2018 Travels, from East to West China with Jasmin Desharnais

After 16 years of annual buying in China, Jasmin chose a very diversified itinerary this time around. During the month of April, he began further North focussing on accessories and teaware before heading East in search of the Spring highlights of various regions in their green, white, wulong and black teas.
An Early Season

Following a hot and rainy early Spring in China, the 2018 harvest season came 7-15 days early resulting in a yield increase of +/- 15% and a consequent, lack of workers in some of the gardens to harvest the crop.

Conversely, the April 8th low temperatures in the eastern part of the country brought frost damage in some of the gardens. Very special attention was needed as Jasmin tasted the teas the next day, April 9th ... they were delicious! The thermal shock had stimulated the aromatic chemistry in the leaves very favourably and he selected a few teas from this precious harvest such as Long Jing Bai Ye and Huiming.

Discover the Tea Studio

Jasmin also had the objective this year of introducing the Tea Studio, our new project in India, to his producer and tea institute friends in China. The diversity of Chinese teas is such that they rarely get to drink teas from other countries. So Jasmin had a lot of fun telling them about our project, and having Chinese tea friends taste our first 4 teas.

Mr. He, a Chinese producer with whom we have been collaborating for 14 years, will visit the Tea Studio between October 4th and 9th. We are very excited to welcome him! He will be helping train the Indian team to refine their green tea production.
The Taster Develops his Skills

As you may know, 2018 already marks the 20 years of existence of Camellia Sinensis. Having spent 20 years as a taster and buyer, Jasmin is now looking forward to acquiring a more multidisciplinary expertise in the tea industry. In coming years he will increasingly focus on the processing of tea and scientific research. More than ever, he wants to get his “hands dirty”. To this end he will set up his future trips slightly differently. Aside from his buying he will select a few producers where he will spend a little more time to deepen very specific areas of his knowledge for a longer period.
His 2018 Highlight

This year, our Long Jing Jingning Bai was Jasmin’s favourite. A green tea with such rich flavours of flowers and fresh hazelnut.