ALL AMERICAN INN AND SUITES

My friend Brienne suggested that we visit this tea shop. I was unprepared for the popularity of the shop and the range of tea it sold, and the prices! Nonetheless I found the White Chinese tea Brienne was looking for. It was very busy so we didn't stop for tea in the restaurant.

From Wikipedia (and which Wikipedia admits sounds a bit like an advertisement!):

"In 1660, the Compagnie des Indes and Louis XIV appointed Nicolas Mariage, a specialist in and traveler to the Persian countries, to convince the Shah of Persia into commerce with France and their products. At the same time, his brother Pierre Mariage, is sent as a special envoy to Madagascar for this same purpose.

More than a century later, one of Pierre's descendants, Jean-Francois Mariage is head of a colonial commercial company of tea, spices and food products based in Lille. In 1820, Jean-Francois's three sons, Aime, Charles, Auguste and Louis, established a family firm. In 1845, Aime and Auguste opened in Paris, another firm, now called Auguste Mariage et Compagnie, on rue du Bourg-Tibourg. On June 1, 1854, Aime's sons, Henri and Edouard, started the first importer of French tea in the same building.

In the following years, Mariage Freres became well known as the most important purveyor of tea and its products for tea houses, hotels and for the Parisian high society during the Second Empire.

In 1983, Henri Mariage’s grand-daughter, Marthe, took two young tea enthusiasts under her wing. Kitti Cha Sangmanee and Richard Bueno were determined to uncover all the secrets of grand teas. In a matter of years, working day and night, they created a whole new world by opening up the firm’s retail business. They pioneered the concept of a “house of French tea” that incorporated retail outlet, tea room, and museum—a typically French blend of commerce, taste, and intellect.

French tea rests on five pillars:

1. A quest for the finest harvests 2. Highly skillful blending 3. The art of making tea 4. Tea and gastronomy 5. The art of giving


[edit] 1. The finest harvests
Mariage Freres’ tea tasters have scoured the world in search of rare harvests that are sure to delight tea lovers. In addition to discovering the finest teas, these trips provide an opportunity to share experiences with planters themselves, in the goal of improving the quality of output year by year, and sometimes even devising new teas. For example, Brumes d’Himalaya was the fruit of an exchange between the owner of an estate in Darjeeling and the tasters at Mariage Freres, the very company hailed by Newsweek magazine as the best in the world for the quality of its Darjeeling teas.


[edit] 2. Highly skillful blending
French tea stems from the grand tradition of blends. Two types of blended tea exist: classic blends and flavored teas. Original Mariage family traditions have been updated as French taste has evolved and as times have changed. Connoisseurs are never content with past accomplishments. Each period has its identifiable taste, its own pleasures, its own goals. A blend therefore becomes a marriage of fine harvests of different origins, sometimes yielding flavors that do not exist in nature. For example, Kitti Cha Sangmanee has devised an exclusive blend called “Oriental” in tribute to the historic hotel of that name in Bangkok.


[edit] 3. The art of making tea
Mariage Freres has managed to formulate and perfect a French method of making tea.

Tea is the reflection of every culture and civilization; its essence must always be respected, yet it must be adapted to local tastes and tastebuds. And everything must be taken into account when getting the best out of tea—climate, water, atmosphere, and the sensitivity of a given nation to flavors and accompanying dishes. In Mariage Freres tea rooms, staff carefully monitors the amount of tea used, the temperature of the water, and the exact steeping time, tea by tea. That way, customers are certain to enjoy the finest tasting experience, since each tea requires special know-how. Before the tea is served the leaves are always removed, so that the delicate flavor remains constant from the first cup to the last. Such innovative practices are radically different from the way tea is prepared outside of France.


[edit] 4. Tea and gastronomy
Mariage Freres opened its first tea room in 1986. The goal was to demonstrate that tea, like wine, could be a perfect accompaniment to a meal. Each dish calls for a certain type of tea, which means that Mariage Freres waiters are trained like wine stewards, learning how to decide which tea will enhance a given dish or dessert. In short, they learn the French art of tea.

But tea is not found solely in teapots. It can be imaginatively employed in cuisine as an ingredient, spice, or flavoring. All the dishes and desserts on the Mariage Freres menu are elaborated around tea. Refined culinary eclecticism is the rule: for example, French pastry marries well with green Japan tea (say, a chocolate-coated finan

Valentines Day red rose. Strobist info. AB 800 w/Med softbox camera left. AB400 as kicker light on the right. PP with Aperture 2.0

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