Archive for February, 2012

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Løv Organic from the people who brought you Kusmi Tea


2012
02.29

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Posted in organic | 7 Comments »

 

Løv Organic 'Rose'

One of the first things I found a few weeks ago at the Bio Messe in Nürnberg was Løv Organic. Let me first say that this company knows a thing or two about presentation. The colours are beautiful, and the design is flawless. I spent quite a bit of time after the event pondering how important good marketing and branding are to a successful tea company.

Let’s start out by talking about who’s behind all of this. The press release begins with, ‘Sylvain Orebi introduces Kusmi Tea‘s little sister Løv Organic, the organic tea that makes everyday life more beautiful.’ I’m going to do my very best to not poke a bit of fun at that. Who doesn’t want everyday life to me more beautiful? I’m not going to get in the way of you beautifying your everyday life. No way. Not me.

You know who Sylvain Orebi is, right? I first learned about him from Xavier’s Teaconomics blog when he wrote An interview with Kusmi where he translated a radio interview with the owner of Kusmi Tea. Here’s what he said about Løv Organic in that interview:

 You also created a new brand called Løv Organic. Could you tell us a bit more about it?

I created new blends for Kusmi and one day, I decided to listen to the people who keep on asking me for organic teas, not so much in France but rather in Scandinavia, Germany and the United States.

We went for a new brand because a brand is organic or not but it can’t be both.

For the same reason, even if both brands are distributed via mostly the same channels, there is now a Løv Organic shop in Paris.

Here’s the website where you can see the selection of teas and the everyday life more beautiful schtick for yourself  Løv Organic.                                            

tea samples

 

So here’s several of the samples I tried in Nürnberg. The one they call Rose is actually pretty good. It’s Chinese black tea (they don’t say what sort) ‘delicately scented with rose blossoms.’ I’ve written about tea with roses in it before (What’s lahikmajoe drinking?), and it’ll probably surprise you that I like this sort of thing. It’s not an everyday thing for me, but as a dessert tea, it’s not bad at all.

 

I’m not normally a fan of Earl Grey, but this one was quite good. The Bergamot oil was unusually subtle. If Earl Grey’s your thing, you’ll probably like this one. Unless you really love an overwhelming smell/taste of Bergamot oil. In which case…what’s wrong with you?

What actually surprised me the most was that the herbal blends I tried were quite tasty. These are definitely not something I’d go out of my way for. The only loose-leaf blend of theirs that I tried  was what they called Løv is Good.

They describe it as, ‘The wonderful spice blend helps you to stay on top form. Cinnamon and ginger, both rich in antioxidants, are well-known for their anti-ageing properties. Liquorice and aniseed give the blend its bittersweet edge.’ Look, I know this is a tea blog, and some of you are going to rattle your sabres about how this doesn’t belong.

This company actually goes out of it’s way to refer to this as a blend. And their section on ‘Classic Teas‘ is full of Camelia Sinensis goodness.

cloth tea bags

 

There is the little matter of the cloth tea bags. I have no idea how much better they are than paper tea bags, but they couldn’t be worse. They’re novel…I can definitely say that.

I’m still thinking of what I think of the presentation that they offer with this brand. My inclination when I first see such beautiful marketing is to slag off the tea. They must be hiding something.

 

But see, that doesn’t have to be the case. The packaging is beautiful and the tea tastes wonderful. Some tea companies simply don’t put a lot of thought into this. Løv Organic does.

 

 

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Promenade dans les Jardins de Gaïa


2012
02.22

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Posted in tea company | 3 Comments »



One of the things I really enjoy is learning about new tea companies. So last week I went to a Bio Messe, which is an organic food trade fair, and mentioned that I hoped I’d find something tea-related. Soon after saying this on twitter, I get this response from Xavier:
@lahikmajoe At this Biomesse, you will be able to find a French tea company based in Alsace, Jardins de Gaïa.
— teaconomics (@teaconomics) February 17, 2012

Was very happy to hear it, and off I went to Nürnberg. Was there on other business, so once I got that out of the way I started hunting for tea. I was particularly interested in finding the company Xavier had mentioned.


Sure enough, without much difficulty, I rounded a corner in the section where many French companies were, there was les Jardins de Gaïa. 


Here’s their website if you’d like to know more about them: 


les Jardins de Gaïa


The woman I talked to was very helpful and serious about her love for tea. I tried to explain how I’d heard about the company, but I think trying to explain who Xavier was and how he informed me that they’d be at this fair…my story just made me look like a madman. 


The French, as a rule, seem to know how to handle awkward situations such as this, and this was no exception. I was served a cup of very nice Korean green tea, and told that it was made in the style of a Japanese Sencha but with a much more reasonable price. 


I got the distinct impression that not just fair-trade, but economic development in tea growing countries is very important to this company. It would be one thing to pay this topic lip service, but as I looked through their catalogue I saw plenty of emphasis on this aspect of their business. 


As I was getting ready to leave, I was asked if I’d like a sample of one of their teas. I’m a tea blogger for goodness sake – I’d love a sample. She opened her crate of tea, and while I peered over her shoulder, I hinted, ‘I do like a nice Oolong.’


‘Oh, in that case,’ she responded, ‘I’ve got just the thing for you. It’s a nice lightly-oxidised Oolong from Vietnam.’ This is just the sort of thing I like to try. 


Here’s what the website said about the Trà Kim Tuyên:

‘Cueilli sur les hauts plateaux, ce thé aux feuilles d’un vert intense, peu oxydées, est proche du thé vert. Sa tasse brillante, fraîche et fruitée couleur anis, rappelle les Oolong de Taiwan. Son bouquet aromatique est dominé par des notes d’abricot et soutenu par de légères pointes de mangue et de fruits exotiques. Original et Rafraîchissant!’ (this is a lightly oxidised High Mountain Oolong with bright green leaves…it’s very similar to a green tea. A bit like a Formosa Oolong, the cup is fresh and fruity and the colour of licorice. The aromatic bouquet is dominated by apricot notes with peaks of mango and exotic fruit. Original and refreshing)

That sounds ok, doesn’t it? It’s actually a surprisingly good tea. I’ve now gotten quite a few infusions out of it, and I plan to continue steeping the same leaves tomorrow. It’ll be my own version of Good Morning Vietnam.


Oh, and here are the leaves before I had my way with them:


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tea monkey infuser


2012
02.18

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Posted in tea gear, tea paraphernalia | 7 Comments »

The longer I take part in this tea blogging lark the more curious tea-related stuff I find. This I found a while back in Nice, and I knew I’d include it here at some point.

It’s a bit of a stalling technique to be completely honest. Went to a Bio Messe in Nürnberg yesterday, and there was more than enough tea. Tea companies, and health food companies that have tea brands, and different countries promoting their tea industry.

But the thing is: it was a bit much. It’s going to take me a bit of time to sift through all the information. So that’s why you’re getting my distraction blogpost. Look at the shiny tea monkey infuser.

I had the last leaves of a nondescript Keemun, and it was the perfect amount for a cup of tea. The tea monkey infuser was practically making monkey sounds in desperation that he be used.

ooh ooh ooh
taking a dip

I crammed the tea inside, clasped it shut, and several minutes later I had the perfect cup of tea.

It really was a nice cup of tea. I did spend a bit of time wondering what material the thing was made of (It’s not a real monkey, you know?).

But it looks like stainless steel, and although there are probably studies that say stainless steel is a dangerous material in which to cook (or steep) things, it’s probably too late for me to worry about such warnings.

And here we are after all that hard work…a photo of the cuppa and the very satisfied looking monkey.

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all talk


2012
02.14

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Posted in masculinity | 4 Comments »

Had no intention of blogging tonight, but then I sauntered over to the Beasts of Brewdom page on Tea Trade and look what I found:

this is what they put into tea bags

My favourite has been included in the first comment (below), and I’m still chuckling about it. I would say I was giggling, but thats not nearly the masculine laughter that’s emanating from me. The laughter you might expect from wild horses.

Although I learned of these hilarious Lyon’s Tea advertisements from Robert Godden, it seems he found them via Tea Trade Jackie. And for that reason, I’d like to propose that Tea Trade Jackie is an honorary Beast of Brewdom.

Well, she’s already a beast of sorts. I’d simply like to make it official.

Cheers Jackie. How does it feel to be a Beast of Brewdom for a day?

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fish eyes


2012
02.09

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Posted in Chinese terms, water | 9 Comments »

Don’t have one of those fancy kettles where you can adjust the temperature of the water. Keep hearing/reading people talk about machines that brew a perfect pot of tea, and I find myself going the other direction.

I’m no luddite. I like technology in many instances, but I’m often considering the simplest way of brewing tea. Over time, I’ve tried brewing a tea with boiling water for which I’d normally have used much cooler water. Talked with a Taiwanese tea shop owner a while back, and she insisted that she used very hot water for her best High Mountain Oolong. Tea that I’d been very cautious with until that point.

Not anymore.

Then a few people in the Google+ Hangout mentioned that they brewed many sorts of tea with water much hotter than I was accustomed. Rather than talk about specific temperatures, one or two of them mentioned different sorts of boiling water as it’s described in the Chinese cooking culture.

The thing I remembered from the discussion was ‘fish eyes‘. The water starts to boil and the size of the bubbles can be described as ‘shrimp eyes, crab eyes, fish eyes, rope of pearls, and raging torrent’. Tea Trade Peter found that when I asked about this in a Tea Trade forum (fish eyes).

I especially like the quote that Bram included in the discussion, so I’ll leave you with that:

When the water is boiling, it must look like fishes’ eyes and give off but the hint of a sound. When at the edges it chatters like a bubbling spring and looks like pearls innumerable strung together, it reaches the second stage. When it leaps like breakers majestic and resounds like a swelling wave, it is at its peak. Any more and the water will be boiled out and should not be used.

The Classic of Tea (Cha Ching) by Lu Yu  (~ 800) (translation FR Carpenter)

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retirement of the trusty orange flask


2012
02.01

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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

my old tea traveller gear…remember Nokia?

So, I was sent down a road of nostalgia when I read a recent blogpost by LattéTeaDah called Three Good Reasons to BYOTea, but it’s likely not for the reason you might think.

If you’re going to be known for something, travelling with my tea is as good a thing as any. It’s resourceful, it’s practical, and best of all it includes a flask of steaming tea. So when Xavier referred to me in the comments of the above-mentioned post as someone who’s ‘always ready‘ with his tea, I was undoubtedly honoured.

However, the actual reason I got nostalgic is that in my earlier life as a musician I was once on a tour that went through both St Louis and Kansas City. I’d spent quite a bit of time in the former, but I was thrilled to finally see a part of the country where my dad had spent some of his formative years. Tea was the last thing on my mind on that tour, but now I’m really curious what one might find in the way of shops selling loose-leaf tea.

Would I trust that I could show up and find something, though? Not on your life. Kansas City is great for barbeque. For tea? Not so much.

So that’s where the travelling with my tea comes in. Years ago, I wrote a piece for Leafboxtea (thefolk who bring you Tea Trade these days) called Tips for traveling with Tea. Check it out. You might like some of the ideas.

Which reminds me…I really should revisit the topic. How has my tea gear changed? I do have a bit of sad news to report. Several months ago, I had to retire the trusty orange flask (pictured above) that’d seen me on so many journeys. It was leaking like a sieve, and once that starts happening…well, a flask that actually holds liquid is sort of the whole point, right?

I considered some sort of ceremony. Then I thought, ‘You really are a daffy one, aren’t you Lahikmajoe? A send off for your trusty orange flask?’ I refrained from any such nonsense. It was a constant companion for quite a number of years. Like any respectable train traveller, I’d purchased sandwich boxes and canvas bags in the identical colour.

Now? I have a nice selection of orange accessories that went with the retired flask, and a beautiful, brand new, stainless steel one. As beautiful and practical as the new flask is, it’s horribly mismatched. Oh well. I’m not ready to jettison the orange accessories yet. Please…not just yet.