their adult lives. Then it’s time to harvest the shoots, which are few and far between in the early seasons, but become more abundant as the bushes develop and branch out.

The Lion Dance in Hong Kong

1 March 2024

In Hong Kong, the Lion Dance is performed at New Year, when the animal is paraded through the streets and shopping centers of the island. It plucks the “greens” (represented by fruit or vegetables) hung out for it in the doorway of each shop, then “spits them out” one by one while keeping hold of the associated envelope. The latter contains money for the dancers who animate the lion’s body. The shopkeepers don’t hand over their money in vain: the custom is believed to bring good luck. No doubt their business will flourish after this auspicious gesture.

A tea researcher named Léo!

16 February 2024

“Ever since I was young, tea has been a part of my life, although I didn’t attach any particular importance to it. Everything changed on my 14th birthday, when a cup of Oolong, a Tie Guan Yin from Anxi, captivated my senses with its freshness and lily scent. It sparked a passion that only grew from there.

As the adult world began to take shape before me, I wondered about my future. I was irresistibly drawn to tea, and at the same time my desire to explore the world led me to dream of distant horizons. Why not combine the two? After looking into it, I came across a blog written by François-Xavier Delmas, who had the unusual job of tea researcher.

I decided to contact him for advice. I should say that throughout my high school years, I spent my pocket money on fine teas at the Palais des Thés shop in Rennes. I tasted everything I could; every moment was an opportunity to explore the world of tea. I wanted to make a living from my passion.

After my exams, I started business school, but six months into the course I did an internship in the Brittany shop, which confirmed my desire to work with tea. I was impatient to get started so, encouraged by those around me, I quit my studies and went abroad to deepen my knowledge and gain practical experience.

Before I left, I told François-Xavier about my plans. When he saw that I was still as determined as ever to do this job after all those years, he decided to help me, and suggested various factories where I could work and learn.

I spent a year immersed in plantation life in a dozen countries, learning hands-on alongside the growers.

On my return, François-Xavier offered me the opportunity to turn my passion into a career. So I became a tea researcher, driven by my enthusiasm and determination, and the invaluable support of those who believed in me.”

Tea researching is a profession

9 February 2024

I’m not the only tea researcher in the world today. Léo also travels in search of rare teas. We’ve been working together for over five years. We taste all the samples that come in, we nurture close relationships with the farmers and try to promote them and help them when they need it. We train as many colleagues as possible to help them build up their knowledge of tea. That involves yet more sampling, and telling the stories of all our travels and what we’ve tasted along the way. There are only two tea researchers in France for now, but there’s no doubt that it’s a profession with a future, given the current enthusiasm in France for quality tea.

How does one become a tea researcher? The answer is coming soon…

A better life

2 February 2024

All over the world, men and women work the land. When you’re right there with them, you realise just how hard their work is. Spending time with them makes you aware of how they live. It reconnects you with what’s important. Above all, it makes you want to talk about them, to highlight what they do, what they harvest, what they know. In short, to support them. Here, for example, we’re working with people to help them produce teas that are more flavourful and interesting. These teas will earn them more money. This will help them to live better lives, to raise their children more easily and to benefit from better healthcare. They will be able to look ahead with more confidence and thus protect the future of this good way of working the land.

Shade and green manure

26 January 2024

Tea bushes need light, of course, but they don’t like to be in direct sunlight all day long. They prefer some shade from time to time, especially at lower altitudes where temperatures can climb quickly. So growers plant a light canopy to keep their tea bushes happy and give them some respite. This cover is usually made up of plants from the legume family, whose leaves enrich the soil with nitrogen as they decompose. It’s a kind of green manure, and the tea bushes really appreciate it.

Preparing for tea

19 January 2024

Brewing tea isn’t the same as preparing for tea. While I brew my tea, I prepare myself for it. I slow down and take time to breathe. I let go of any worries and feel lighter. I focus my attention on a favourite object, a positive emotion or a beautiful view, like this one. A view of a garden. While my tea brews, and as I sip it, standing upright yet relaxed, it soothes me.

Tea calms us

12 January 2024

Sometimes I think about what tea does for me. Why does it make me feel so good? Today, I’ve been looking through my photos to inspire my thoughts. I came across this one, taken on the banks of the Ganges. When I look at it, I feel the same sense of calm that I get when I drink my favourite beverage. This photo has helped me to define how I benefit from tea. It calms me. When I make myself a cup of tea and hold it in my hands, I relax. I close my eyes, concentrate and feel free. I detach myself from things, break the invisible bonds that constrain me. Like this silhouette, this man-bird embracing the sky, free from gravity. Tea is an invitation to be calm.

Men at work

29 December 2023

These days, it’s often women who pick tea on the plantations established by the British in India, Sri Lanka and various East African countries. But our British friends are long gone. And while the practices they introduced live on in many tea-growing regions, the fact remains that when left to their own devices, like here, between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, the growers divide up the tasks as they see fit. It’s good to see men in the fields, and it’s good not to hear the same old rubbish about women’s hands being more delicate, more agile. What nonsense! Even the people I’m photographing think it’s a joke. Let’s end 2023 on a high note, and I’ll see you back here next year!