The foodie film I’m most interested in seeing is All in This Tea, a documentary about David Lee Hoffman, the American tea expert and importer who for years has been searching out the best handmade teas in the world. These days such teas are a dying art, as mass-produced teas take over and the ways of the tea artisans disappear.
As Hoffman explains in the film:
Most Americans will never experience teas like this. I’m predicting that in two years, farmers like this will be out looking for another job. The person who made this tea is highly skilled. Highly skilled. Unless someone discovers him very soon, he’s going to be gone.
The film premiered recently at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and a clip is currently featured at online film library Jaman. According to one commenter, “[T]his is the coolest foodie film I’ve seen this year! I feel so ashamed drinking tea from the bag now. … [T]his film covered so many interesting topics … related to the tea business in China—economics, politics, distrust of the west, new trust of the west, organic farming….impressive.”
The film is not yet available for order, but I can’t wait to get my hands on it—to watch with a nice cup of artisanal, handcrafted, soon-to-disappear tea, of course.
Since you haven’t seen the film, I have to comment that the title of this post is unnecessarily alarmist. The quote from David is several years old, and the Chinese government seems to have woken up to the possibility of making a lot of money allowing the sale of unusual teas.
It is a worthwhile film for making us care about tea farmers and tea makers in China, and the threat of widescale manufacturing to any handcrafted way of life.
However there’s far more interest in brewing and drinking tea in the US today than at any time in my life, and not just in places like San Francisco where people are willing to spend $9 for a pot of oolong or $200 for a pound of dragonwell.
That said, a lot of the excitement is over products that aren’t technically teas like rooibos and mate, and I’d happily trade a shelf of pomegranate flavored tea or green chai lattes for a decent pot of black or green tea properly brewed.
Nothing wrong with tea bags, by the way; it’s the quality of tea leaves you put in them. My grandmother makes perfectly delicious iced tea with Lipton.
If you care about these issues, be sure to check out Teance owner Winnie Yu’s blog this week as she travels across China on a tea tasting and buying expedition:
http://whyteance.blogspot.com/
If you’d like to try some gourmet full-leaf teas in the Twin Cities, look up the Tea Source in St. Anthony or Highland Park for some amazing estate teas direct from the growers. The proprietor actually travels to the best tea regions in the world and deals directly with the farmers. What’s amazing is that he charges much less than the bigger “chain” tea stores like Teavana for a similar or better product.
CHOW Tour Dispatch #66: The Enchanted Misty Mountain of Tea and Excrement
by: Jim Leff March 01, 2007
Lagunitas, California
http://www.chow.com/tour/2235
and dont forget Harney & Sons teas in Goshen Ct. The Harney family has been ‘doing’ estate teas since sometime in the early 80s. One of the sons constantly brings in new/seasonal big leaf teas.
They definitely got this former expresso junkie hooked on the fine differences to be found in all the wondrous variety of tea out there. Funny thou how stiff the resistance to ‘good’ or just ‘better’ tea can be. People happily fuss endlessly over their coffee but then settle for Twinnings tea dust/.
I’m with you, rubrifolia. I’ve been known to settle for tea dust on occassion but there’s nothing better (and better for you) than a fine cup of freshly brewed full-leaf tea!
On a lighter note regarding tea… my VERY favorite is Chamomile Citron which is an herbal infusion of citrus pieces and chamomile blossoms. It’s made by Mighty Leaf Tea. The tea bag itself is made of some silky material and the tea is simply delicious… that is if you like citrus flavored tea! LOL
Tea is definitely a growing market now. And with more people drinking tea, some of them will get interested in learning about and drinking better quality teas — just like people did with coffee.
We may even see restaurants learn how to make decent tea sometime before I die. Or is that too much to ask for?
Ceylon continues to produce some of the most exotic teas which I have personally tasted and would like to share with you
http://www.white-tea.com
The film is playing currently on Sundance Channel’s movies “On Demand” which I get with Charter Digital Cable. I just order it up for free when I want to watch. Check to see if you have this feature. I didn’t realize it was there until I pushed the “On Demand” button on the remote and rummaged around in the menus.
This film just screened in Madison a few weeks ago:
“The Meaning of Tea”
http://filmguide.wifilmfest.org/tixSYS/2008/filmguide/eventnote.php?notepg=1&EventNumber=3091
Animated look at the British obsession of Tea Drinking:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A7789431
Do you all know about the World Tea Expo on May 30 to June 1,’08? It’s in Las Vegas. We really enjoyed it the year we went.
I just saw this film on Sundance and thought it was full of wonderful things. I had to turn away, though, whenever David Hoffman was in view, behaving like the ultimate ugly American. He marches around China without a translator yelling at people. I think the guy should be taken to task for, yes, elitism, and for abusing people for whom courtesy is the first consideration in all human transactions. Want to set me straight?