Pickled tea leaves may sound a bit out of the ordinary but not for Southeast Asian chefs. Burma, now known as Myanmar, is an ancient crossroads influenced by the cuisine of bordering Bangladesh, China, Thailand, and Laos. It is here that laphet has become a national dish that is now finding its way to US and European consumers as branded packaged goods.
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Tea’s popularity is not limited to the choice it offers as a drink alone. Laphetor fermented tea leaf, is used in a salad called the laphet thoke or mixed with rice. The uses of the fermented tea leaves are not limited to salad or a dish.
Cultured Tea Leaves Flavor Many Dishes
By Aravinda Anantharaman
Tea’s popularity is as a beverage, and a versatile one at that. A single plant produces leaves that are processed, blended, flavored, aged, rolled, compressed, bagged, powdered into a product that finds its audience. But tea’s versatility is not limited to the choice it offers as a drink alone. As a green leaf, it’s also an herb but surprisingly this side of tea has yet been tapped to its fullest potential. Except perhaps in Myanmar (formerly Burma) bordering India, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, and Laos. Not surprisingly, tea is also cultivated here, but its most famous rendition is as laphet or fermented tea leaf, used in a salad called the laphet thoke or mixed with rice. The uses of the fermented tea leaves are not limited to salad or a dish. It’s immensely popular in Burmese cuisine – probably the unofficial national dish. It’s said that only the finest leaves of any harvest are used to make lahpet.
Burmese cuisine enjoys fantastic influences, surrounded by countries with culinary wealth. Its popularity may not have reached the levels of say, it’s neighboring Thailand’s cuisine but there’s plenty of offer. Overseas Burmese are now seeing that there is an interest in the lesser known, unexplored cultures of the world, offering an opportunity to promote their own. There are a handful of brands, including Burma Love Foods, a 5-year-old brand from San Francisco whose product range is built on laphet. Besides variations of the dressing, they offer do-it-yourself salad kits which should hold appeal. Myanmar Tea Leaf’s Paline is a homegrown brand producing laphet, said to be the first to brand the product.
“Tea you can eat” is an attractive opportunity for promoters of Burmese cuisine, to take something so familiar as tea but offer it in newer ways, and equally for tea businesses that are looking for deeper cultural connections with tea.
Fermented tea leaves in olive oil
Stir-fried tea salad
Fried mushrooms
Laphet and rice
Hors d’oeuvres
Myanmar Laphet (SO) single origin edible tea leaf is picked and aged at 5,332 feet above sea level in Namhsan, Myanmar’s original capital of tea, producing the country’s highest quality teas for the past 1,000 years.
Tea Master Sun seems to comprehend that I’m being transformed, yet his words are as colorless as can be. “So, Pu’er. Tell us what you know about it.”
The minute he asks this question, I understand two things…
That’s a quote from The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (page 175-176)
Kyle Whittington reviews The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa SeeThe Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
A Brilliantly Layered Book
Despite being a work of fiction, one immediately feels that the tea content is thorough and factually based, adding interesting and personable facts to a tea reader’s knowledge banks.
I found myself repeatedly drawn in and captivated by the story whilst doing my initial skim read, checking there was sufficient tea content for TeaBookClub members. There was. Tea content aplenty. Whilst reading, and by the time I’d finished it I found myself with a renewed interest in the world of Pu’er tea, a pond I’d previously only dipped my toe into. Fascinating and well researched tea content is liberally scattered throughout the book, revealing the mysterious world of Pu’er tea. From ancient secret groves and lost production through its re-discovery to rapid growth, boom and bust over the last three decades. Despite being a work of fiction, one immediately feels that the tea content is thorough and factually based, adding interesting and personable factoids to the tea readers knowledge banks. And ultimately, for many, inspiring a new or renewed interest in the world of Pu’er.
Undoubtedly a literary work worthy of the recommendations that brought it to my reading chair, it is interesting how different lenses can change the readers experience. Reading it with a tea mind gives, I feel, a rather different experience to that of a reader coming to it purely as a novel. Something which became clear when discussing it with TeaBookClub members.
For the tea reader, this is a book of two halves. Whilst the first half cleverly sets up Li-yan’s world of Akha tradition and starts her on her journey. It can at times feel like wading through a documentary on the Akha, despite the captivating writing. It’s not until Li-yan makes it to Kunming that the pace suddenly picks up and we’re zipping through the exciting tea world as the pu’er trend picks up pace alongside. I personally wanted to spend more time with Tea Master Sun and in Li-yan’s tea shop in the tea market at this point. But on we zipped to California and the eventual riveting ending, which left me desperately wanting to know what happened next.
There are so many brilliant layers to this book, and it could be looked at through so many different lenses. The rapid transition of the Akha way of life into the modern world was fascinating and could spark its own lengthy discussion. From another view, the mother daughter story, adoption, or Chinese immigrants in the USA could all be delved into and discussed. But for the tea reader this is a wonderful story, packed with great tea content that will either develop or ignite an interest in, and desire to explore the world of Pu’er further.
Here’s what some TeaBookClub members thought:
“I haven’t gotten into Pu’er that much, but the book has definitely inspired me to now.” – Alison, UK
“I thought the ending was a tear-jerker, I was definitely glued to those last ten pages“- Chris, USA
“I found it touching to read” – Aimée, Canada
“I thought it was too encyclopedic initially [the first time reading it], I found the beginning too much explanation about the Akha people but then because TeaBookClub chose it to read I picked it up and I’m happy I really read it though.” – Aimée, Canada
“I found it a little bit cliche when she finds the love of her life and he’s like her knight in shining armor and she’s a little bit of the princess, a Cinderella kind of thing. But then what I really liked about it was the little nuggets about tea culture in China. How the women when they’re picking the leaves talk about life. The culture in the villages, tea is their life, their culture, they have this appreciation of the leaf. She describes that really well; it’s not just about picking and processing. But I thought bits of the story line were a bit Disney, she’s shopping on Rodeo drive, its like Pretty Woman at one point! I liked those little bits about the life, about the culture of tea.” – Alison, UK
“When it talked about selling the fake tea, that was very relatable in the tea industry. And their reaction to it, how could you be upset with all the money they’re making, just make a little bit more. It showed how different the view was on the ground versus our 30,000 feet distance view.” – Chris, USA
“There was so much build up around the tribe and then it jumped very quickly though the story.” – Chris, USA
“The first part really explains the character and how she feels different from the Han majority and from her own tribe.” – Aimée, Canada
“It’s easier to digest the tea knowledge in that [novel] format sometimes, it drops bits of information in and it’s easier to take the information in.” – Alison, France
“I liked how she brings up the challenges of being an adopted Chinese girl in America. Not feeling Chinese, not feeling American…. I thought she captured the experience of wanting to find her [Hayley] birth parents and the excitement she got around seeing how other people found it. It’s a one in a million chance, its never going to happen but at least I’ll try, it makes sense to go and do that. I thought that was captured really well.” – Chris, USA
“I really loved the part with all the girls talking with the psychologist. That was really clever.” – Aimée, Canada
Although based in the UK, The Tea Book Club is an international group of tea lovers and readers who meet up virtually each month to discuss tea books. If you’d like to join us for the next read, visit teabookclub.org or @joinTeaBookClub on Instagram.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Goodreads: Lisa See is a Chinese-American author. Her books include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Dragon Bones, and On Gold Mountain. She was named the 2001 National Woman of the Year, by the Organization of Chinese American Women. She lives in Los Angeles.
Later, pouring some of last year’s temple tea, he says, “Tea has so much information to give. If you pay attention, you know not only the place, but how the tree grew, even the mood of the person who processed it.” – The Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay (page 101)
Kyle Whittington reviews The Life of Tea, Journey to the World’s Finest TeasThe Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay
This book, in a word, is stunning, just stunning. By far the most beautiful tea book visually to land on my tea shelf. The coffee table book format and fabulous photography by Michael Freeman make this a treasured addition to any collection of tea books. Add to that the knowledge that pours forth in the words written by Timothy d’Offay and we have a truly special book in our hands.
One of the lovely things about this book is that you don’t feel that you’re rereading information on tea that you’ve read 1,000 times before. Rather, you go on a journey to each tea type, each country, region, artisan or tea house, and along the way, dotted throughout the text like so many villages amongst the tea mountains are these wonderful gems and nuggets of information. There’s so much to learn and absorb both from the pictures and the text in this book. It sits such at an unusual sweet spot where a visually enticing book meets a well-researched and written reference book.
This is not a book that requires cover to cover reading. Rather, you can pick an area and go on a journey, then move on to another. In any order. An approach that Tea Book Club members really enjoyed. The text is so well written, with great flow, great knowledge and great humanity. From historical and cultural context to processing details of a specific tea and the atmospheric approach up a tea mountain road. You really feel that Tim has been there, knows the farmers, the people, and the tea.
The large format and visual splendour of this book is, however, perhaps its biggest sticking point, as well as what sets it so beautifully apart. It’s simply not easy to read and requires effort to open and get on with. One solution is to grab the Kindle copy for easy train or bed reading, allowing you to fly through the content laden and beautifully written text without the heft and size the physical book requires.
That being said, I simply love this book… but I’d also love to see a paperback size version falling into the hands of every tea lover out there. Because really, we all ought to read this book at least once.
And here is what some of the Tea Book Club members had to say:
“A great coffee table book, the text wrapped around photography bringing it to life.” – Alison, UK
“I adore it. It’s definitely going to be a long term treasure for me.” – B, USA
“The artistic quality of the depiction is so beautiful and has such integrity. It’s connected things in my head.” – Terri, USA
“One of the strengths of this book is to show different views of what we see in every tea book” – Aimée, Canada
“This book gives you all the information like other tea books but in a very elegant way… plenty of little details, but very important ones.” – Pilar, UK
“The writing was really insightful and the photography was really beautiful.” – Karri, USA
“I really liked his focus on the people in all the different places he traveled to. His perspectives of the farmers was really really nice.” – Nicole, USA
“I’ve been drooling over the pictures. My husband is not a big tea drinker but he even picked it up and learned a lot just from the pictures.” – Terri, USA
“I love the text and I also love the pictures but I found ti difficult to read at night. But I found there was a lot of pieces of information that added a pieceto the puzzle in my mind about tea… ‘Oh, that’s the link between those two ideas!’” – Aimée, Canada
“I loved the section on tea ware, his knowledge and love for the tea ware really shines through.” – Nadine, UK
“I really really like that it didn’t have the ad nauseam facts that are repeated in every other book on tea. There’s so much in there but it’s not done in a stereotypical way.” – Nicole, USA
“I really appreciated seeing pictures of some of the behind the scenes stuff that you don’t usually see in such good quality.” – Sean, USA
“The tea ware section is amazing, you feel like you are reading about art!” – Pilar UK
Although based in the UK, The Tea Book Club is an international group of tea lovers and readers who meet up virtually each month to discuss tea books. If you’d like to join us for next read, visit teabookclub.org or @joinTeaBookClub on Instagram.
Freeman’s photography depicts every aspect of tea.
The Life of Tea: A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas
Goodreads: Documentary photographer Michael Freeman and tea expert Timothy d’Offay explore the terroir, taste, and culture of the world’s favorite drink.
La Gravitea is a remarkable tea café with hundreds of selections of fine teas inspired by the travels of founder Avinash Dugar but aside from specialty teas, what makes La Gravitea special is that the young staff are all hard-working graduates of the local school for the hearing-impaired. Aravinda Anantharaman visits this tea café with heart.
A virtual visit to La Gravitea cafe in Jameshedpur in the north Indian state of Jharkand Staff at the La Gravitea café L to R, in the front, Suraj Thakur, Chandra Prabha, Nandita. In the middle, Monika Mahato, Amit Kumar Singh, Amit Lahari. Back row, Shakuntala Hansda, Nikit Sharma and Navin Kumar
For the Love of Tea
By Aravinda Anantharaman
Jamshedpur in the north Indian state of Jharkand is an industrial town famous for its steel industry. It’s closest link to the tea regions would be Kolkata, nearly 300 kilometers away. But one man here has succeeded in putting the town on the tea map with his café, La Gravitea. He serves a dizzying range of teas from special Darjeelings and Japanese matcha to iced teas and flavored blends alongside a menu packed with popular café dishes. But what makes La Gravitea newsworthy is that its staff is entirely hearing-impaired youth.
Avinash Dugar who started and runs La Gravitea, talks about how it began. In 2015, he decided to step away from corporate life. He thought his calling lay in adventure sports but while travelling through southeast Asia he happened to visit a tea bar in Hong Kong. More used to India chai stops, this was a revelation in what a tea bar could be. Avinash returned to India, keen to start selling tea inspired by what he had seen. He set up a kiosk with 70 teas on offer, teas he had learnt to source from all over the world, brew and serve. He thought he would do for tea what the chain, Café Coffee Day has done to popularize coffee in India.
Until one day, among his customers, he saw a hearing impaired young woman. He struck with a conversation with her brother who mentioned that there were no jobs available for the hearing impaired. This struck a chord with Ashish and he decided to expand his kiosk into a full-fledged café, and employ hearing impaired youth.
The local school for the hearing impaired gave him names of their alumni who had not found employment. Avinash visited them and spoke to their families. Many were reluctant to send their daughters to work. But he went on to hire six girls, and trained them in running La Gravitea, from cooking dishes and brewing tea to operations and service. Six years have passed and the first set of girls have since moved on and he’s hired others, also hearing impaired. And tea? La Gravitea’s menu has since doubled and offers a range that includes several types of chai, tisanes, Darjeelings, and Assams to teas like Japanese matcha, sencha and Yerba mate. Along with tea, La Gravitea is is also fast becoming a museum for teaware.
La Gravitea displays a large selection of teapots from around the world. Photos courtesy Avinash Dugar.
On a Saturday afternoon, I get a WhatsApp tour of La Gravitea. I spot a teapot shaped clock, several teapots from across the world, a prized Victorian moustache tea cup procured from Kolkata, samovars, some vintage teaspoons and several collectibles. Avinash talks about a consignment that’s made its way slowly through Customs, one that holds a 4.5 foot tall teapot from China which will make him the owner of the largest teapot in the country. He confesses to a great love for teapots, adding that he has a teapot tattooed on his arm. La Gravitea is an unusual tea café, which showcases all the things its owner seems to love – teas from all over the world, vintage teapots, the French language, a desire to do good for the community.
What seems to tie it all together is that it’s all heart!
Carmel Junior College students on campus
Carmel Bal Vihar
Sister Flavian, a former principal at Carmel Junior College in Jamshedpur, established the vocational program at Carmel Bal Vihar in June 2010. The school for the hearing impaired in Sonari, offers practical skills for its 130 students because “a Class X pass certificate is not enough these days as a lot of challenges lie ahead for differently abled students as they go out in the world,” sister Flavian told the Telegraph of India.
“I decided to provide vocational training for students after some parents highlighted the employment problems faced by students after they left school,” she said. Graduates from Jharkand and many other states who attend the school have since found work as beauticians, tailors and, thanks to Avinash Dugar, in foodservice.
Carmel Bal Vihar is affiliated with Carmel Junior College establish in 1997 and administered by the congregation of the Apostolic Carmel Sisters of the Catholic Church.
“So I must warn you of two things. Firstly: be careful of drinking good tea; you might get hooked and be unable to stop. If the tea is really good, you might indulge deeply drinking and drinking until your heart feels close to exploding with pleasure and caffeine. Even those habituated to hard drugs and amazing tastes get swept away.
And secondly: the pleasure might take away your inhibitions. Above and beyond the caffeine, the exquisite beauty of tea can turn your head and rob you of your normal control. Intensely delightful experiences are so out of the ordinary that our response to them can be similarly unexpected.” – Henrietta Lovell (Chapter 13, page 99.)
Wow! What a book! From start to finish Henrietta had me captivated, excited and enthralled by her world. A tea book unlike most, this is the very personal story of Henrietta’s adventures with tea, in tea, and all around tea. From her first fledgling sips out of dainty China Cups at Diana’s House as a child, we are taken along on a ride of reminiscence. With trips to far flung tea fields swathed in mist via the odd lightning strike or two, we zip off to tea tastings with chefs at some of the best restaurants in the world, accompanied by her little yellow suitcase and strange meetings on trains. To mention but a few of her adventures.
The extreme highs of Henrietta’s life in tea (which could otherwise have felt like so much name-dropping) are balanced by her battles with cancer. And yes, she really has been struck down by lightning. The realness and personality of Henrietta and her book comes through in these juxtapositions, making the book expressively and genuinely human. You really feel like you are sitting over a cup of tea with Henrietta as she regales you with her stories, the highs, the lows, and the off on a tangent. Oh, and the recipes! Dotted throughout the book are her teas and recipes, each connected with its own story.
This is not a book with sections on different teas, recipes, growing and history like most other tea books. But all this and more is woven throughout the stories that Henrietta tells. Like real life, we learn as we go along, picking up useful tips, ideas, and inspirations.
If you ever find yourself in a bit of a tea rut, drinking the same thing every day, then this book is sure to reignite your tea flame and get you trying something new. It certainly did for me.
INFUSED Adventures in Tea
And here is what some of the book club members had to say:
I opted to get the audio book. It was so fun to hear her voice and her telling the stories. It was like I was there having tea with her! – Shawn, USA
It’s about her story and the experiences she has with those teas, and with these people. It absolutely gets you excited and interested in all these teas. – Nadine, UK
She makes it all sound so delicious. – Alison, UK
I really enjoyed it, Henrietta is such a storyteller. I could hear more of her stories any day, she is just a very interesting character. – Laura, UK
I think it was very brave of her to share that part of her life, about her illnesses, that wasn’t easy. And she shared how it was in the beginning of her company and how it has transformed to what it is today. It’s really inspiring. – Kristine, Sweden.
I like the way that she makes it fun as well. What she’s doing is a really noble cause, but she doesn’t make it heavy or preachy. It’s more a joyful experience and trying to celebrate and have joy. – Tran, UK
Made me want to try different teas again. – Saunders, UK
I really liked when she wrote about Malawi Antlers. As I grow tea myself, I have to try this; Swedish Antlers. – Greta, Sweden
Usually I’m not interested in blends, and I found it fascinating. The way she talks about how she creates these different blends for different chefs and different foods. With her little yellow bag. – Nadine, UK
I connected a lot with this book. – Sean, USA
When I read her book, I thought I would like to write my own stories or adventures with tea. – Brigette, Canada.
Henrietta Lovell is perhaps best known as the Rare Tea Lady, after her company “Rare Tea Co.” rareteacompany.com. Sourcing directly from farmers since the very beginning Henrietta has traveled the world and searching for rare and precious harvests of teas and tisanes. Her quest has taken her on many adventures, from the far flung and bizarre to those closer to home. She has worked with some of the most prestigious restaurants and hotels around the world, pairing teas and creating bespoke blends. Henrietta founded Rare Charity, which works to bring educational opportunity to young people in tea growing areas.
