The et Chocolat

Bonjour PBers from Irene City.

I thought I'd post today because:

A. There could be a power outage at any moment. What would you read on Monday?

And...

B. NY Time's Elaine Sciolino of the divinely informative La Seduction emailed me this week seeking info on Paris' salons des thes. Don't miss her article ! Besides she gave PB a nice mention.

Big merci Elaine

Bet you think you're in a Paris tea shop.


Looking at banks...

And gorgeous banks of tea tins

WRONG! You're in a chocolate shop (Duo Trio on 88 rue de Rennes, La Bonbonnière de la Trinité in the 9ème, Les Bonbons).

Bet you think you're at a tea festival here.

Don't you love how the French make fun of themselves showing elegant frogs delicately sipping tea? Thank you NestleT.

Kusmi tea creates a maze of tins for sniffing

(clue: U R not at a tea tasting).

Chloe Doutre-Roussel, famous chocolate connoisseure now has her own tea. Chloe filled me in. Thé/tea is a gourmet's drink in Europe and has been for 5-10 years now. More gourmets are choosing tea over coffee. We're talking really good teas, not flavored teas. Coffee bean aromas are too strong for chocolate. You will not find coffee beans in a Parisian chocolate shop. et voila

That's why all these tea tastings at the Salon du Chocolat. If you're going to Paris this Fall don't miss it.

Plan accordingly - it's a chocolate lover and tea tasters ball.

Jugetsudo had this elegant booth at last year's chocolate salon.

Elaine mentions them in her article - why didn't I visit? I loved the design of their map enough to shoot it..

French Girl, like most French Girls, adores her tea. She insists I bring back fresh bags of Fortnum and Mason Breakfast tea from London to refill her precious tins on the shelf. And she's mad for her Japanese tetsubin cast iron tea pot.

 As soon as I got home I rushed down to the Bowery kitchen supply stores to buy one (they're way less expensive than in Paris). Naturally I have never used the darn thing :(

I told Elaine about Kusmi's adorable shopping bag. Whatever you do, DON'T put your Japanese teapot inside this bag or you'll be sporting a broken toe. My bag broke just outside customs at CDG :(

BONJOUR THE et CHOCOLAT PBers!

The Russian Tea Room NYC

The New York weather report today says 31°F (Feels like: 25°F) so I can still talk about tea...Russian tea..Kusmi Russian Tea in fact.

I first encountered Kusmi Teas at the Salon du Chocolat (they have a chocolate tea) and a day later at Le Festival de The.They had this fantastic "sniffing" display so you could easily find the tea you love. 

Kusmi Tea was founded in 1867 in St-Petersburg, by P.M Kousmichoff, supplier to the tsars. In 1917, at the time of the Revolution, they moved to London and Paris.

They're boutique is at 56, rue de Seine and they've just opened a tea room, so I'll be doing research next week...

Kusmi Russian Teas begin with big-leaf teas from Ceylon, India, Java and China. They uniquely blend these tea leaves with scented aromatics originating from Grasse, France's perfume center.
For example:
Anastasia Tea is a Russian blend of Ceylon and China teas scented with orange, bergamot, lemon and lime
Prince Vladimir is a blend of Ceylon and China teas with scents of orange, lemon, vanilla, grapefruit and spices
The Bouquet de Fleur blend is a blend of China, India and Ceylon teas with 8 different aromas, including lemon, bergamot orange, lime and mandarin orange
Petrushka Tea is a blend of Ceylon, cardamom, cloves, almonds and rose

For research purposes I tasted a Russian tea with blinis, sour cream and sour cherries...

Here's the demise of my research = YUM!

You put the sour cherries into the tea as well as in the blinis...

My research was to gather info on Russian Tea Service for another menu cover for The Russian Tea Room.

Podstakannik is Russian for tea glass holder and means "under the glass" or "for the glass"

Chai is the word for tea

Chainaya lozhka is teaspoon

Sahar is sugar
Zavarka is strong tea

They have a huge collection of rare Russian Samovars at RTR...

Vetka is the handle of a samovar's faucet. Literally "branch" (as of a tree)

So now you're ready to go for tea at The Russian Tea Room!

BTW I noticed Paris weather today is 39°F (Feels like: 32°F)
Do you think they heard I was coming and are trying to make the transition easy for me? :(

Le Festival De The

French Rose Bud tea, original watercolor, 9" x 11"

I bought this glass teapot and the rose bud tea in the Lafayette Gourmet tea department.

While the 5-day Paris Salon du Chocolat was taking place, you could also visit the 3-day Le Festival de The and satiate both your obsessions.

Kusmi Tea was founded in 1867 in St-Petersburg, by P.M Kousmichoff, supplier to the tsars. In 1917, at the time of the Revolution, they moved to London and Paris. They're boutique at 56, rue de Seine will soon have a tea room serving Anastasia, Troika, Prince Vladimir, Petrushka, Samovar, Zoubrovka, and Russian morning tea...

All kinds of tasting and sniffing was going on - a green tea tasting...

Endless samples to sniff...the in vrac - lose tea leaves sold by the gramme. And tea sold in boite en metal from Les Contes de The. They also have a salon de the at 60, rue de Cherche-Midi ("tea Street") 75006, offering not less than 200 tea varieties. Sachets mousseline de thés are how the French do up tea bags in silk fabric..

China pots on a charcole brazier from Hindu Emami, brewing up Ayurvedtic herbal teas.

And finally a Japanese tea ceremony demonstration was ongoing...

You can visit Le Festival de The end of next October 2007