It is 2079 in Nepal, the year of our first trip to this tea-producing country

For more than 30 years, François-Xavier Delmas, founder of Palais des Thés, has dedicated himself to passing on his knowledge of tea and his love of this exquisite beverage. But there is another mission close to his heart: to share his explorations with his colleagues who, at Palais des Thés’ headquarters and in its stores, spread this passion among our customers. This is how Anna, Cassandra, Svetlana, Clément, Pierre and Thomas travelled to meet farmers in Ilam Valley as Nepal entered the year 2079. The six of them tell their story.

In conversation with Bénédicte Bortoli

Between spring 2020 and autumn 2021, the world ground to a halt due to the pandemic. All travel stopped and our trips were cancelled. So we were surprised and overjoyed when, a few days before Christmas, François-Xavier invited us to join him in Nepal, along with Léo, who helps him track down the finest teas. As we rejoiced at being the lucky ones to be chosen that year, many questions surfaced, but above all we felt a deep desire to discover new places and meet new people. We would open up our hearts and our eyes.

The first time

This would be our first time visiting a tea-producing country, our first time in Nepal, and our first trip with colleagues. It was unknown territory for us all! At last, on 12 April 2022, we boarded the flight to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, feeling excited and nervous. For tea-lovers, Nepal is the ultimate destination. It is a country shrouded in mystery and spirituality with a unique culture. We had already tasted a few of its treasures chosen by François-Xavier in our stores and at the office. But our first experience of Nepal itself was the sweltering heat of Kathmandu, and our first momos, the popular Tibetan dumplings. Dazed by the traffic and horns, we escaped the bustle of the city to wander the narrow streets of Bhaktapur’s old town. Then, as the night and the rain began to fall, we headed to the stupa of Boudhanath, one of the main Buddhist shrines in the region. Still feeling somewhat overwhelmed, we spent our first evening together on a rooftop overlooking the city.

The next morning, we flew to Bhadrapur and enjoyed a view of Mount Everest from the plane. On arrival we met our drivers, Bouddha and Dipech, who accompanied us throughout our journey. Once on the road, we were impressed to see the efforts people made to decorate their homes, whether they were modest or more fancy. Some of the houses seemed rather ornate to us in such a rural setting. We looked out for the lowland tea bushes and speculated about the purpose of the approaching festivities, which we could see were in preparation. We scrutinised every detail of these unfamiliar landscapes. And then came the clouds.

Head in the clouds

Nepal started producing tea relatively recently, landlocked between India and China, two giants with a long tea tradition. There are three tea-producing regions in Nepal: Terai, Dhankuta and Ilam, which we planned to cross and where there are no large plantations in the British tradition. At more than 1,600 metres above sea level, where the sweet scents of flowers linger in the humid air, we visited our first plantations, Norling and La Mandala. There, we met Sonam Paljor Lama, a well-known figure in the region who has travelled as far as Georgia to impart his tea-growing expertise. We drank in the wise words of this inspiring man of the soil. In a new building that looked out across the tea fields, we silently tasted a dozen teas harvested in spring and last autumn. We also ate the first of many servings of dal bhat (a combination of rice and lentils that comes in endless spicy versions), which tested our Western stomachs. That day, we learnt that the villagers were preparing to celebrate the new year, 2079, in the evening, and had invited us to join them! We enjoyed the music, dancing and tongba, a traditional alcoholic drink made from fermented millet. Then at 8.30pm the party was over. It was curfew time, and everyone went home.

Nepalese Oolongs

Day 3. A seemingly endless rock-strewn earth track eventually led us to the small artisanal plantation of Mai Pokhari, managed with the greatest attention to detail by two brothers and their wives. We were surprised to find them producing Oolongs with honeyed, floral notes. They told us they learnt how to make these semi-oxidised teas from an online tutorial! Out in the misty fields, we watched the pickers at work and clumsily tried to mimic their precise movements. Then, in Jasbire, we tasted a wide selection of high-quality teas. After an obligatory stop at Ilam, we continued on to Shangri-La, where we found a more industrial version of Nepalese tea production, complete with white coats and hairnets.

Magical Pathivara

The following day we journeyed to Pathivara along bumpy tracks lined with rhododendrons, the national flower. During our well-earned stops we picked a few petals and chewed on them. We had reached an altitude of 2,500 metres. The air was thinner and there were fewer dwellings. We were met by Uday, his wife Surya and their son who welcomed us into their home like old friends and treated us to a memorable visit infused with their generous hospitality. The Uday family are strongly committed to supporting the education and health of the village and invite the most deprived children to join them at meal times. All the tea leaves they produce – a small amount, around 8 tonnes – come from their own gardens, which provide a living for the whole community. For us, as a company that contributes to the tea economy, it was also an opportunity to see for ourselves the ways in which we can support people. Here, we met up with our tea researcher Léo who, over his many visits, has forged such strong ties with these wonderful people that it felt like he was the big brother of the family. Carrying a

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An opportunity for Pierre to taste the newly produced first-flush which are wonderfully fresh. baskets, we tried our hands at harvesting the tea and identifying the plant varieties. Then we took off our shoes and sat on the ground to learn how to roll the leaves by hand. We were proud to have made our first tea, feel it in our hands, and enjoy it the next morning at breakfast! We also met Lapam, the farm’s “tea maker”. Uday told us that Lapam is responsible for creating the tea we sell thanks to his expertise and skills.

We descended from the heights of Pathivara for a few hours to explore some small plots of land strewn with tea bushes, flowers and beehives, maintained by – we were told – the only Christian in the valley. It was an idyllic interlude before we met up with Uday again for a spontaneous and lively gathering at his house. We danced to Nepalese and Western music, captivated by the delights of Pathivara. Was it the snowy peaks, the breathtaking landscapes, François-Xavier’s joy at seeing us touched by the charm of these places that had moved him decades earlier, or a giddiness brought on by the altitude? We were overcome with shared emotions. We were literally filled with awe.

On the shores of Lake Kalapani

Sitting precariously in the back of a pick-up truck, then stumbling along on foot, asking directions from the few people we met on the way, we headed up to Kalapani (“black water”), where we were introduced to the local mayor and to Apsara, the only female tea maker we came across throughout our trip. She sets a professional example, and no doubt a social one, for girls of future generations. In this sea of green vegetation framed by mountains, we were charmed by the tea pickers in their beautiful and colourful traditional costumes and felt compelled to take photos. This was followed by the customary tasting session, held under a gazebo by the lake.

Tea plantation in Nepal. Tea bushes are often planted on mountainsides to allow the rainwater to drain away naturally.

Sonam Paljor Lama, a leading local figure in the tea world, gives valuable advice about tea farming to employees on his plantations.

To learn more about the little-known teas of Nepal, join François-Xavier for an audio journey.

(In French.)

The last plantations in Arya Tara

Arya Tara, our final destination, gave us an opportunity to spend time in a factory and compare everything we’d imagined about this work with reality. We arrived with our own preconceived idea of time-keeping and our rational vision of tea production. We quickly realised how all this was mere theory when compared to the hands-on experience and the truly artisanal, sensory-led approach we saw in action. In the withering room, we were amazed by the vegetal notes given off by the leaves. During the tasting, consisting of just three teas, we looked at François-Xavier and Léo and realised they had found what they were looking for in an AV2 with almond notes. After a last dal bhat and a farewell song for our drivers, we took off for Kathmandu. On the journey out we had flown with Buddha Air, and the return flight was with Yeti Air – a holistic representation of Nepal! We spent the hours before our departure with a representative from Karuna-Shechen, the charitable organisation founded by Matthieu Ricard that Palais des Thés has been supporting for two years. It was a fascinating conversation that reminded us of how tea farming can benefit communities. We had been moved to witness the emergence of fragile but enterprising new companies, some of which had started up less than six months earlier. We had visited plantations, picked our first tea leaves, sipped extraordinary teas, and most importantly, met wonderful people. The six of us had also got to know each other. •