INTERVIEW
vàn, founder of nuage sauvage and trà art
MAISON 123
Autumn 2024
vàn
Discover Vietnamese forest teas in his Paris workshop.
Can you introduce yourself and Nuage Sauvage?
My name is Van, which means Wild Cloud in Vietnamese.
Nuage Sauvage is my first name, but it’s also my brand of wild tea. wild tea that grows at altitude and whose every leaf can touch the clouds.
In 2017, I left my job in industrial production. I wanted to do something else and I travelled a lot to Vietnam to reconnect with my roots. my origins. There I discovered a tea forest and it was the first time in my life that I had seen tea in the forest, in the wild, with huge trees five metres tall. ten metres high.It’s also the first time I’ve tasted authentic forest tea, and it was a real coup de coeur.
That year, I met some small producers and decided to launch the project with a local cooperative.
"NUAGE SAUVAGE IS MY BRAND OF WILD TEA GROWN AT ALTITUDE".
Vân
Have you always had a passion for tea?
Not at all, I used to drink tea as a beverage but it didn’t inspire me, I didn’t feel any vibrations.
Since then, I’ve discovered that tea has a history, a life, a freedom in the forest and it’s so grandiose, it’s so meaningful. It’s also a different kind of tea to the one I used to drink. This wild tea is so sweet, and you can really feel the wild, woody side. It speaks of the place where it was born, and tells us many stories.
What does tea represent in Vietnam?
Wherever you go, you’ll always find tea on offer.In the street It’s quite hidden, but there are stalls almost everywhere, especially for people who work outside all day. It’s a refreshing drink, often served very bitter to wake you up. That’s why we have such a bad reputation, but it’s part of the culture. popular for fighting heat and fatigue. In Vietnam, tea is about sharing, tasting to share. There are no codes but a philosophy of tea, each person prepares tea in his or her own way and invites others to taste their version.
It used to be that even the king had to prepare his tea and share it with others. It’s the same with the way we eat: it’s all about sharing. It’s all about sharing. We all take from each other’s dishes, it’s not just one dish for each of us. I think this culture has a lot of influence on the culture of tea: we have a way of drinking tea that’s very convivial and very free.
Where does your tea come from?
The majority dof my wild tea comes from the forêforestHa-Giang forest, a region near the north of China. Mais I also select tea from other workshopss for their specialties and specificities.
Tell us about your stay in Vietnam
I try to spend as much time as possible on site, at least two months a year and more often in the spring as that is when the premium harvests take place:the juicier and tastier.
On every trip, I try to reach out to the younger generation. Thanks to my cooperative and my producer, I go to schools to teach children about the art and history of tea, so that they can be proud of their culture, and these are always great moments.
"There's no school, it's passed down from generation to generation."
Vân
What's the picking process like?
In industrial tea-growing, gardens and plantations are fenced off and machines are used. In forest and mountain tea-growing, pluckers from different villages travel as far as possible to sell their fresh leaves to the workshops they prefer or which pay the most.
For my part, I go when the leaves are fresh and select batches from the workshops I work with, just a few producers. I made this choice in order to have very specific batches in a top-of-the-range organic selection.
Working in tea is a very difficult job. You work a lot and sleep very little, because you’re always preparing, wilting and drying, and if you’re not careful, the batch can be thrown away. If you miss, you have nothing until the following spring, so it’s a big responsibility. There are no machines in the artisanal sector, everything is done by hand, by nose and by experience.
Every day is different, depending on the weather. If it’s too hot, if it’s raining too hard, we can stop everything. That’s how we listen to nature and wait.
There’s no school for learning, it’s passed down from generation to generation.
Vân picks tea
Vân picks tea
How many variations of tea do you have?
We have a dozen teas and tea colors. White, green, black, yellow, oolong, pure, fermented and exceptional batches. We also have blends that I make with Vietnamese spices and flowers to differentiate our tea and show its authenticity.
Each year, the name is the same, but the tea is renewed, evolving according to the harvest.
What are your plans for the future?
My ambition is to promote Vietnamese culture in general. I want to tell the story of how we see life, how we celebrate it.
I also have a dream of bringing back a photo exhibition here in my store, which is also a gallery of drawings by Vietnamese talent.I did in Vietnam in 2018. Also to promote the cultivation of forest tea with a sensory exhibition.