It's All About Tea

Smoky Lapsang Souchong (Zhengshan Xiaozhong) is an acquired taste, much like a ripe pu-erh is. Some people love its deep campfire notes and the warm, comforting feeling the tea provides. Others find these roasted notes too strong and may have unwanted associations with food when drinking the tea. Luckily, for the latter, there is Non-smoky Lapsang Souchong. (Read more)

Learning the sophisticated art of gong fu cha, we begin to understand the subtleties involved. First, we learn that tea is alive. And only by treating tea properly, preparing it the way it deserves, we are granted an impeccable, sweet, and aromatic brew.

Then we learn about teaware. We understand how to take care of the teaware — with care and never using dish soap. Gently drying after each use. We also learn that teaware is alive, particularly the clay from which the teaware is made.

A Yixing teapot is not just about the clay's porosity, the way it looks, the name, or even the way it makes your tea taste. It is all about the way you take care of it. If not correctly taken care of, a Yixing teapot is just about as useful as a run-of-the-mill ceramic teapot. (Read more)

Every tea enthusiast has probably come across this scenario. We are always interested in trying many different types of tea — we order tea from various tea shops, bring tea back from holidays, and even receive tea as gifts from caring friends who are aware of our love for this magical drink.

And then one fine day, somewhere in our tea cupboard's depths, we might discover a tea that got accidentally forgotten. Or perhaps it wasn't brewed in a timely matter. Well, it might be hard to keep track of every tea we have. But has the tea already gone bad? (Read more)

Jian Zhan teacups have been prized in China and Japan for hundreds of years. During the Song Dynasty, there was even a time where it was considered better not to drink tea at all rather than drinking it from a cup that is not Jian ware! 

Following the Song Dynasty, the great art of making Jian ware pottery faded in China. It wasn't until recently that pottery artists are starting to pick up the long-forgotten art of Jian pottery, re-learning it from Japanese potters. The latter have adapted it into tenmoku pottery. (Read more)

Anji Bai Cha is a comparatively young tea with a long history. Its cultivar was first re-discovered in 1982. As the name suggests, Anji Bai Cha comes from Anji County in Zhejiang province. It is still predominantly produced in Anji County, although there are a few other farms in other parts of Zhejiang province producing the tea.

Anji Bai Cha translates as Anji white tea, although it is actually a green tea. Why? Let's follow its long history to find out! (Read more)