A Year Later: Dancing around the world and bringing it home

It’s been very close to a year since I started this blog. This morning before San Francisco Dance Sensation, sitting above this magnificent scenery, I look back at the year that just went by. A year, such a short time period, yet so much happened.

I quit my stable full time job to leave on a two month adventure in Asia. Two weeks of which was spent with Hugo and Sabrina from the Camellia Sinensis. They were amazing travel partners. Great sense of humor with curiosity beyond end. We were on a mission – discovering new variety of Vietnamese tea and understanding the culture of tea in Vietnam. Part of our discoveries are available in the book Thé Vert: À la rencontre d’un art millénaire.

My journey brought me to Singapore where I made amazing friends among the local Lindyhoppers and Westies. By far a very welcoming community.

Japan was a dream come true. It felt like a civilization that grew from in between the east and the west. I got a taste of Japanese Zen Meditation in the mountains of Antaiji. I danced like there was no tomorrow meeting amazing people – Yoko, Isaac, Kuma, Shigure, Yusuke, Chieri, Alice, Sophie, and Ben. I sampled tea all over Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. In the process I met a young gentlemen, Yoshi Watada, owner and tea sommelier of Chachanoma. He inspired me by his composure and dedication. I also had the honor of being received by the Sugiyama, a family of tea cultivator, owner of Shibakirien. Thank you Hugo.

A few months after the Asian escapade, it was time to indulge in la dolce vita italiana. During my very short stay in Rome before enjoying a peaceful week in Sicily, I had a blast Lindyhopping in historical sites and on the beach. Una scialla notte indeed. Thank you Mara Lou, Elena, Gaia, Andrea, and Dory for making my stay incredible.

Since my more permanent return on North American soil towards the end of 2012, I have dedicated myself to regularly attend West Coast Swing and Blues event all over the continent. Some months I would be at a dance event three weekends out of four dancing to the wee hour of the morning. I made lots of worthy encounters who proceeded to become friends. Dancing is amazing! By January 2013, I officially made it into novice with 2 WSDC points by finishing 5th with Marie-Charlotte. Thank you Marie-Charlotte and all the best in intermediate

I lived a fulfilled year doing mostly what I love: exploring tea, dancing, and traveling. I made numerous new encounters through this shared passion. Where does all this leaves me now?

*Drum roll*

It’s time to bring all this back to Montreal!

Will be opening a Tea Shop in the upcoming months AND…

For the first time EVER, bringing a couple of TOP WCS professionals to Montreal!

Moral of the story

Do what you love and do it often.
Good things will come from it.

For the realist who wonders “What about money?”
To that I answer, it is a valid concern. A concern that I’ve had this whole year while persevering in living without ever compromising on doing what I love. I cannot tell you how it worked out to be this way. A few days ago, I was afraid to look at my bank account. Afraid to find out that I was poorer now than I was a year ago or, even worse, that I would be full of debt. I can happily say that my net worth has increased since last year. Somehow, things just work out.

Thank you life
and everyone who has been part of it!

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Minh-Tam in Dance, Tea, Travel, West Coast Swing 2 Comments

Tea House in Ho Chi Minh City

As I resumed my quest for a better understanding of Vietnamese tea culture, I chanced upon this tea house hidden in a small alleyway – Tra Dao Viet, 7G Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Q1, HCMC.

As I took a seat in this peaceful abode, I felt a calm surge of excitement. In Hanoi, I had given up on finding such a refuge where tea could be enjoyed and shared far from the bustling of the city streets. I was gently greeted by a quiet young woman who presented me their handwritten tea menu. She had the kindness of reading out the menu for me since I was unfamiliar with Vietnamese calligraphy. As I asked her more about the different teas, she suggested that I return when the owner would be present and offered me her phone number for an appointment. Not knowing much about the teas that she described to me, I settled for a Thai Nguyên green tea.

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel Leave a comment

How the Vietnamese like their teas

As I set foot in Vietnam, my first urge was to savour a warm cup of tea. I figured it would be nice to enjoy tea as the locals do. I asked my uncle, an avid tea drinker, for tea stall recommendations.

Very much anticipating my first glass of tea after a long flight halfway across the world, I took my first sip… It didn’t taste like anything I expected. It was very concentrated and astringent. I couldn’t taste anything else but the astringency until my uncle brought my attention to the light sweetness of the beverage as it traveled down my throat. Interesting progression of taste. Unfortunately, the initial astringency had already thrown me off.

The local customers explained that high quality Thai Nguyên teas were recognized by its initial high astringency and its light sweetness towards the end. Also, the beverage must be of a clear green shade. This type of tea is best appreciated when drinking a very concentrated infusion made using very hot water (approx. 95 degree Celsius). This description of good Vietnamese tea has been corroborated by many tea drinkers that I’ve spoken to throughout my trip.

This method of preparation does not do justice to Vietnamese teas. The extreme heat destroys the finer aromas of the tea and liberates more tannin into the beverage, hence the astringency. This astringency added to the high concentration of the infusion overpowers any remaining subtlety of the beverage.

If 1 teaspoon of the exact same tea was to be infused at about 85 degree Celsius for 3 min, it would make for an interesting journey for your taste buds. You might even discern a hint of tomato or beef broth.

Unfortunately, Vietnamese teas are seldom exported and marketed under the “Vietnamese tea” label. It is often used by multinational tea companies in blends for its tea bags. Even in Vietnam, more often than not, Thai Nguyên teas would be blended with teas of other regions to be sold under the label of “Thai Nguyên” in the big centers such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This makes it challenging to savour high quality Vietnamese teas without directly knowing tea cultivators and artisans.

If you wish to appreciate Vietnamese tea in all its splendor, I would recommend Che Tom Soi Vang and Tan Huong from Camellia Sinensis. If you reside in Montreal, you may drop by their tea house to sample these teas as their knowledgeable associates guide your senses through this olfactive and gustative discovery. Otherwise, you may also purchase them on their online store at a very affordable price.

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel 2 Comments

Drinking tea on the street!

Something unique about tea culture in Vietnam is the tea stalls that we can find at practically every street corner in Hanoi. People would drop by for 10 to 30 min, just enough time to refresh themselves with a glass of tea and exchange a few words with the other customers. Late at night, it is also at these stalls that people meet to socialize.

This tea stall existed since her grandmother. People keep on returning to this stall because of the outstanding quality of her tea. She say that the secret to the success of her business, but also the most difficult aspect of her business is the ability of picking the right tea when buying it. A skill that she has yet to acquire from her mother. We think that the other secret to the success of her stall is her incredible hospitality.

As we discussed Vietnamese tea, other customers joined in. Being surrounded by many tea enthusiasts, we couldn’t help but unfold our tea tasting kit and offer the customers to sample our Japanese green tea, Chinese green tea, Darjeeling black tea, and Taiwanese wulong. It was very interesting to see the customers reaction as they tasted the different teas. They swore that the wulong and black tea had scents added to them. They made the oddest grimace as they tasted both black tea and wulong. They much preferred the two green teas although different from what they were used to. They especially appreciated the Japanese green tea because we accidentally over infused it and it ended tasting as astringent as Vietnamese tea. Only the owner of the stall was capable of appreciating the uniqueness of each tea all the while explaining to us that the black and wulong tea wouldn’t suit the Vietnamese sense of taste.

It was then that we started understanding how the Vietnamese liked their teas.

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel 2 Comments

Chè Sen: Lotus Tea

Back in the days of yore, it was said that fresh lotus tea was prepared by leaving dried tea leaves in a lotus flower at dusk. At dawn the next day, one would collect the tea from the flower and the drizzle from its leaves. The tea would then be infused in the drizzle on the same day to be served to esteemed guests. It demonstrated one’s devotion in greeting one’s guests.

In order to find out more about this legendary tea, we met up with Mr. Tuân, one of the more renowned Chè Sen producers. This tea is a specialty of the Ha Nôi region. Chè Sen can only be made during lotus flower season from May to August. To make 1kg of Chè Sen, it takes 1 kg of dried tea leaves and 1 kg of lotus pistils. To collect 1 kg of lotus pistils, it takes about 1,200 to 1,400 flowers. The aromatisation is made by layering the tea leaves and the lotus pistils. The pistils are then filtered out. This cycle would be repeated 7 times before having the finished product.

In the above picture, they are making jasmine tea since it is yet to be lotus flower season.

Making this tea is very labor intensive. This explains the expensive price of this tea, 520,000 VND (26$)/100g, since its taste does not justify its price.

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel Leave a comment

Three first foreign members to a Vietnamese Tea Cooperative

The next day, over lunch before parting ways. We had Mrs. Hiêp explain to us in further details the functioning of her cooperative. She explained that it is currently made up of 37 families. 32 out of the 37 families representatives are women. Men usually take care of trimming, watering, spreading manure, and feeding the furnaces with wood. Women would usually take care of everything from picking to transforming the tea into its finished products. The profit from the finished products would be shared evenly among all the members of the cooperative.

When we learnt that, to become a member of the cooperative, one had to be 18 years of age, to have the financial means of paying the annual membership fees of 1,000,000 VND (50$), and no criminal record, we jokingly asked if we could join. Mrs. Hiêp answered that we technically could.

Hugo, Sabrina, and I decided to join the cooperative! It took some explaining before she understood that we were being serious.

The three new members of the Tân Huong Cooperative with its management team (from left to right): Mrs. Thao, Mrs. Hiêp, Mrs. Nhai, her grand-daughter, Hugo, Minh-Tam, and Sabrina

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel 5 Comments

Tân Huong Cooperative: Conversing in Chinese, Vietnamese, and French.

Shortly after we arrived at the Tân Huong Cooperative, Mrs. Hiêp announced that she was considering making Ô long (Wulong) teas as long as we were willing to buy it from her. Wulong teas would solely be for exportation purposes since the Vietnamese mainly drink green tea and cannot afford the more expensively priced wulongs. We were very curious to taste Vietnamese wulong. We knew that there were Taiwanese who came over to Vietnam to make wulong for resale in Taiwan because Vietnamese wulongs are cheaper than Taiwanese wulongs.

Mrs. Hiêp introduced us to Mr. Hsu, a Taiwanese tea producer from whom she would be learning the art of making wulongs. She would also be buying the equipment to make wulong from him as well. A set of equipment cost approximately 50,000$ while a tea producing family in Vietnam would earn at the most 3,000$/year.

Mr. Hsu enthusiastically greeted us. He had wanted to meet Hugo since the day Mrs. Hiêp had mentioned his visit. He even delayed his return to Taiwan in order to make this encounter possible. As he greeted us in Chinese, it hit us… Mr. Hsu only spoke Chinese. He had an interpreter with him to help him communicate with the Vietnamese. She was fluent in Vietnamese and Chinese.

There was a brief moment of silence where all four of us, Mr. Hsu, his interpreter, Hugo, and I, just stood there looking at each other. We were coming to terms with how the rest of the evening would unfold since conversations would not only be held between the four of us. There would also be Mrs. Hiêp and her colleagues who only spoke Vietnamese. Mr. Xu and Hugo would have everything that they would be saying translated into Vietnamese. I would translate everything said in Vietnamese into French and Mr. Hsu’s interpreter would do the same for him in Chinese. Imagine a conversation taking place with two interpreters in between. How surreal is that?

Mr. Hsu proceeded to make us sample two wulongs and a black tea made from Vietnamese tea leaves. One of the Wulong is Bai Hao-like, but different. It had an initial honey sweetness to it. The black tea was similar, but lacked the structure that black tea would usually have. The other wulong, about 20% oxidized, was a bit light in flavour. There was potential.

We decided on purchasing Mrs. Hiêp usual green tea and the 20% oxidized Wulong since the other one had run out. The next picking for the Bai Hao-like Wulong will be August.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel Leave a comment

Thai Nguyên Tea Competition: Golden sprout award winner

Not having planned on purchasing 10 kg of Che Tuyet San, Hugo and I were now sharing the cramped back seat with it. After Suoi Giang, our next destination was to be the Tân Huong Tea Cooperative in Thai Nguyên managed by Mrs. Hiêp.

Although, our jovial driver, Mr. Thành, decided on a surprise stop. He would turn a street corner, stop to ask for directions, then make a U-Turn. He did this several times in a row. We were starting to wonder where in the world we were going and when will we ever arrive to destination.

We were indeed pleasantly surprised. He brought us to visit a tea plantation in La Bang, owned by Mrs. Hai family. One of their teas won the Bup Vang Award (Golden Sprout Award) at the Thai Nguyên Tea Competition this year. She brought us three of her highest grade teas to sample. They were indeed interesting teas. Two of her three teas had this hint of tomatoes to them. As we were sharing our love of tea, we made her sample a Chinese green tea, the Anji Bai Cha. As she saw the leaves and tasted the infusion, she enthusiastically interrogated us on the transformation method of the Anji Bai Cha. She wanted to try to replicate its needle-like shape. It was a delight to see how her eyes lit up as we were telling her more about it. We promised to send her by email what we knew of its transformation process as soon as we got back home.

Since we already bought teas from Tân Huong Cooperative in Thai Nguyên, we settled for buying 500 g of each type of teas for our personal use. We then proceeded to visit her tea plantation.

Half the day had gone by as we unsuspectingly headed out to our final destination where another surprise awaited us.

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel Leave a comment

Che Tuyet San and the wild ancient tea trees

A four hour drive and six Gravol later, as we drove up a steep slope, we arrived in Suoi Giang. Suoi Giang being a rather small village, it didn’t take us long until we arrived at Nha Che Tu-Hai. Nha Che means tea production house in Vietnamese. As we walked into the spacious house, we were quickly greeted by Mrs. Hai and her husband, Mr. Tu.

Mrs. Hai family has been making tea for three generations. After some small talk over tea and learning about Vietnamese tea history (more about this in a later post), we got down to tasting the three types of teas that she produced from the tea leaves of wild ancient tea trees : Che Tuyet San (Imperial picking – bud with one following leaf), Che Tom (Fine picking – bud with two following leaves), and a third type that didn’t have a name (Classical picking – bud with three or four following leaves).

We found the Che Tom to be the most interesting, but there were only 4 kg left and could only be produced again in July. We decided to settle for its higher quality counterpart, the mythical Che Tuyet San which she still had 10 kg. We bought everything she had. The next time she would be able to produce this tea would be in December.

We could tell by its more tannic and “fiberish” notes that the tea trees were definitely old, many hundred years old. As it is distinctive of Vietnamese green tea, behind this initial astringent tone, appears a sweeter gentler flavor, akin to a hint of maple syrup, as the warm beverage reaches the throat.

As she started to package the 10 kg of tea for us, we left with her husband for a journey through the tea forest.

Fun fact: It was the first time that we had met. We didn’t have enough money to pay her for the 10 kg of this expensive Vietnamese tea. She said that we could leave with the tea now and give the payment to Mr. Cuong who introduced us to her once back in Hanoi. We offered to pay her part of the money right away and to give the rest to Mr. Cuong. She refused explaining that we still had a long journey ahead of us and believed that we would still need the liquid cash. Talk about thoughtfulness and trust!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel 1 Comment

Mythical Vietnamese Tea

It’s now been a month since I exchanged my first words with Mr. Thanh, our driver in Vietnam. I was calling him from Canada to inform him of our visit in the up-coming month since we were going to be needing his services. At that point in time, I had to resort to broken Vietnamese. I was nervous, ashamed, and out of practice. Despite having never met or spoken with me before, he was very patient while I made him repeat himself numerous times asking him to explain every three words that I didn’t understand. He could have just hung up the phone.

Here I am, on the back seat of a silver Toyota, with 10 kg of tea separating me from Hugo Améraci, the founder of my favorite tea house in Montréal, the Camellia Sinensis. In the driver seat is our joyful and energetic Mr. Thanh driving away in the sinuous mountain roads of Northern Vietnam. Sitting next to him is Sabrina, a very perceptive young woman who has been working with Hugo for almost 4 years.

How did we end-up having to squeeze 10 kg of tea into whatever space was left in the car while the trunk was full from housing our three large pieces of luggage?, you might wonder.

Yesterday, in the early morning, we headed out in the early morning with the hopes to uncover the secret and put our hands on this mythical Vietnamese tea coined Che Tuyet San, literally Snowy Tea from the Mountains. I am calling this tea mythical because, as I wondered the streets of Hanoi in the attempt of discovering the various types of teas grown in the country, every so often, the name Che Tuyet would come up. People described it as being a tea made solely from young buds of wild ancient tea trees. It was said that it had a sweeter, but less astringent taste than that of the typical Vietnamese green tea. I asked everyone I knew and met where I could purchase this tea. No one knew… or rather, they said that it was a very rare tea and there was only a handful available in the faraway region where it was produced, hence extremely pricy. I was also told that it was not in season at the moment. It was said to be only produced in the winter months. Here I was, halfway across the world, learning about a tea that could not be seen, could not be found, and could not be produced at this time.

The first ray of hope was during an encounter with Mr. Cuong, Import-Export Manager of Vinatea, a government owned black tea producing company. He had seen AND tasted this tea. He even showed us pictures of the ancient tea treas. He confirmed that this tea is made in a region called Suoi Giang, 260 km from Hanoi at an altitude of 1371 meters. He drew us a map and gave us the phone number of a family who produced this tea. JACK POT!

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Minh-Tam in Tea, Travel 2 Comments

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