day zero at ISBA 22

Very smooth trip to Montréal, esp. when considering the global trend of travel disruptions. Nothing lost (except for a tea thermos filter), nothing broken or stolen from my bag, no delay, no queue at De Gaulle for once. I even got a front & window seat in the plane, with a quiet neighbour who slept most of the time (and kept her mask, thanks!), no disruption from other screens, and a six hour run for processing as many Biometrika submissions, with an almost instantaneous reply from one AE (or AE⁺⁺⁺!), solving a riddle from the Riddler, and booking a few things in Montréal like the local Vélib (biXi!!!) and a slot at the only pool that opens at 6:30 (thanks Amy and David!). Funny that the flight attendants came and checked everything was fine because I declined food and beverage for the entire flight (my habit nowadays).

And, despite a very hot day in Montréal, equally smooth access to my Airbnb, incl. the episode with a good Samaritan calling after a passenger in the [747] airport bus leaving without his bag! Enjoying kimchi dimsums at Harbin Dumplings while waiting (with no xiaolongbao on the menu!). And sampling later my first Montréal bagel of the trip (which was only OK!), while being surprised at the high cost of food in the dépanneur where I bought them.

enjoy a cuppa for International Tea Day

It's an art.
It's culture.
It's heritage.
And it's a source of livelihood for millions.

🍵Tea isn't just a drink, it's so much more.

On this first #InternationalTeaDay, we celebrate the history of tea and the farmers that produce it!

👉https://t.co/Zb6CrSURPq pic.twitter.com/kckGVhQXzg

— FAO (@FAO) May 21, 2020

 

tea tasting at Van Cha

This recent trip to Vancouver gave me the opportunity of enjoying a Chinese tea tasting experience. On my last visit to the city, I had noticed a small tea shop very near the convention centre but could not find the time to stop there. This round I took advantage of the AABI lunch break to get back to the shop, which was open (on a Sunday), and sat for a ripe Pu-Ehr tasting. A fatal if minor mistake in ordering, namely that this was Pu-Ehr withing a dried yuzu shell, which gave the tea a mixed taste of fruit and tea, as least for the first brews. And remaining very far from the very earthy tastes I was expecting. (But it reminded me of a tangerine based Pu-Ehr Yulia gave me last time we went to Banff. And I missed an ice climbing opportunity!)
This was nonetheless a very pleasant tasting experience, with the tea hostess brewing one tiny tea pot after another, including a first one to wet and clean the tea, with very short infusion times, and tea rounds keeping their strong flavour even after several passes. In a very quiet atmosphere altogether, with a well-used piece of wood (as shown on top) in lieu of a sink to get rid of the water used to warm and clean pots and mugs (and a clay frog which role remained mysterious throughout!).
At some point in the degustation, another customer came in, obviously from a quite different league as he was carrying his own tea pancake, from which the hostess extracted a few grams and processed most carefully. This must have been an exceptional tea as she was rewarded by a small cup of the first brew, which she seemed to appreciate a lot (albeit in Chinese so I could not say).
As I was about to leave, having spent more time than expected and drank five brews of my tea, plus extra cups of a delicate Oolong, hence missing a talk by Matt Hoffman to which I was looking forward!, I discussed for a little while with this connoisseur, who told me of the importance of using porous clay pots and not mix them for different teas. Incidentally he was also quite dismissive of Japanese teas, (iron) teapots, and tea ceremony, which I found in petto a rather amusing attitude (if expected from some aficionados).

Nature tea[dbits]

A very special issue of Nature (7 February 2019, vol. 556, no. 7742). With an outlook section on tea, plus a few research papers (and ads) on my principal beverage. News about the REF, Elsevier’s and Huawei’s woes with the University of California, the dangerous weakening of Title IX by the Trump administration, and a long report on the statistical analysis of Hurricane Maria deaths, involving mostly epidemiologists, but also Patrick Ball who took part in our Bayes for Good workshop at CIRM. Plus China’s food crisis and ways to reduce cropland losses and food waste. Concerning the tea part(y), a philogenetic study of different samples led to the theory that tea was domesticated thrice, twice in Yunnan (China) and once in Assam (India), with a divergence estimated at more than twenty thousand years ago. Another article on Pu-Ehr, with the potential impacts of climate change on this very unique tea. With a further remark that higher altitudes increase the anti-oxydant level of tea… And a fascinating description of agro-forestry where tea and vegetables are grown in a forest that regulates sun exposure, moisture evaporation, and soil nutrients.

Darjeeling shortage

When looking for Darjeeling tea in the recent days, I found out that the summer (or second flush) harvest has been very limited due to a 104 day strike in the region linked with the call for the creation of a Gorkhaland state and the separation from West Bengal. I remember discussing the issue last year in Darjeeling, with guides and taxi drivers, who were calling for the recognition of their cultural specificities, including the use of Nepali in local schools rather than Bengali. What amazes me a lot in this strike is the engagement of the tea garden workers, who have certainly few alternatives if any in terms of income sources. Unless I misread the situation and they were barred from attending the gardens… (Of lesser concern is the rise of the tea prices by a factor of ten for the highest quality leaves.) Hopefully, the tea gardens will recover from being left to grow wild for such a long while. And from workers leaving the region to find work elsewhere.