Luxury, tea and the Erler collection

 

Cognac from Hennessy and Dong Ding Oolong

Bernard Arnaud, the founder of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is currently the richest man in the world (with a wealth of about 220 billion of USD). He built his business empire by selling (mostly French) luxury goods to rich people all around the world. But why are so many people in pursuit of luxury?

Some answers can be found in the Proust's novel 'In the search of lost time' (also translated as 'Remembrance of things past'). This is the story of a rich French guy who mingles with the rich and famous people of his time. The book deals mostly about his love life and observations about the people he is acquainted with. It offers a glimpse at the luxury French life at a time when France was at the pinnacle of its power, just before WWI.

I've been reading this 7 parts story for almost a year and have taken notes of each occurrence of the word tea, in order to better understand the role of tea in French high society. (Make a search of 'Proust' on my blog to find all my research, if you are interested and can read French). So far, since I have just started the last book, I have seen the word 'tea' mentioned 83 times in the story! It's much more than any other beverage or other luxury product. And one of the rare time when wine was mentioned, it was Champagne! We have to remember that French working men were drinking a lot of wine one hundred years ago. In 1918, in the trenches, a French soldier would receive 1 liter of wine per day! And wine only got banned from public junior high schools in 1956! So, with the exception of expensive champagne and some famous estates in Bordeaux and Burgundy, wine had a very low image in those days. Tea, on the other hand, was the beverage of the elite. Let's see why.

Luxury requires rarity, quality and imitation. Tea was rare, because it came from China and required a long time to arrive. In China itself, tea was already a luxury that only the Qing court, high officials and rich business people could afford. Chinese farmers strove to make the best tea, because their rich customers were much more concerned by quality than by price. And finally, as René Girard would explain, once China was trendy at the end of the 19th century, the European elites wanted to imitate the Chinese and adopted tea as their favorite beverage. (By the way, the reverse imitation has been happening in China starting 2006, when rich Chinese started to imitate Western elites by drinking the best Grands Crus Classés from Bordeaux!)

In Proust's novel, we can also see imitation at work when various ladies host similar afternoon tea parties and try their best to attract the most famous and the most distinguished guests. Tea is a mean to an end, prestige. Tea communicates several messages. It tells that:

1. The person who hosts a tea party is rich, because it can afford the foreign leaves and the fine porcelain service. 

2. If you are invited to the trendy tea parties, then you are a very influential and important member of the high society.

3. Shunning some tea parties is sometimes seen as the ultimate sign of one's importance!

Typically, a lady would throw her own tea party once a week (always on the same day) and, if invited, would go to other tea parties the other days of the week and try to get acquainted to other famous people or rising members of society in order to invite them to her own tea party.

Except in the first book and the famous episode of the madeleine that, paired with tea, reminds him of his youth in Cambrai, tea is mostly a social occasion for the rich bourgeoisie and the old aristocratic families to meet and talk. The talk may lead to seduction and marriage, in the case of Odette and Swann. And by learning the codes of tea hosting, a rich family may eventually get accepted by the aristocratic society. So, tea was a way for the elite to include those who master it and exclude those who don't!

In the third book, The Guermantes Way, the narrator explains the power of a name. Its mere sound can signify so many things to us. It can make a glorious past come to life and inspire the highest feeling for it. For him, the name Guermantes was so powerful that he fell in love with the Duchess of Guermantes before he was introduced to her, simply because of the mystery and beauty of her name he had heard always pronounced with respect since a child. Something similar happens to us with famous brands thanks to their relentless advertising. Everybody has heard about Dior, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton... The simple mention of these names or their logos creates a feeling of something special, elegant and expensive.

This reflection on luxury and tea led me to consider what are the true masterpieces that one can own or collect. In Proust's book, we can see that paintings by the famous Elstir (an invented painter for the book) bring a lot of prestige to those who own a painting from Elstir. It shows flair and good taste to have purchased one early, when it wasn't so expensive. 

And it shows consideration and proximity if you are gifting a real masterpiece tea to someone who knows about tea. Luxury sends messages. It makes a statement. It says we are striving for perfection and we can understand each other, because we share the same basic tenets about what we consider to be the very best. 

So, I have set up The Erler Collection in my online boutique. Song Pin Hao, 70 years puerh, litlle Lu Yin, Gushu, Aged Dong Ding, WuYi Yan Lu, the ultimate Oriental Beauty, the highest Da Yu Ling Oolong, Lapsang Souchong! It has taken me 20 years of work and study to complete this collection and that's why I have given it my name. You don't have to drink any of those teas to enjoy the luxury of spending time with high quality leaves. However, if you look for a tea that makes a powerful statement and/or wish to connect with people who have impeccable taste in tea or food, then my collection will be most helpful.