Arnaud Bachelin, Mister Tea
Archaeo-botanist, Arnaud Bachelin, 35 years old, the author of the Manual for getting started with natural tea published by L'épure, talks about his tea culture, Morvan, producers and creation.
Why did you write this little guide to discovering natural tea?
This tasting guide is an invitation. Rather than writing a sum, I preferred to give the clues in very few pages. This book was written taking into account my experience at the counter and gives directions to everyone at a time when the world of tea is polluted by marketing that confuses information about tea.
How long have you been in this store on rue de Condé?
It's been a few years now. We have been there since 2016. I wanted a place that resembled me. With a country house feel and mismatched crockery.
What makes your home special?
Nothing synthetic here. I try to lead tea lovers towards natural teas, without forcing. Tea is above all taste and pleasure before being a ceremonial. It doesn't make sense to rob people with distant and hermetic ceremonies. Some houses in Paris are a little pretentious on the subject and forget about their client's pleasure in the end. Here, I accompany, I explain the tea, we discuss the good and the pleasure.
Where are you from ?
I come from Morvan! And I don't hide it. I grew up there and still live there part of the week. I am a bit of a spokesperson for Morvan. At first I had no desire to go to Paris. But what's funny is for someone who didn't want to live in Paris, finding yourself in the heart of the Latin Quarter is quite funny especially since as someone pointed out to me recently, we come from Saint- Germain-des-Champs and we end up in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Is tea grown in Morvan?
It's not a fantasy but a reality because I've already crashed. The tea plant could eventually replace fir cultivation in the Morvan but it is a long way. The land is suitable for it. I work a lot so that in two I can have a real plantation. Today I have two hectares but I want to increase to five fairly quickly.
Are there other regions where the soil and climate are favorable to this crop?
Brittany, Perche, Cévennes, Pyrenees, Alsace, Normandy,… we no longer count. Tea doesn't only exist at altitude. You should know that the higher a plant is, the more it suffers. The tea plant works very well in the plains. In the Morvan we are between 600 - 900 meters which is perfect. The only thing that can threaten this culture is water. I am working on a water distribution and storage system precisely to prevent the plantation from suffering the heat and the absence of water visible from the dry streams in summer.
Next step ?
At the end of summer we're going to try making oolong.
You who have been rooted in this land for generations, how is this project received?
It arouses curiosity. As I have written a few books and come from a very established family, people trust me. I am the one who “plants tea”. I'm sure some people are already thinking about following! And that’s our desire too! Let us operate like a cooperative. What is certain is that it starts from a conviction that we cannot develop a territory with only kayaks and treehouse yurts in unusual weekend habitats. Difficult to achieve international visibility with this type of local policy. I have the ambition to work with local products like Morvan honey with teas.
How many are you at Thé-Ritoires?
We are three ! Philippe my partner and an employee. Philippe takes care of everything relating to the development of the brand and I am on the product. I have ideas every two weeks and he's the one who channels it all a bit and sometimes brings me back down to earth. The tea house for example, with a physical location, was his idea. And I tell you, I don't regret it at all.
What do we taste anyway?
It is a milky oolong, a 30% oxidized blue-green oolong tea from Fujian. You see, it has very fresh and milky almond notes. I find that it is even better when cooled this way.
How do you work to create?
I like to infuse everything. I like to try. I'm testing ! I can make associations in Paris but it is mainly in the Morvan where I return on weekends that I create. I have a tenant in this place and the other time he came to see me worried about noises at night. I reassured him: it was just me. I sometimes throw things, scream with joy or anger when I try. But everything is fine, I assure you.
You have worked in other major houses such as Hermès and Mariage Frères. What made you decide to become independent?
I was bored working for others! I needed freedom. I have also sometimes been criticized for using too much light. I already had this brand and I was already distributing my teas through museums for example. This need for freedom has become more pressing: independence is in my nature. It was obvious, this desire to be independent could only go with plants which have always attracted me since childhood with a grandmother who roamed the countryside to choose plants and foods according to the seasons.
How to explain the fashion for tea?
This is of course linked to the healthy and vegan dimension of the product. It is sold with the idea that by drinking tea, you will do yourself a lot of good. Which is completely true to a certain extent. Here again it is a question of moderation. Too much tea isn't good either!
And this flowering of tea houses?
There is a market for sure and it is quite profitable. Some houses buy tea at €10 per kilo and resell it at €130 or €140 per kilo. But that doesn't stop many houses from disappearing. And then the confinement could also erode venerable houses. Those who didn't have much to say had to give way to those who had a speech, values and stories to tell.
How to make tea more ecological?
The main problem is clearly transportation. This is why I plant in Morvan. I want to reduce the impact of tea on the environment in the long term. Obviously, that doesn't solve everything, but it's a start.
Is organic a guarantee of quality for you?
Absolutely not. Organic is not the guarantee of quality tea. On the other hand, if you know each producer, you are able to know how they work and share it with your customers. This is what we defend at Thé-ritoires, it is the promotion of producers and everyone's awareness of seasonality. For example, I run out of white tea between January and February and it makes sense because the harvest is between mid-February and mid-March. Now our customers know that the end of June is the arrival of Japanese teas. We explain this and really revalue the producers we work with. And they give it back to us too! They give us access to qualities of tea to which the big houses no longer have access. Everybody wins.
And it works ?
Of course ! When I announced on social media that doong ding, an oolong tea from Taiwan, the next day, everything was sold! We operate in a tight flow: when there is no more, it's over, we have to wait. We obviously move towards other products and other origins since tea is produced all over the planet all the time... there is necessarily something, somewhere that can appeal.
It's a match: the associations proposed by Arnaud Bachelin
Prime rib
With a prime rib I see a superior keemun. It is a Chinese red tea with malty tobacco notes. He is quite greedy! Or a laocong blue black tea from Fujian, with roasting, with woody and cocoa notes. The texture is almost astringent. It will line the palate well and delicately dry the palate and it will highlight the juice and fat.
Foie gras
With the foie gras I am thinking of a white tea “Zomba pearls”, a white tea from Malawi which will have this vegetal side of fresh nuts. It will nicely counterbalance the rich and fatty side of the foie gras.
Roast chicken
With the roast chicken I think of Matsumoto Hiroki's Kaneroku smoked tea. We are in Japan not very far from Tokyo where we only produce green tea. Matsumoto got fed up and decided to make black tea. He wanted to go even further and had the idea of smoking his black tea with different woods from cherry, apple, etc. And he wanted to go even further with a unique smoking with wood chips from a whiskey barrel. It's unique! Besides, I deglazed rats with this tea and it was quite surprising. Three tablespoons. That's enough !
Luxeuil ham
Luxeuil ham goes perfectly with Yinzhen, a very beautiful tea made with spring buds from the first days of sunshine. Hence the down which still protects the bud. And in terms of taste: vegetal, delicious. The bud gives a lot of flavor. It's a like the root. It’s a compendium of flavors. I only have 450g per year!
Cured sheep
With Aurélie Lepoutre's matured sheep's milk, I offer a long jing Chinese green tea from Zin Jang.
Munster farmer
With the farmer's munster I am thinking of a Da hong pao, big red dress, a blue black tea from Fujian and more specifically from the Lao Cong protected area within the reserve.
The site
Thé-Ritoires website
Books
- The hour of veri-tea , Arnaud Bachelin, Bakerstreet, 2018
- Manual for getting started with natural tea , Arnaud Bachelin, Éditions de l'épure, 2020
- Wild garlic: ten ways to prepare it , Arnaud Bachelin, Éditions de l'épure, 2021
The address
5 Rue de Condé, 75006 Paris
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