TEA WITH clémence polès, founder of passerby

Hello hello!

Yesterday, I went to the bodega and got four types of candy (including jelly beans for the first time in years - don't really recommend, though I am literally finishing the bag as I type this) then went to see Barbie with my sister at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Loved the tea scenes! Of course Barbie is a tea drinker.

For this week's TEA WITH, we hear from Clémence Polès. Clémence lives between New York and her hometown of Paris and interviews women for her magazine, Passerby, gathering intimate personal stories and book recommendations in the same breath.

She interviewed me for Passerby a few years ago - HERE is a link to that interview! And I wrote an article about Iranian New Year hosted by Clemence this past year :) HERE is that story!

For TEA WITH, she shares tea memories starting with her grandmother in Tehran to her matcha habit today.

TEA WITH Clémence Polès

When do you typically drink tea?

I usually drink tea when winding down in the evenings, although that's changed as I've tried re-integrating matcha into my morning routines to scale back on my coffee intake.

What ceramicists do you love and/or what tea cups do you gravitate towards?

I discovered Shino Takeda's work a few years ago when I interviewed her for passerby magazine, and have been using her ceramics for all my liquids since.

Does tea have a place in your work? Not really, I drink tea mostly to wind down or to take a break from work.

How do you make tea? I place some loose tea leaves into my Kinto glass teapot, then slowly pour hot water from the kettle, I'll let it steep and watch the leaves float around the glass and change the water's color over time. A subtle, aesthetically pleasing meditation. At a certain color, I'll deem it ready to be served.

Currently reading or listening to anything during tea time?

I like reading art books whilst having tea. The last book I read was Hannah Darabi's Soleil of Persian Square. In it, the artist explores the visual identity of the Iranian diaspora in Los Angeles, through objects from popular culture, such as cassette covers, song lyrics, and screenshots of music videos from the 1980s and 1990s. My mother would always refer to Los Angeles as "Tehrangeles", and I was always fascinated by the mass immigration of Iranians there post-revolution. It's interesting to see documentation of the pop culture that formed as a resistance to the current Iranian regime. This quote by Hamid Naficy in the book really hit "Fetishization, nostalgic longing, construction of an imaginary nation at a distance, ambivalence, hybridity, duality, incoherence, and mimicry are both signs of the tensions of exile and strategies of resistance and syncretic acculturation."

Last thoughts on tea memories/ sensory experiences?

I have such vivid memories of drinking my grandmother's cha-ee (tea) from her Samovar in Tehran. Every tea serving would have its own little ritual, for example in the mornings forsobhaneh (breakfast), my grandmother would serve it with noon o paneer o sabzi (lavash bread, feta, and herbs)on a beautiful silver platter. Sometimes she would sweeten my tea with nabaat, a crystal-like stick made out of sugarcane, but not always. Mornings were the quietest of the day, a moment of respite from the social hours ahead. There would always be various family members and friends dropping by with shirini (sweets) in hand, late in the afternoons. This is when my grandmother would bring out a more complete tea set. There would be a teapot, a milk jug, a sugar bowl, and beautiful small glass cups without handles, all hand painted with a portrait of Shah Abbas and gold intricate designs. Thesofreh (table setting) would be overflown with sweets, fruits, and nuts. This was my favorite time of the day, as my favorite cream pastry noon khameiwould be served.

I often reflect on the artistry of setting a table, and how my grandmother's sofreh would keep its guests entertained for hours on end. How conversations would be about everything and nothing at the same time. How having tea was merely a vehicle to be connected with others. I haven't been back to Iran in 15 years, and I haven't really felt that sense of community and care since. Sometimes, I'll drink a cup of Sadaf tea in nostalgia for that time, and if I'm really homesick, I'll pick something sweet from Nasrin's Kitchen or Popilee.

Clemence's favorite Masha Teas : EARTH + MINT
She wants to try next - WILD ROSE + HERB CHAI

Finally, I realized that I didn't actually update the Journal du Thé link to make any more copies available when I sent out my last newsletter - WOOPS! So, if you would like one, you can still pre-order here ! I fixed the site :)) Will let you know when they're in!

"Journal du Thé Chapter 4 features, among others, the cross-cultural pottery of Ladi Kwali, Hackney Herbal in London, the story of an eighty years old Ikebana master and teacher, Masala Cha, as a cup of heartwarming heritage, the journey of Sooji Im and her leafy Korean tea Oasis, Charlotte Perriand's tea house, a tea diary in Thailand, a short history of tea with rice in Japan, the secrets of a tea scroll, a conversation between Makio McDonald and Peter McDonald, the playful tea vessels of Angus Suttie and, of course, another instalment of Izumi Shiokawa's manga."

Masha