‘Tea needs time to be understood’
Michelle and Rob Comins first encountered the true wonders of tea in the shadow of the Himalayas – and discovered a passion that infuses every part of their successful business, finds BEE Bailey
EVERY morning Michelle Comins has the same routine. She pads downstairs to the tea house that occupies part of her home, heats the water to exactly 95 degrees, and adds loose leaf Darjeeling to a pot.
Then she sits, in the same place every day, at the long table at the back of the shop. When three minutes have passed and the tea is infused to perfection, she pours it into a small white bowl with a drawing of a cat and a cup of tea on the side. Cupping her hands around it, she feels the heat of the liquid warming her fingers through the china, and breathes in the smell.
“That,” she tells her customers when she is making Darjeeling for them, “is the smell of the Himalayas.”
Michelle, 41, and her husband Rob, 43, who own Comins Tea houses in Bath and Sturminster Newton, Dorset, discovered Darjeeling in the place where it is grown, on the slopes of the famous mountains in India. And every morning when she has a cup of it, the memory of the Himalayas fills her soul.
It was 2007 when Michelle and Rob came across a road that had been closed while travelling through India. Taking a different path, they found themselves outside the gates to the Makaibari estate. Curious to see inside, they knocked and were invited in by the owner, Rajah Banerjee. He showed them around his
tea gardens, took them into the office and infused some leaves for them to taste. Then he told them about all the different factors that determine a good tea’s taste – how the bush is planted, which way the mountain faces, the soil, the cycle of the moon, the conditions on the day it is plucked, and the people who grow, pick and wither it.
“When you start to understand all of this, then you understand the wonder of tea,” Michelle says.
Rob, who was a teacher, and Michelle, who was in corporate pharmaceuticals, embraced the experience and let it change their lives, starting on a journey that led to them opening the first Comins Tea in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, eight years ago, and another in Bath six years ago.
The couple have taken the responsibility of sharing what they found seriously, travelling to meet growers in different parts of the world, learning about the different teas and everything that contributes to their flavours, the different characteristics between the first flush when the tea bushes have been dormant over the winter and the second flush, how long to infuse each variety for and at what temperature, the perfect vessel to drink out of.
With every step they deepened their knowledge and understanding, committing to passing on what they’ve learned wherever they can, talking to customers in their tea houses, writing a book about the subject, teaching people about teas at tasting sessions in-house and online.
“When you visit a place like this and you taste the quality of the tea, you realise tea is incredibly diverse, the flavours are incredibly nuanced,” Michelle says.
“Tea requires time and space to be understood – and that’s what was in Mr Banerjee’s office. He made these
beautiful teas in this wonderful space, he shared a lot, not just of the tea but the thinking around what it takes to produce a cup of tea and what that tea will then give you if you dedicate the time to sit and enjoy it.
“It wasn’t just a cup of tea, it was a whole life philosophy.”
Michelle’s first and longlasting love is for Darjeeling. But throughout the day she’ll have several different teas, dependent on a dozen different factors; the weather, the change in the seasons, how she feels, a deepflavoured oolong, a sijichun or a hong shui, perhaps a Japanese green tea to nourish the body as summer turns to autumn, and autumn turns to winter.
The ritual of drinking tea has grounded her through both daily life and difficult times. And she believes it’s something we should all make time for, taking in the aroma of the leaves as they move around the pot, finding a tea bowl or cup that brings pleasure to drink out of, simply sitting enjoying our tea, alone or with friends, instead of speeding through every moment of life.
“For a long time we have been sold this idea that success is fast. We are not taught to stop,” Michelle says. “If you go to London everyone’s got a keep cup in their hand, ‘I’m caffeinated, I’m on the go!’
“Tea isn’t that. It’s slow and it’s thoughtful. Our interpretation of coffee is fast – we’re encouraged to say, ‘I’ve only got five minutes’ because we think that makes us successful. I don’t know if anyone knows what we are rushing for.
“A cup of tea represents a commitment of time. Feel the heat of the bowl, it’s an important part of the experience. The aroma, the look, the feel, all that contributes to people relaxing and taking time – that’s something that’s very unique to drinking tea.
“Whoever has told you that you don’t have the time is not telling the truth,” she says. “We all waste time.”
For anyone wanting to explore the subject, Comins is a perfect place to do so. There are teas from Kyushu Island in Japan, Uva Province in Sri Lanka, Ilam in East Nepal, Zhejiang Province in Eastern China; bold teas, floral teas, nutty teas; golden tip Assam, Nepalese black pearl, matcha green tea, first and second flush Darjeeling, premium tippy, and Himalayan hand-rolled tea.
Online, each one has tasting notes, information about the ideal infusion time, details about the grower and the garden, when the tea was harvested and how it was processed.
It could seem overwhelming for anyone who is used to just grabbing the same big-brand teabags off the shelf that they’ve
always bought, but Michelle and Rob’s enthusiasm is infectious and they are happy to help you choose.
“It depends how you look at it,” Michelle says. “You could either go, ‘Wow, this is so complex and it’s overwhelming’, or you go, ‘This is so amazing’.
“In all the world where we are fed so much information all the time and everyone professes to be an expert in everything, here is a plant that you could study for your entire life and you’d never fully understand. I think that is the magic of tea.”
And there is no need to complicate things or spend a lot of money buying a dozen teas and several of the tactile tea bowls they sell, Michelle says. Start with something like a good first flush Darjeeling and take it from there.
In the Comins household and tea shop, every brew is infused with respect for all the work and history and knowledge that has gone into growing and preparing the tea before it reaches our shores.
“There’s a belief if you make the tea with a distracted mind the tea will not taste good,” Michelle says. “It’s a big responsibility on us to make the tea properly, so people taste its true potential.
“When you come into the tea house we prepare all the tea in the way that we’ve had it prepared for us around the world.”
Michelle and Rob are not disparaging about anyone’s choice to dunk an ordinary teabag into the first mug that comes to hand in the morning, but they will hold open the door to anyone who wants to deepen their experience and welcome them in.
“If you are drinking tea every morning then you are just at an entry point – come further,” Michelle says.
“What we do is from the same plant but it is a world that is just waiting for people to discover it.
“All of that love and magic from the planet, the people, the soil, has gone into the tea. Just imagine if you take five minutes out of your day to prepare that tea in the right way, imagine you are putting your tea in this beautiful vessel, your leaf is not enclosed in a teabag so you start to feel a connection to the tea as a plant. When you pour the water in the leaves will start to move around. You will smell the tea.
“Imagine what that tea and the time that you sit down to drink it could bring to your life.
“Tea is more than just a drink. It’s a commitment of time to yourself or those you invite to join you.
“Drinking tea grounds me. It reminds me that we’re all really just the same, we’re all just people. It reminds me that life is really quite simple if you can allow it to be.”
Find Comins Tea houses on Bridge Street, in Sturminster Newton, open on Saturdays, and Monmouth Street, in Bath, open from Tuesday to Saturday. Call 01258 475389 for details.
The book – Tales of the Tea Trade by Michelle and Rob Comins – is available at both tea houses, through the Comins Tea website, and can be ordered from independent bookshops.
Visit cominstea.com online, or @cominstea on Instagram, for sessions exploring tea and all its wonder.