Blog – Page 8 – Discovering Tea

More premium teas in more variety

24 February 2023

One of the questions I’m asked most is whether the quality of the tea is declining as the number of Palais des Thés stores increases. The question concerns the finest quality, rare, small-batch teas. Let me answer it here. At the moment, we only select one premium tea for every hundred or more batches we get sent. Of course, not all of the teas we receive are worthy of selection, but many could qualify. However, we never ask a producer who has only made 50 kilos of an amazing tea to increase the size of their batch. This could compromise the quality. But there is nothing to stop us from selecting more batches and offering them in just a few stores. This means that the range of premium teas we offer will continue to evolve over time, but also in terms of where they are available. It is a pleasure to find different teas of such quality from one Palais des Thés store to another.

In Malawi, the Satemwa plantation is celebrating its 100th anniversary

17 February 2023

In Malawi, the Satemwa plantation is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It took me a long time to start exploring Africa – I was already busy in Asia. But after receiving many requests and to satisfy my own curiosity, to see if I could find tea as good in Africa as in Asia even though the plantations are much younger, I went there. I started in Malawi, a country of rare beauty: tea fields bathed in a different light, red earth, unfamiliar faces. The children were the same as I meet everywhere, running after me, bursting with energy and laughter. Alex, the planter for three generations now, has created a space in the impressive building to develop rare teas. It is the start of an exciting venture and a wonderful discovery for me. Happy anniversary to all at Satemwa.

Magnificent vistas as far as the eye can see

10 February 2023

In Peru, to reach some of the tea plantations you must follow a long, winding, vertiginous mountain path that threatens to collapse at any moment. But your dedication will be rewarded by magnificent vistas that extend as far as the eye can see.

Tea isn’t blooming in Peru

3 February 2023

In Peru, tea is so cheap and in such low demand that half the production is sold to florists. Tea branches stay in bloom for a long time. It is a depressing situation for the farmers, who are deprived of precious income because of a lack of expertise and demand. These would allow them to earn a decent living and develop their business. It is my role, and that of Palais des Thés, to help them produce better, even excellent teas, and to promote their work.

Huyro tea

27 January 2023

Until the Agrarian Reform of the 1970s, which dismantled the haciendas and expropriated the land, Peruvian tea was celebrated. In the Inca region, everyone knew the name Huyro. Today, nobody has heard of it, and for good reason: the expertise has been lost. Fortunately, a handful of farmers are working hard to improve the quality of the tea and regain its past glory.

Beyond the Andes

20 January 2023

To reach Peru’s tea plantations, which are located in the Amazonian region of the country, you must cross the Andes. From Cuzco, you head to Machu Picchu before setting out from the famous site to complete the journey across the mountains, one after another. Beyond this rugged horizon lies the Amazon plains, and the tea fields. What future delights might we find there?

Carlota and her beloved jungle

13 January 2023

In Colombia, tea grows in the Andes; more specifically, in the region of Cali, the capital of salsa. But there is more to this area of the Cauca Valley, south-east of the capital Bogotá, than dancing. Once known for its sugar cane, the district’s most famous crops now include coffee and cocoa. And surely tea too, one day, which creates beautiful landscapes here. Carlota, who oversees the region’s only plantation, has a principle: the plots cover a maximum of five hectares and are surrounded by the jungle, in order to protect the biodiversity that is so important to her. Carlota’s whole life revolves around her love of nature and her love of the jungle where she has chosen to live. She is devoted to her tea crops because they allow a whole community to live in these mountains and help preserve this unique, fragile and incredibly rich environment. It is a truly special place.

To be human

6 January 2023

In Nepal, it is not the year 2023 but 2078, until April. Just a few days before the New Year, I was lucky enough to watch the sacred dances at Shechen monastery. Behind the scenes, the monks get ready. They each put on their costume. The boy plays the role of the jester. He and his companions will entertain the spectators and play tricks on them between dances. These atsaras remind us of our human condition. To be human: that is all I wish for us at the start of this new year.

Colombia has a bright future

30 December 2022

Bitaco is the only tea plantation in Colombia. Not only is it working to produce more and more exciting teas, it is also certified organic and is run by people who are passionate about tea. Carlota is one of the owners. She is in charge of the Foundation. Her interests include horticulture, ornithology and anything else related to her amazing Andean estate. Every day she tends the tree ferns, dozens of species of rare orchids, water lilies, arums and anthuriums in the botanical garden that she herself created. Then there’s Claudio, who makes and tastes new teas every day and has a voracious appetite for knowledge. Colombian tea has a bright future.

Dodik teaches farmers the art of tea production

23 December 2022

Tea always tastes better when you’re lucky enough to know the people who made it and are familiar with the landscape of the fields where it grew, the soil and the bushes. I’d like to introduce you to Dodik. He lives in Pacet on the Dieng plateau, at an altitude of about 1,200 metres. After visiting each plot and examining each plant and cultivar, he buys the farmers’ freshly harvested leaves and turns them into green or black tea, depending on the quality of the shoots and what he needs. He also teaches the locals how to produce their own tea. Some of them already make wonderful, rare teas. And in a few months, Dodik will give us the magnificent “Java Honey”, a delicious black tea roasted over coconut charcoal.