Tea plantations look like a huge forest made up of small trees that rarely reach above 1.5m in height. When their trunks are thick and gnarled, they show that their age is much greater than their small size would suggest.In their natural state tea plants can reach a height of 15 to 2m. If they are to be cultivated they are kept at a height of about 1.2m by regular pruning, in order to form what is known as the "plucking table", which facilitates hand plucking and encourages bud growth.

It all began in 2737 BC in China. According to legend, whilst the emperor Shen Nung was boiling water to slake his thirst in the shade of a tree, a light breeze rustled the branches and caused a few leaves to fall. They mixed with the water and gave it a delicate colour and perfume. The emperor tasted it and found it to be delicious. The tree was a wild tea plant: tea was born.

Korean tea has become one of the leading teas in the world and boasts a truly distinctive characteristic compared to the tea produced in neighbouring China and Japan. Despite the fact that the country is neither a large-scale producer nor a major consumer, Koreans remain very proud of this aspect of their heritage which was revived after the Second World War.

In 1972 the island of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, but its former name, which dates back to the British Empire, has remained in use within the world of tea. It is not unusual to speak of a "Ceylon" to describe a tea from this country.

Situated less than 16 kilometers from the Chinese coast, across from the Fujian province, the island of Taiwan is the land historically reputable for its Oolong teas (semi-oxidized tea). In the last few years, the country has also offered some rare black teas of quality.

The leaves of green and Oolong-teas teas are usually whole and the grade is not specified. The same applies for a few of the black teas, particularly Chinese, where its name is a synonym of quality. For other black teas the grade is important since it gives two pieces of information: the fineness of the crop, and the size of the leaf (whole, broken, ground).

The cradle of tea and first world producer, China offers the largest variety of tea in the world. Discover its history and some emblematic teas from The Middle Kingdom.

There are great differences from one type of Indian tea to another. On the one hand, this is due to the climate and local conditions which can vary greatly from one region to another: from mountainous regions to plateaus or plains; on the other hand because the plantations are not all made up of the same type of tea plant: camelia assamica in Assam, camelia sinensis in the south of India, both varieties in Darjeeling, hybridising etc.

It was not until the 9th century that the first tea plants were grown, and not until 122 that they were planted in the province of Uji, which is now famed for producing the best green teas in Japan. Later the great Zen priest, Sen-no Rikyu (1522-1591) classified the link between tea, Buddhism and the different schools of tea, creating in this way to the most complete form of Cha No Yu.

Much smaller than its tea-producing neighbours and a relative newcomer to the tea market, Nepal continues to surprise us by producing exceptional teas with an identity all of their own. The Palais des Thés experts visit the plantations on a regular basis to unearth a selection of quite remarkable Grands Crus.

Almost completely unknown to European consumers, South American teas – which cannot rival the fine teas of India or Sri Lanka but boast similar characteristics – are just waiting to be discovered.

The act of tasting is a far more complex mecanism than we might imagine. To taste something we need our five senses, to different degrees. When we taste a tea, several small events take place, each associated with a different sense.

The introduction of tea to Africa goes back to the end of the 19th century. It first originated in South Africa where the English started its cultivation to secure new sources of supply. Then, German settlers experimented with its cultivation on the slopes of Mount Cameroon and in Tanzania.

The taster's glossary lists the vocabulary used by tasters and allows the sensations felt during the drinking of tea to be described.

Outside the well-known producing countries, around ten Asian countries also make tea following two different traditions: the Chinese approach, such as Thailand and Laos, or the British one, as with Indonesia and Bangladesh.