Anne-Louise Morin (TBS 2017) is sommelier for tea in Toulouse

Tannins, texture, aromatic range, terroirs, fermentation... These words are all usually applied to wine presentation and tasting. They do also suit a different context, that of tea and herbal infusions that have the same qualities in terms of taste and can be described using a wide range of technical vocabulary that can even be slightly pompous and savant. Just like wine, the gourmet wording is mouth-watering when it is used for blending tea. The fascinating meeting with Anne-Louise Morin, creator of Tea'Magine, (a Toulouse business offering personalized tea and herbal infusion blends) is a perfect example.

Anne-Louise, who is 26 years old now, has had a love affair with tea since she was a teenager and dreamt of opening a tasting salon. She based her education options on this and chose business studies. However, competition is so strong in Toulouse that she changed tacks and turned her attention to creating blends. There is no school to learn blending but she did several months training with one of the few tea sommeliers in France, in Bordeaux. 

After this learning stage, she opened an online boutique three years ago before going on to open a workshop and shop last year at the Toulouse National Interest Market, a wholesale market that provides for restaurants and convenience stores. Today, Anne-Louise is delighted about the decisions she made because she supplies professionals and has escaped the unfortunate predicament of tea salons at the moment...

Source: https://www.francebleu.fr/vie-quotidienne/cuisine/anne-louise-morin-est-sommeliere-du-a-toulouse-un-metier-rare-et-gourmand-1611046874