Flugtee & Primeur, and a visit to the Phoenix salon de thé!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

Today, ashamed me, I will talk about Flugtee and Primeur and how I might have inserted some mistakes in my review about the Darjeeling Namring ff SFTGFOP1 which, in reality should be Darjeeling Namring Flugtee ff SFTGFOP1.

Here is what and why:
I visited the Ronnefeldt tea shop at My Zeil in Frankfurt... Very nice place, apparently very high quality tea products, although when they failed to produce a seal of authenticity for their Lung Ching tea (spelled in so many ways such as Longjing) - meaning Dragon Well - I grew a bit disheartened and suspicious, but I still like the place and still believe they have quality... mostly. It's often hard to tell since teas are being faked quite often, although it may not be the most reliable source I have an example I got from Wikipedia I believe this example is true: "[...] the amount of tea sold as Darjeeling worldwide every year exceeds 40,000 tonnes, while the annual tea production of Darjeeling itself is estimated at only 10,000 tonnes, including local consumption."

So pardon me for being skeptical when a shop's clerk doesn't  know about the grade of the tea they selling or don't have a seal of proof somewhere...

Where was I? Primeur & Flugtee.

Now Flugtee in German simply means that the tea was flown by plane. Fair enough, but what does that mean exactly? Does it make it more special than brought by ship? Well, in a way, yes. Teas flown by plane are brought faster than by ship. But aside from that? What I was told was that Flugtee tea is harvested a little earlier than the 1st flush. All estates have different times they want to harvest their 1st flush. I boughta certain tea from Ronnefeldt,  but I was a bit confused about it and I read the label only after leaving the shop so I couldn't ask what the heck?! but yeah, on the label it said:

Darjeeling Flugtee 2013
Indien - First Flush - SFTGFOP 1 - Frühjahr
SCHWARZER TEE

(Frühjahr = Spring, Schwarzer tee = Black tea)

You may have noticed it mentions "First flush", but that's not what the clerk told me. She said it had been harvested BEFORE the first flush (which should be happening around now to the next 2 weeks). I have requested more details about it to 2 tea shops, Ronnefeldt and my old time favourite: Camellia Sinensis (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada). We'll see who answers first and I'll post more information about it.

I tried to find information about Flugtee myself, but my German is not so great and I miserably failed at finding any and I mean ANY information about teas flown by plane as being harvested BEFORE the 1st flush. Now there is something to be said about me and it's this: if I get my mind around to it, I can find practically anything on the web. The trick is having the right key words. Having an extensive vocabulary in English is a plus, and in other language, it's an added bonus. That's mainly why I have sent requests about those Flugtee & Primeur to "professionals"; because I couldn't find anything about it in English. Either it was too complicated to get there or there is just no info available on the subject. Or it the subject itself is the figment of a tea trader. It makes me curious what these professionals have to say about it.
Now. Primeur. What is that exactly? Referring once again to the clerk at Ronnefeldt, it's either a tea harvested a tiny bit before the 1st flush (wait what?) or the very very 1st flush (I vote for that one). She wasn't entirely sure, but she was tipping the old scale towards the very very 1st flush. Once again, I couldn't find anything on it, mainly Soccer (football) - related websites.

In relation with my review of the Darjeeling Namring ff SFTGFOP1, I am waiting to see if I get a reply and need to modify some of what I wrote about it. It's a small detail, but it could mean a whole world of difference to a palate. They made me smell, at Ronnefeldt, a Darjeeling 1st flush, then a Darjeeling Flugtee. I have to admit, right or wrong, it smelled so fresh, it was as if I could have put a dry leave on my tongue it would have dissolved into goodness.

On to another topic: my visit to the Phoneix salon de thé in Frankfurt...
Date: 12th of April 2013
Located next to the Phoenix flower shop (I'm sensing co-ownership here), is a quaint little tea house called Phoenix tea - Salon de thé ("tea house" in French). You enter to find the shop part filled with shelves and a few tables of teapots and cups, some accessories and 2 shelves of fine Japanese teas directly from Japanese (you can tell by the magnificent packaging... and all-Japanese texts.). A few bells, wind-chimes and a Japanese gong-like iron-cast bell that sounds so amazingly sweet I ought to get one of those!

So  this is the front of the place. I definitely like the old wooden look. Gives it charm and makes it inviting. I was not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the shop part, but you can see a little bit through the window. My wanting to take lots of picture seemed to make the owner, a cute Asian woman (I rarely ask if one is Japanese, Chinese or Korean as I may insult them) with very nice manners, uneasy. Of course I asked every time if it was okay. Except for my tea and food which I thought would pose no problem. Maybe I should still have asked... out of politeness. Forgive me!

 

 Here is the wooden tray containing the white tea I ordered: a Pai mu tan. I am not very well versed in white teas and didn't brew it myself (I also didn't ask about the temperature and steeping time.). I will write a review on teas I tried recently that were brewed by someone other than me soon and I will include this one. I also had a Gyokuro, although I forgot the full name. I love Gyokuro, so I didn't bother writing down notes about it. I just enjoyed it. Next to my tea is a potato-coconut cake. It's lightly sweet, soft in the mouth and crunchy on the top as if it had been grilled in the pan. Yum! I'd try it again.

 This one picture here the back of the shop (the "house" part of  "tea house") were people can take it easy and savour a teapot (or many in my case) of tea with maybe something to gnaw on. They have a small menu but I totally agree with its modesty. Small simple meals that are nothing more than snacks or starters. Summer rolls (you know, the ones with rice paper... my favourites!), soup, salad, and cakes. Nothing fancy, simple like tea. As it should be. A full meal only smothers the fine taste of tea. As for tea they have 2 long pages to select from, but half of the selection is herbal tea. Most people will count them as tea. I don't. They aren't made of the same plant(s). Tea is made of Camellia Sinensis. If it has aroma added to it, it's an aromatized tea, like Earl Grey for instance. As you can see in the back (I know it's hard to discern), there are some nice flowers, from the co-shop next door. It's simple beauty, spring-inspired to admire while sipping tea. This is close to stopping to smell the flower, but instead, your are contemplating them and the world around. A simple arrangement of teawares on a shelf (I think they are all for sale) and two very long benches the length of the wall make up for the rest of the decor. The tables are shaped like "C"s and can be moved. The way it works is that 2 people can sit at each side of the table and share a teapot. I don't think there is much space for more than one and you cannot put a book there at the same time as your teapot. Space is limited, but it's nice and cozy. There are enough pillows to start a fight or make yourself comfortable. I couldn't take many pictures and people were nice enough to let me take the whole tea-enjoying part with them in it. I wish I could have taken a picture of that water-cooling bowl. It was pretty... Had I had space in my luggage and lots of money I would have purchased it. I was only €25.
I have to admit I felt important when I told the owner I wanted to take some pictures for my blog. Like someone paid to review restaurants or tea houses in this case.

All in all, it was a nice little place. I would go again, not for the quality of the teas and maybe not the food, but rather for the charm and the atmosphere. Not that the tea was bad, but I had better, but only at 2 places out of all the places I've been (it's hard to find something up to standards once you had the best!). I was there an hour before they had to close, so it was pretty tranquil. I'm wondering if it's like that most of the day.

On this, drink and drive safely (I'd hate to see someone choke on tea)!