Madames Blog

Your tea experience is influenced by so many factors; the tea itself, the way you prepare it, the tea ware, location, who you are with. I felt you might enjoy a little tea technicality.

Hello Kindred Spirits,

After a full afternoon touring Greenfield Estate, high in the mountains above Colombo, Durka from the estate, my companion Clifford and I walked down to the bungalow where we would be staying overnight. It had three bedrooms and a living and dining area overlooking a 1000-metre drop that reminded me of the Grand Canyon. Pure luxury. I was thrilled. Around me there was silence interrupted only by bird song.

Bungalow living is the classic style of the tea estate owner/manager, and most have a (generally male) ‘Apu' attached. An Apu is a housekeeper who usually stays with the estate owner for their lifetime, often with links for generations. In this case, we had the pleasure of being looked after by the house Apu, Giri in his fine white uniform. He made us afternoon tea, and a glorious dinner of handmade string hoppers and egg hoppers.

String hoppers are small spaghetti-like strings of rice-flour dough squeezed through a sieve onto small woven trays, then steamed. Light and lacy, string hoppers make a mouth watering meal with curry and sambal.

After dinner, Giri made a roaring fire to take the edge off the mountain chill; the finishing touch to a lovely day.

We woke at (argh) 5.30am and enjoyed breakfast on the veranda whilst watching the sun rise. Before leaving, I was asked to paint a wooden tile with my own design which they added to the collection of hundreds gathered over many years and attached to the walls. A little piece of Madame Flavour is now left behind for all to see in the remote mountains of Sri Lanka.

The return journey to Colombo was much faster, thanks to the downhill advantage. We experienced just one small, but welcome, delay as a parade of dozens of gloriously dressed children flittered past us. Truly an exquisite sight.

My Kindred Spirits, I have so enjoyed sharing my adventures with you, and hope that you have enjoyed reading about them.

Until next time, au revoir!

Hello Kindred Spirits,

Exploring the beautiful Greenfield Estate in Sri Lanka, where leaves for my English Breakfast, Earl Grey Twist and Sultry Chai are grown and processed, was an absolute joy. I was most impressed with conditions there. The 200 workers and their extended families all live on the estate (that's over a thousand people) as they have for generations. Everywhere I looked I saw well-dressed smiling workers and children - there is even a child care centre.

The workers in Sri Lanka are Tamils, originally from Southern India. They live and die on the estates. When asked where they were born, they will tell you the estate name or company name - it's like me saying I was born at Madame Flavour or Gillette...a strange concept.

To give the village a greater sense of community and their own place, money have been provided to build a community hall owned by them. They use it for celebrations, including weddings, and lease it to other local villagers as an incremental source of income. The dining hall has seating for a couple of hundred and the kitchen which is basic, has an earth floor where meals are cooked over traditional fires.

The owners of Greenfield Estate are quite experimental and quirky. At the moment, they are trialling oolong teas imported (in a suitcase I believe) from Taiwan; and biodynamic multi-storey planting, with coffee as the higher story. They also have a beautiful lemon tree heaving with fruit in the middle of a tea field, imported from Cypress; which they use for the dried peel for certain citrus blends.

My dears, I was inspired! As you know, I am now working on some fabuous new blends and I do thank you for your helpful suggestions. Stay tuned for the latest on my new and improved Earl Grey Twist with a touch of lavender.

Hello Kindred Spirits,

Upwards and onwards we journeyed along the windy road to Haputale, passing fruit stalls piled high with rambutans and durians every hundred metres or so. I was humbled by the magnificent views and hardy noticed when our car started leaking coolant and we had to stop to assess the damage.

I wandered around while I was waiting, and came across some tea fields on the side of the hill. Women were working there plucking tea and I stopped to have a conversation with them in vigorous sign language. It seemed they were as curious about me as I was about them. This gorgeous country has endured many years of unrest and tourists are only just beginning to return so western faces are still a rarity.

We shared a smile and a photo and the car was ready to go- minus the air conditioning!

We finally arrived at Greenfield Estate on top of the world at 2.30pm. I am here because our previous supplier, Needwood Estate, has changed their tea manufacture and not been able to supply the specific grade of tea we need; so I have been searching for a suitable alternative supplier.

What matters to me most is that the replacement tea has extraordinary flavour and consistently high quality, organic certification and that there are good working conditions. Greenfield Estate is situated very close to Needwood and is an exemplary fair-trade certified, organic estate.

While Madame Flavour teas are not part of the fair-trade system, we are delighted that our leaves will come from here, as well as Greenfields two other organic estates. Now all that remains is for me to meet the team behind Greenfield and get to know the estate.

Until the next leg of my adventure, au revoir!

Hello Kindred Spirits,

On long trips in Sri Lanka, the dilemma is always finding a ‘suitable' bathroom. This time though, I'm in luck. My companions on this journey are Ratnasena, my driver, and Clifford, my guide. Clifford is 23 and has "two fussy sisters" so he claimed to know what is required for a satisfactory visit to the loo.

He took it upon himself to inspect each convenience before I entered. If he declared it ‘acceptable' I was permitted to use it. If not, we must search for another - and fast! All in all, this procedure is something akin to the Queen having food tasters - only in this case it's Madame Flavour having her very own private toilet checker.

Clifford took his role seriously and did a great job. We almost had a disaster though at one point in the middle of nowhere where we hadn't come across a convenience (acceptable or otherwise) for quite some time.

I was almost ready to dart into the bushes at the side of the road (much to my companions' horror), but thankfully we found a tiny café and I was pointed in the direction of a tin shed halfway down the hill. It was only a hole in the ground but it had spectacular views. Clifford did not try to dissuade me from using it - he understands that sometimes one must sacrifice comfort for beauty.

While we were there, a truck arrived with loudspeakers blaring. I asked Clifford what the people on board were promoting, expecting it to be an advertising announcement of some sort. Instead, I was surprised to discover it is an initiative letting people know that doctors have set up a clinic in the local Buddhist temple for free for those who cannot otherwise afford healthcare.

I took a moment to reflect that wherever you are this world of ours, if you look (and listen) you can always find evidence of love and compassion.

Until the next leg of my adventure, au revoir!

Hello Kindred Spirits,

As you know I recently returned from a quick but delicious voyage to Sri Lanka, where I enjoyed a particularly lovely trip to a small mountain tea town in Uva, 200km east of Colombo.I was inspired to share some of the adventures along the way with you.

If you are even thinking about it; you must visit Sri Lanka. It is around a year since the end of fighting. The feeling is one of hope, with tourists at the airport and a new sense of relaxation in the streets. The people are warm, the beaches and mountain retreats stunning and the British legacy is if not great roads, certainly some beautifully restored colonial buildings, such as the Galle Face hotel where I love to stay.

The township we travelled to was Haputale where the pristine Greenfield Tea Estate is located.   Greenfield is a new garden we are buying from, so it was important for me to see for myself the estate and meet some of the workers. I was looking forward to meeting with the Durka, whose family owns the estate.  We had discovered that we have more than a passion for tea in common – we both studied in Melbourne!

With trainee Clifford as my interpreter; and trusty driver Ratnasena; we left Colombo at 6.00am. It was to be a six hour drive to Haputale, situated at 1431m above sea level – only 200 kilometres but with poor roads and an abundance of traffic and processions, I soon came to realise that one should not plan to get anywhere fast.

We meandered our way along increasingly windy roads, through tiny villages where people bustled about their business, past a never-ending supply of fruit and vegetable stalls, three-wheeler tuks tuks and school children; and were frequently held up behind colourful overloaded buses.

After three hours we stopped for a meal at a rest house in a glorious spot. A river flowed straight past the restaurant where we sat sheltered by Rain Trees.  It was much cooler and less humid here (only 22 degrees); a delight to unwind for a little while after the heat, humidity and dust of Colombo. Very peaceful.

I ordered western style fish with salad to give my stomach a break from the fish curry, string hoppers and kothhu (like a hot souvlaki with the pita cut into small pieces and mixed through the meat ) I’d been enjoying for breakfast, lunch and dinner since arriving.

Until the next leg of my adventure, au revoir!

Hello Kindred Spirits,

The main region I buy our green tea from is Jiang-Xi province, near the border with Fujian province. After a lovely evening with Mr Gung, it was time to travel to Jiang-Xi and he was kind enough to drive me part of the way.

After several hours of driving, at a pre-destined spot on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, we made the changeover. My dears, it was like something out of an espionage movie! We literally pulled over, waited a few minutes, and up drove another black Mercedes – this time containing Mr Chung, my Green-Jasmine tea blender – who has also also driven several hours to pick me up. Mr Chung has a face that cannot stop smiling and although we cannot speak with words, his face says it all.

Mr Chung has also been in tea most of his life and now specialises in Green Jasmine tea. He buys green tea from many small farmers throughout the Nan'ing area, who bring their plucked tea from one or two acre gardens to small buildings scattered amongst the villages for drying. The jasmine is grown in fields locally.

Mr Chung is familiar with all aspects of the process, and has a lovely new pristine factory for blending and storing but his personal expertise and passion is in the scenting of the tea - or as Frank calls it, ‘the scanting'.

The process is fascinating - especially to someone like me who has always had a secret hankering to grow flowers, buy a still and create beautiful essences and perfumes. In fact, lately I've been daydreaming of an exquisite range of tea-based fragrances in betautiful little bottles and boxes. White with rose, green, jasmine pear...what do you think?

So, the story is that the green tea, once dried, is brought to Nan'ning, where the jasmine flowers are grown. The jasmine is picked just before the flowers have opened. The dried green tea is mixed with the freshly picked jasmine buds and left overnight. The warm, dried tea coaxes the jasmine flowers to open fully. In return, the flowers impart their delicate flavour to the tea.

This scenting process is repeated two or three times and almost a kilo of fresh jasmine flowers are used to scent every kilo of tea. Pure luxury. The better quality the tea, the more flowers are used.

Kindred Spirits, how welcome I was made to feel throughout my travels in China! Here we can see the banner Mr Chung had draped across the factory in preparation for my visit – it reads 'Welcome to China, Corinne'. Inside I was treated to an endless supply of lovely fruit and, of course, exquisite tea.

How will my next adventure - a trip to Sri Lanka - compare? Don't fret, I'll be sure to write daily in my journal so I can share that experience with you as well.

Hello Kindred Spirits,

From Whenzou, we headed to Fuding County, China's most famous white tea growing area.

As we drove, Mr Gung shared with me that this year there has been a rare frost which has devastated much of his white tea harvest; burning the first spring buds - which are the most highly prized. At the same time Yunnan Province, to the west, has suffered a drought. Our dependence on nature reminds me of my past working with peas and corn and carrots in Tasmania (a story for another time).

We drove further and further from civilisation, and after several hours stopped at the mountain town of Bailin for lunch. We selected our meal – the most mouth watering organic mountain greens and seafood – by pointing to it.

 
The food was served in a little private dining room where I quickly learned that it was my job to make my host look good by eating more than is humanly possible and then some. Thankfully the food was delicious and light - green prawns, little cockles, taro and bamboo seasoned with garlic, ginger, spring onion and chillies.

After a few courses I worked out that the best approach is to use my chopsticks to pick small pieces over an extended period - so that I am the last to finish - and everyone, including my stomach, is happy.

After lunch, we switched to a four wheel drive to make the trip the last few kilometres up the pristine mountain.

When we finally reached the tea garden, I was struck by its size. The garden is 1000 hectares, with tea bushes lining the hills in all directions. More than 200 mostly older women work here during the peak plucking season. The youth are leaving for the more exciting city life and the shortage of workers is a growing problem.

Something that stands out in China, a product of socialist versus caste-based background perhaps, is the greater sense of equality between people compared with Ceylon.

Here the pluckers happily chat with the estate owners and with me, whereas in Ceylon there is a shyness and almost shock (which quickly turn to giggles) when I sit and help in the factory.

We wandered the garden in the sunshine. Mr Gung showed me some burnt buds and some that have survived the frost, and we chatted with the pluckers.

I told Mr Gung (with Frank translating) about my little piece of paradise in Gippsland, surrounded by lyrebirds, tree-ferns and mountain pepper plants. Together we wondered whether it would be possible to grow tea there - we laughed about my buying some stock from him. Not so silly actually.

Hello Kindred Spirits,

I thought it was time I shared with you some more stories about my wonderful trip to China earlier in the year.

After minor issues with my domestic flight the next morning, including confusion over airports, ending up at the wrong one and missing my flight (all done with great composure I might add!); I finally landed at Whenzou, east of Shanghai and near the border of Fujian province.

I was here to meet Frank and Mr Gung, the owner of one of the two white tea estates we buy from, and to start our 2000 km adventure.

Mr Gung has been growing white tea for 30 years. He also has a small tea shop in the nearest town, where he sells his own brand, curiously named ‘Old Tea Cardiff'.We started with a visit to his shop where I was introduced to the world of Chinese tea tasting.

In China, top quality tea is sold for very special occasions and as gifts. The tea can cost several hundred dollars per kilogram and rarely finds its way to export markets. Many Chinese towns have their own tea shops or tea markets - whole arcades of tea shops frequented only by local Chinese people.

When visiting a tea market, the first step is to discuss the teas that they specialise in; which village they are from, the quality and the price. It's then time to sit and taste the teas before making a final selection. To do this, there is an elaborate process to follow that revolves around a purpose built carved wooden table, with built in kettle, steriliser and drainage slats. The tools of the tasting include several tiny glass bowls, a tiny glass tea pot, a brush (think large blusher brush) and a pair of long tweezers.

At the Old Tea Cardiff's shop, the three of us, plus Mr Gung's teenage son, took a seat at the table where a lovely young woman presided. She boiled the water, selected tea leaves with her chopstick-like tweezers and added them to her tiny pot. Next she rinsed each of the tiny bowls with the boiling water in quick, deft motions; waiting for the water to cool to the correct temperature of around 65 degrees for this special quality Silver Needles tea we were about to enjoy.

After a minute or so of spectacularly quick and accurate pouring from great heights, she used her tweezers again to empty our bowls and poured the first infusion into the leaf, discarding it as a first rinsing and preparation of the tea leaves.

Preparation complete, she poured more water into the pot, waited just a moment, and poured the tea into the tiny bowls, passing them to us. We tasted; enjoying the light clean, slightly sweet and fragrant spring buds and in three little sips our bowls are empty and refilled. This process continued until she had refilled the pot several times.

The tea tasting process at ‘Old Tea Cardiff'

The miniscule scale of the tea-ware and ceremony involved gave me a feeling of this being very precious and special. I reflected on how different it is to the teabag experience we are all so used to in Australia.

The re-infusing (refilling of the pot with water several times) is designed to demonstrate the quality of tea leaf - allowing us to experience the full flavours of the tea, from the lightest initial cup, to the fuller middle and finally checking that the tea has enough body to offer a pleasurable cup after several infusions.

Fortified for our journey and keen to get a look at where this delicious brew grows, we headed for the mountains, at around 600 metres above sea level, to Fuding County, China's most famous white tea growing area.

Hello My Kindred Spirits,

Since my Madame Flavour adventure began two years ago, I have been meaning to visit China, to meet our growers of Green Jasmine and White tea, explore the remote landscapes where the tea is grown; and understand more first hand of this ancient culture, the birthplace of tea.

After delays for all sorts of reasons, a couple of months ago, I booked my Air China ticket for a two week trip to co-incide with the spring White tea plucking season.

My itinerary would comprise of 2000km by car, touring remote Jiang-Xi and Fujian provinces - the best teas grow near the province borders.

I would be accompanied on my solo trip by Frank my Chinese blender, a generous man who had worked with tea for years in China and the Ivory Coast (where he had learnt french) before starting his own business near Nanchang ten years earlier. We had so far spoken only by via e-mail.

Frank organised all the details locally so it was with a mix of trepidation and excitement that I bade farewell to Matthias and little Sienna for two weeks of adventure; and stepped with my suitcase full of clothes-to-cater-to-all occaisions, through the international terminal at Melbourne airport.

My flight was direct to Shanghai, from where I had an internal transfer to Whenzou the next morning, where Frank and I would meet (he with a Camellia flower between his teeth!).

Around 12 hours later, exhausted after too many movies and not enough sleep the previous week in preparation, I arrived at the very modern and immaculate Shanghai Pudong airport. In fact as soon as I joined the queue at Melbourne airport I had realised my visions of going to a 'less developed' place were certainly not going to be true of Shanghai at least - many very elegantly dressed people .

At Pudong airport, I experienced warmth and helpfulness. I saw a young man help an old woman with her bags. Then thankfully had an airport worker help me with instructions to find my bus to the domestic airport some 40 kms away. He then accompanied me to the right coloured taxi, carrying my heavy case and instructing the taxi driver where to take me ..even though we ended up at the wrong hotel.

I realise that not speaking Mandarin will be a challenge; as English so far is surprisingly non-existent.

After only one night here, the hotel staff are nervous as they see me approaching - the English speaking woman with many questions. They start calling out the back for the staff member who does speak a little English, and backing out themselves, giggling nervously with maybe the same mix of trepidation and excitement I had embarking on this trip.

Room service last night was ordered without a menu.

I asked, again in pidgeon English, for chicken, 'Spicy please' and had the most delicious surprise - a plate of tender chicken pieces on the bone including feet (being of French background, on the bone is just my cup of tea), luscious juicy mushrooms, whole cloves of garlic, soy beans, in a rich shiny sauce, exotic and slightly sweet with star anise - a wonderful and unexpected start to the adventure.

Until the next leg of my adventure, au revoir!

感谢 (thank-you)

My Kindred Spirits,

I've always had a soft spot for the whimsical characters and colourful conversations in Lewis Carroll's classic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

That's why I was so pleased to be asked to supply the tea that was served at the special tea party event last week to celebrate the release to Disney DVD of Tim Burton's extraordinary movie adaptation.

I have three copies of this delightful ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie Blu-ray^TM/DVD value pack to give away. There are still a few days to enter and it couldn't be easier to do so. Just send me your favourite quote from the story.

I've already received some beauties, one of which I couldn't resist quoting below.

So mail me to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .