Blog – Page 78 – Discovering Tea

Makalu : the fifth highest peak in the world

20 May 2011

I have just spent three days in the region of Nepal where the country’s best teas are produced. It is a valley to the east of Kathmandu from where, on a clear day, you can see the fifth highest peak in the world, Makalu.

The tea in this high valley is produced by just three plantations: Kuwapani, Guranse and Jun Chiyabari, all equally prestigious. They are situated right next to each other, at an altitude of around 2 000 metres, and this is the village of Hile, opposite.

In three days, I have only enjoyed such a clear view of this village twice, despite it being just a few hundred metres away. So I’ll have to come back another time to see Makalu!

The red panda or firefox, a creature of the Himalayas

17 May 2011

Yes, the firefox! For those who use the well-known web browser of the same name, you’ll have seen this long-tailed mammal every day, curled around the icon on your computer screen.

For the rest of you, this is what the panda looks like. It is much smaller than its Chinese cousin and, fortunately, a bit less endangered. It can be found in Darjeeling and throughout the Himalayas.

I didn’t just stumble across it while walking in the forest though. I’m not particularly keen on zoos, but I knew that one lived at the Darjeeling zoo, along with some mates, and I wanted to see it. It has beautiful fur you want to stroke, like its neighbour in the next cage, the snow leopard. I certainly wouldn’t stick my hand between the bars surrounding its other neighbour, a fearsome looking Siberian tiger whose mouth is so big I could fit my whole head inside, right up to my shoulders.

If you are in the area, do pay a visit to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute , which honours those who have climbed Everest, starting with Tenzing Norgay, of course, who was from Darjeeling.

The best teas are often produced from March to May

13 May 2011

Some regions produce their best teas during the period from March to May. So this is a good time to meet the farmers and planters and see them at work.

I have left China for Nepal, which has been producing excellent teas in the past few decades. While here, I am visiting tea plantations in Hile (Kuwapani, Guranse, Jun-Chiyabari) located in the district of Dhankuta in Eastern Nepal, the most prestigious in the country.

Tea leaves ready for harvesting are yellow-green

10 May 2011

You can tell when the tea leaves are ready for harvesting by the colour of the bushes. When the tea plants take on this yellow-green shade it means the new shoots have reached a good size and it is time to get out your basket and start plucking.

Here, you can see the difference in colour between the leaves that have not yet been harvested, in the background, and what remains on the plants after a visit from this Chinese woman, with her agile hands, in the foreground.

Taiping Hou Kui is incredibly labour-intensive

6 May 2011

Processing Taiping Hou Kui is incredibly labour-intensive. Each leaf, after firing, is hand-rolled lengthwise and placed on a cloth. The leaves are carefully spaced out and then pressed with a small roller, leaving them flattened and larger.

Taiping Hou Kui : a very expensive tea from China

3 May 2011

Taiping Hou Kui is harvested for just 25 days a year, generally between 20 April and 15 May. For the rest of the year the tea plant is allowed to grow without having its leaves plucked. This concentrates the harvest on the best season.

Mrs Zha has a pretty plot of land on the edge of lake Taiping. She is very busy during this plucking period. Taiping Hou Kui is one of the most expensive teas in China, and its price can reach thousands of yuan per kilo.

On this mountain : the best green teas in Anhui

29 April 2011

To reach the tea plantations, I am used to walking for hours, or driving a 4×4, sometimes both. I don’t usually get to travel by boat, however. But yesterday, that is exactly what I did. At the moment I am looking for the best green teas in East China’s Anhui province. Among these are the true Taping Hou Kui teas, the only ones worthy of this name. They grow on a mountain that is only accessible by boat.

In China, harvesting of premium teas is in full swing

26 April 2011

Here in China, the harvesting of premium teas is in full swing. Some farmers have their own buildings equipped with various machines for processing the tea. Others, like Mr Li, sell their freshly plucked leaves to bigger farmers who have the necessary facilities.

Once harvested, tea spoils quickly. Here, at the Fuding tea market, Mr Li absolutely must find a buyer in the next two hours. With the quality of his leaves, he should have no difficulty, and he gives a big smile for the camera.

Tea plantation in the mists of Darjeeling

22 April 2011

Before leaving for China in search of different teas, I have spent most of the past few weeks tasting lots of samples of Darjeelings, receiving up to fifty in one day.

Phuguri, Risheehat, Orange Valley, Gielle, Puttabong, Singbulli, Teesta Valley, North Tukvar, Longview, Thurbo: this year our selection reflects the work of many gardens and represents the best of their production.
This is what the mountains look like where these teas grow, so that while you are enjoying them, you can transport yourself to the mountainside and feel the mists of the Himalayan foothills.

Premium green teas : harvesting has begun

19 April 2011

In China, the first tea harvests of the year have begun, and today I am flying to Beijing, then to Huang Shan, the famous Yellow Mountains.

The best pluckings of China green tea take place in April, and Anhui province alone boasts prestigious teas such as Tai Ping Hou Kui, Huang Shan Mao Feng, Huang Shan Mu Dan and Huang Hua Yun Jian, to name just a few.