Before you begin reading this entry, you might want to get comfy...it's long. Why don't you brew yourself a cup of tea and snuggle up under your duvet? I'll wait, go ahead.
Now imagine that you are in the countryside -- Millerton, NY to be exact. It's a far cry from city life, or even suburbia. In the town of Millerton sits the Harney and Sons tea shop, a family owned and run business of 25 years. A stone's throw away from the shop is a local diner, owned by one of the Harney sons. A stone's throw way from that is the real estate business owned by Mr. Harney's wife. There are cute shops dotted around town -- a knitting shop, a flower shop, and even a Chinese/Japanese restaurant. You get a sense that everyone knows everyone in Millerton. It's quaint and friendly; the sort of place that freaks a New Yorker out when they can't get any phone reception or walk down the block to the corner shop for a quick chocolate bar. Have I painted the picture enough? We are almost 3 hours out of New York City where the morning air is startlingly fresh to a young lady used to city-living. And this is where I, a young lady of the sort, spent 4 lovely days in training for my new tea consultant position at the soon-to-open Harney and Sons SoHo shop.
Day 1.
I arrived in Millerton with another young lady and two young gents, all of whom were in training with me. We were accompanied by the manager of the Soho shop, Emeric Harney, a 3rd generation tea shop Harney. Emeric first took us to the factory, which is HUGE. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the depth of the operations left me a bit in awe. We got to see all types of machinery and bucket-loads of loose teas and got to meet the man who started it all -- Papa John, as his family affectionately calls him. I like to call him Grandfather Harney. There is a very specific Harney sense of humor, and we got the first whiff of it when Grandfather Harney met me and the other female consultant and joked, "well, these ladies are prettier than the last ones!" (This is completely untrue, by the way -- the last team that trained are very attractive.) His down-to-Earth manner was charming. Here's a man who, with his sons, and now grandsons, has built a kind of tea empire and legacy (one of the gentleman consultants was telling us of a moment when he saw Grandfather Harney at the Fancy Food Show and was so starstruck, he couldn't approach him) and yet he is a man who welcomed us with the biggest of smiles and the firmest of handshakes. The Harney machine is obviously a very well-oiled one, but there is a real sense of family warmth, which became even more apparent when we spent time with Grandfather Harney's son, Mike, and Mike's French wife, Brigitte -- Emeric's lovely parents. More on them later.
After a tour of the factory, we were treated to lunch and a pot of tea. I chose PanAsia to sip on -- "a delightful blend of Japanese Bancha and big Chrysanthemum flowers from China that creates a light, clean tasting delight." It WAS delightful, as was my chicken and avocado sandwich. I have a habit of not eating the bread when I have sandwiches or burgers, and this occasion was no different. Of course, everyone made fun of me when they saw me scrape the filling off the bread and they asked what I was doing and I replied, "I have to watch my carb-intake!" I did not live that down for the entire trip.
With happily full tummies, we dived into our first tea tasting with Emeric where we tasted a range of Green teas, Oolong teas, Jasmine teas, and Darjeeling teas. I won't bore you with the fascinating facts that we learned, but I will talk you through a tasting so you know what to expect when you visit us in Soho! From the tin, the consultant pours some loose leaves onto the lid for the customer to smell the dry leaves. The consultant then puts a teaspoon of leaves into a steeping cup, pours water of a specified temperature into the cup, covers it, and lets the leaves steep for a specified amount of minutes (the temperature and steeping time differs with each tea). Once the tea has steeped, the liquor is poured into another cup to drink, and the customer can smell the wet leaves before drinking the liquor. There is a way of slurping the tea properly to get a proper taste of it, but I am still perfecting that skill!
For dinner that evening, we ate with Emeric and his parents in their home, which is just beautiful and so tastefully decorated (the French are so classy!). We were made to feel so welcomed by Mike and Brigitte. Mike has his father's sense of humor, and when I told the group that I am half Chinese and half Jewish, he remarked, "Oh, so you're a Superhero?" I retorted, "Well, my one of my nicknames IS Superfierce!" He and Brigitte were keen to learn about all of us and we were made to feel completely at home. Though she's lived in the States for decades, Brigitte is still very European with that certain poise that only French women have. We capped off dinner with some Harney Earl Grey and Green Tea ice cream, and the other female consultant and I went up to our rooms while Emeric took the gents to their hotel. Thus ended a super first day at Camp Harney.
Day 2.
I began my day going for a run at 7am. The day before had been a big food day, and as Emeric told me that he'd gained 5LBS the previous week with the first group of trainees, I was determined not to follow suit. It was pretty cool to be running along the countryside before the rest of the world had awoken.
We started the second day of training with a tea tasting of various Ceylon teas, Assam teas, and Chinese black teas. By the way, if you're a coffee drinker, come into the SoHo shop and ask to taste our CTC Assam tea. It may not convert you, but you may enjoy it immensely. You've already read about the tea tasting you'll have if you come into the shop. After this 2nd batch of tastings, Emeric performed a Chinese Gongfu Cha tasting -- literally meaning "tea brewing with skill." I won't go into what that entails here as that is a whole other blog, but if you're interested, you can read Wikipedia's version of Gongfu Cha here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_tea_ceremony
The afternoon was spent unpacking stock and then being treated to lunch at the local diner, where I had venison chili for the first time -- Yum! We then returned to the factory and packed tea into tins -- if you pick up a tin of Harney's Paris tea with the code 10301 on the bottom, know that it was packed by yours truly! We left the packing room with the scent of tea seeped into our clothes, which none of us minded, of course. It's a great way to smell.
Mike was out of town, so we had another fun dinner at home with Brigitte and then the second day of tea training came to an end.
Day 3.
I took a break from tea boot camp to return to the city for an audition, which I'm happy to say that I got! I'm adding another string to my ethnic bow by dancing in a Native-American piece and I will be assisting the choreographer; A first for me! I went back up to the Harney household after my audition to find some veggies and a huge piece of steak waiting for me. What generosity the Harney family has. Of course, I hadn't expected to be fed and had eaten on the train ride home, but who turns down homegrown veggies and a delicious looking bit of steak? I just had a little of each, which made a delightful snack before bed. We spent some time sitting by the fireplace and chatting, and I brought down a bag of candy corn for us to share, which Mike, after adamantly saying he wasn't a fan of the chocolate ended ones, proceeded to consume them continuously, much to our merriment. All Hallows' Eve was just around the corner and we were in the country, tucked up next to the fire with candy corn. Am I recreating a cozy enough picture?
How's your tea doing? Duvet comfy? Enjoying this little trip out of the city? I certainly am.
Day 4.
We were finally thrown into the deep end on our last day of tea boot camp. After Mike gave a recapping lecture on tea, we worked the tasting bar where we interacted with customers for the first time. I was nervous and tentative at first, but as the day went on and I got to grips with conducting tastings and answering various questions, my confidence grew and I was enjoying myself so much, that I turned to Emeric and said "I LOVE my job." The best part about consultations is when you make a recommendation to someone and, after a tasting, they enjoy the recommended tea to such an extent that they purchase a tin of it. One such incident occurred when a very friendly, slightly hippie-ish couple came in. He asked for something that had a smoky taste (given their manner and appearance, I had to stop myself from giggling at the implications of his request) and I immediately recommended Lapsang Souchong -- "an ancient and much loved black tea from China. Large leaves are dried over smoky pine fires. As you might imagine, the tea develops a distinctive smoky flavour." Well, he adored it and bought a tin. It was a joy to watch him smell the dry leaves, then smell the wet leaves, then taste the tea and smile a completely satisfied smile. He knew what he was looking for, and upon tasting Lapsang Souchong, found it. Glad I could help!
Another consultation I particularly enjoyed was with a woman and her disabled husband. He was in a wheelchair and could express himself, but not through words, nor did he have full use of his body. For the most part, his wife (an inspiration to me) was able to understand him, but on the odd occasion when he wanted to be very specific, he had an alphabet board to point to specific letters. They both tried our "Tea of the Moment" which was a green tea, and he wanted something much more brisk and dark. I suggested different black teas, and when I eventually mentioned trying a Darjeeling 2nd flush, his face completely lit up. I knew I had struck gold! (Darjeeling has 3 flushes, and the body, briskness, aroma of the leaves change with each flush.) I brewed him a cup of Risheehat Second Flush -- "a great second flush Darjeeling. Full of body yet balanced with nice fruit notes. Please note it is from 'China' tea bushes, meaning the plant stock is descended from Chinese bushes taken to India over 100 years ago." His face when he took that first sip was priceless. His smile was so big, I hardly had to ask if he wanted to purchase some. His wife purchased tea for herself as well, and I hope they left feeling as contented as I did. What a lovely thing tea can do, huh?
The day ended with dinner at a beautiful French restaurant where Mike treated us to a scrumptious meal. A scrumptious end to a scrumptious journey.
Day 5.
Before heading home, we were treated to breakfast at the diner by Grandfather Harney where we got to meet Grandmother Harney, Mike's brother Paul, Paul's wife Mimi, and their little son Finn. One big happy Harney family, of which I felt and feel very grateful to be a part of. The gentleman consultant who had been starstruck by Grandfather Harney at the Fancy Food Show finally got to tell him what an honour it was to be in both his personal and business company. I got to eat a full Irish Breakfast and the baked beans reminded me of London. When I got back home, I was able to skype my family in London whom I had missed alot throughout my trip and tell them all about it.
Someone asked Emeric at the end of training if everything was copacetic. I did not know what that meant and looked it up : 'copacetic,' meaning something is in excellent order. How appropriate. Kind of like those smiles I witnessed when those men had tasted a tea that was just right for them. A tea smile is a copacetic smile. I like it! Harney and Sons SoHo opens mid-November. Come along for a tasting and let's see if we can find a tea that induces you into a copacetic smile.
"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." -- Catherine Douzel. If that's the case, I'm due to take many an exciting voyage! Thanks for joining me on this one; Let's go for another! You get the kettle, I'll get the pot!
copyright (c) 2010-2011 Celia Mei Rubin
