KNOW-HOW Recipe creation

Our in-house creations are the result of research into quality ingredients, recipe development and a touch of madness. True alchemists, our creators have the gift of marrying flavors and colors: tea, flowers, spices and plants undergo incessant testing in search of balance. Discover how we seek to evoke emotion through our recipes. Why do we use whole flowers and spices whenever possible, and what's in it for us? Welcome behind the scenes of our creations.

Perfumes, flavors and aromas: why do we opt for natural ingredients to enhance the tasting experience?

Over time, our approach to recipe development has become more refined, but the basic principles remain the same, the most important of which can be summed up as follows: without authentic flavors, there are no emotions..

Of all our senses, the sense of smell is the only one directly linked to our brain's limbic system, which is also the center of our emotions and memory. Although our senses can be fooled to some extent, we believe that breathing in a rose essential oil will never produce the same intensity of emotion as breathing in the scent of a rose in a garden.

That's why we always strive for authenticity of flavor in our in-house creations: organic and fair-trade flowers, herbs or spices are preferred to essential oils, extracts or aromas.

From the outset, our mint teas have been made exclusively from organic tea leaves and mint. The products in our Dhyāna range (meditation teas and herbal teas) are composed of blends of organic or biodynamic plants and spices that evoke the 4 elements: earth, air, water, fire... And while the result may seem more subtle than a tea with a lot of added aromas, their flavours are all the more natural and emotionally conveying.

In the field of scented teas, and in response to growing demand, the majority of jasmine teas are made with added flavorings. Although this is the most common solution, at Jardins de Gaïa we prefer the traditional method, which produces a liqueur with far more subtle aromas. This method simply involves leaving tea leaves in contact with flowers, usually for a day.

Red fruit, citrus, spices... how do you flavour without losing or masking the taste of the tea?

While flowers, aromatic plants and spices can perfectly flavor a tea, pieces of fruit don't have the necessary aromatic strength. For certain recipes, we use only natural and certified organic essential oils, extracts and aromas, to keep as close as possible to the original flavors.

When we design a recipe, we never try to mask the taste of the tea, which must remain the central ingredient and always be able to express its flavors and qualities. We have always defended this choice by flavoring our teas with natural organic flavors, even if they are fewer in number, harder to find and sometimes less powerful than synthetic flavors.

Since 2022, the new regulations governing the production of organic products have raised the bar for flavoring organic products, authorizing only the use of "natural flavors", i.e. those derived directly from the main ingredient. We see this as a step towards the even more responsible and ethical organic approach we've always defended.

At the same time, with the craze for plants and the consumption of natural products with more complex and nuanced flavors, palates are becoming better educated. This trend is in line with our philosophy, and we're delighted to be working on our next creations!

In-house compositions open to the world, tastes inspired by our travels

Since 1994, our travels have enabled us to build up a veritable cartography of flavors and their combinations, which we continue to enrich with each new creation. To create recipes is to put a bit of our own personality into them, and in a way to share our experience of the world through associations of flavors from here and elsewhere.

For example, when we created Bollywood Flush, a fragrant green tea that's both colorful and spicy, it was traditional Indian festivals that came to the fore, with the bright colors of saris, flowers and the flavor of cardamom!

As taste shapers, our aim is always to provoke emotions in the simplest, most direct way possible. And here, the choice of organic and natural products is a matter of course.

Harmony and respect for the rhythms of life, biodiversity, freshness and preserved nature, combined with a healthy dose of curiosity, exchange and creativity, are the secret to producing tea and herbal tea recipes that are free of false notes and always with a singular, authentic signature.

The art of composing original flavored teas, sometimes crazy, but always gourmet!

We were particularly motivated to create Come on baby and Light my fire, with the spirit of The Doors never far away and Jim Morrison's lyrics inspiring us with their blend of poetry and energy. It was an exercise in style, full of flavors, and an opportunity to experience intense creative moments, harmonizing natural and organically grown ingredients and seeking out their resonance, contrast and complementarity.

The idea came from Arlette Rohmer, an unconditional fan of the Californian band, who wanted to make a nod to this period which she experienced as an explosion of energy, color, creativity and freedom. The idea was to revisit the spirit of a mythical song and a blessed era for music and festival lovers, where committed lyrics rubbed shoulders with the femininity of mythical "flower power"!

Organic teas with a 70s flavour that naturally stand out from the crowd..

In spirit, Come on baby, with its base of white tea and sensual notes of jasmine, orange blossom, vanilla and rose petals, is a recipe that deliciously stirs all our senses and evokes the feminine side of the song. A bewitching, poetic, sweet and sensual recipe..

Light my fire, with its deliciously spicy black tea base and hints of lemon and honey, sparks off the masculine side. A recipe for rock, heat and explosion..

These two particularly expressive, glamorous and fiery compositions are also an opportunity to talk to you about how we conceive the creation of our recipes and the essential principles that guide us in our approach.