Eleven years

July 4, 2013
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Our 11th tea tour is over (20th year for Kevin!). After all these years of buying and research in China, Taiwan, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Rwanda, Vietnam and many other countries, what have we learned?

First is the exchange with the farmers who cultivate and make tea. Artisans who year after year focus on the quality of the product, adapting to the variables of the natural environment, to offer fresh, well made teas rich in aroma and flavour.

Producers faced with our many questions have always taken the time to respond, sometimes around the table in their home, often in the tea fields and tea factories. an invaluable opportunity for us to have such a rich source of accessible knowledge of tea manufacture and culture.

How much can there be to learn? Having spent many years furthering our understanding of the leaf and its technicalities (harvest, garden, transformation), we continue to immerse ourselves further in to this culture of tea. Through absorbing the rhythm of the lives of those who live there year-round, to know in more depth the numerous details of the history of tea, to explore other associated trades such as ceramics which is closely related to the pleasures of drinking tea. In addition to pushing the boundaries of our explorations, we must continue to monitor the developments of recent cultivars and stay on the lookout for new discoveries ...

To end on a personal note, I would say that there is nothing greater than "the friendship" of tea. Such as Mr. Yu Nen welcoming me and saying emotionally:

"You know, as the day of your visit approaches, I said to myself: "This is not my client from Canada who is coming to see me, this is my friend". Which is worth so much more than the material exchange.

 

Hugo

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