China Tea ep. 10 – Gaiwan and Fair Cup – Sunday Tea Book – Sip-a-long – Huang Da Cha
Gaiwan The gaiwan is also known as a sancai bei (cup). Sancai means the heavens, the earth, and people. The…
China Tea ep. 9 – Tea Table/Tray and Tea Cup – Sunday Tea Book – Sip-a-long – Qian Liang Cha 2012
Tea Tables The tea table may not be the most remarkable part of a tea set, but is very important.…
China Tea ep. 7 – Teaware – Sunday Tea Book – Sip-a-long Ming Qian Dafo Long Jing
Teaware Teaware is essential and sophisticated. It’s not an exaggeration that teaware makes up half of Chinese tea culture. SIP…
China Tea ep. 6 – How to choose good tea – Sunday Tea Book
Skills for selecting tea First look at the dry leaves, then the liquor, and last but not the least, the…
China Tea ep. 5 – Tea Appreciation – Sunday Tea Book
Step One: choosing tea, vessels, and water Tea has its color and aroma. Although it is the most common thing,…
China Tea ep. 4 -Tea classification – Sunday Tea Book
Tea Appraisal China is a big tea country. One of the signs of this is how many different teas there…
China Tea ep.3 – Tea Picking – Sunday Tea Book
Understanding tea The growing environment and craftsmanship are both vital to the quality of a tea. Good material requires careful…
China Tea ep. 2 – Tea Growing Environment – Sunday Tea Book
Beautiful trees in the south There are beautiful trees in the south. Tea plants grow in the south of China…
What water to use for tea brewing?
We have a saying in Chinese that water is the mother of tea. It emphasizes the importance of water to…
How to store your tea properly
You may have noticed that not all the tea you purchased comes with an expiry date. Does tea expire? How…
Tea and Health – What affects caffeine in tea? How to lose weight with tea?
Tea is often associated with health in North America. So much so that many people begin drinking tea just for…
How to Taste Tea Like A Pro
Tea tastings, tasting notes, tea flavor wheels... as a tea drinker who has been indulging in the world of tea,…
Tea Processing Steps: are the charts helpful or misleading?
Once you get into the world of tea, your curiosity naturally grows and the more you dive into it the…
How to make Gongfu Tea – A Guide to choosing and using the Gaiwan and Teapot
I still remember my first introduction to Chinese tea and the fascination that surrounded the multiple infusions, and especially the…
Why do we rinse/wash the tea?
To rinse or not to rinse? It's a question people often have when it comes to Gongfu tea brewing. Do…
6 Chinese Tea Types/Categories
6 tea categories As a tea lover, you have probably heard of different types of tea, especially the popular ones…
Top 5 Tips for Chinese Tea Sourcing
Many tea vendors go to China to source their own tea, others get their tea from the importers. No matter…
Water and Tea Brewing
One of the reasons that Chinese tea and tea culture play a major part in the world’s tea scene is…
What is Wuyi Yancha (Rock Tea)
What is Wuyi Yancha Wuyi Yancha or rock tea (literally translated Wuyi yan cha mean Wuyi rock tea) is a…
Which tea is better?
This is a little quiz I saw online couple of days ago. I found it quite interesting and shared it…
A Living Legend of Tea – Mr. Zhang Tianfu
Today is Mr. Zhang Tianfu's 107th birthday. It's a name that is rarely mentioned in the western tea world, but…
The Ultimate Tea Processing Experience
A Game with Water Our tea trip was not a typical sourcing trip. We don't need to go to China…
Tie Guan Yin – Anxi, Fujian Province
The Legendary Anxi Tie Guan Yin The Legends Tie Guan Yin is so popular that for many, it was their…
Fenghuang Dan Cong – Wudong Mountain, Guangdong Province
My experience with good tea, and I mean pinnacle tea - top notch stuff, usually goes one of two ways.…
Dan Cong From A Bio-dynamic Farm – Chaoshan, Guangdong Province
Against All Odds Affected by the coffee culture in North America, individual farmers are often preferred by tea drinkers. However, I…
The Perils of Fancy Pu’er
This post was inspired by one of the tastings we had in Menghai, Yunnan Province. A friend of ours brought…
Sheng Pu’er — The Evolution Of The Process
Testing a Hypothesis One thing we were to eager to do during this visit to Yunnan was to experiment with sheng…
The Odd Economy Of Pu’er
An Interesting Twist of Fate The story of Yunnan Pu’er reminds me of an old Chinese saying, “Thirty years on…
Ancient Pu’er Tea Garden – Hekai, Yunnan Province
Hekai, located in the Bulang Mountains, is one of the biggest ancient tea gardens planted by humans. Almost one third of…
Zisha Teapots – Yixing, Jiangsu Province
Teapot Shopping Today, we went to the other side of Guzhu Mountains – Yixing, Jiangsu province. The first thing that comes…
Zi Sun & Bai Cha – Xiamu Shan
Constant Innovation in Chinese Tea Xiamu Shan is located in the Changxing/Anji area. Strictly speaking, it's an area for Zi…
Guzhu Zi Sun – Zhejiang Province
A Glimpse of Royal Tea Garden in Tang Dynasty This visit was a Museum / shrine to Lu Yu and…
Bi Luo Chun – Jiangsu Province
A Beautiful Region Bi Luo Chun is grown in an amazing beautiful part of the planet. The four seasons are…
Huoshan Huang Ya – Anhui Province
Morning "Brake" Despite finishing quite late the night before, we were up around 6 am the next day. After breakfast,…
Lu’an Gua Pian – Anhui Province
Up the Mountain As you can imagine, tea making is hard work. Starting with some morning exercise climbing the mountain.…
2006 Lao Cha Tou… Maybe not
2006 Shu Pu'er - Side by Side Tasting We tasted a 2006 Lao Cha Tou from a friend alongside another…
Ma Lian Dao – China’s Largest Tea Market
Ma Lian Dao is a tea lovers' paradise! Think West Edmonton Mall or Mall of America meets tea! And not…
ICED TEA!?!
There have already been a few reports of snow and freezing rain in several of the tea areas. I got…
2016 China Tea Trip Overview
Spring is here and I have headed off to China to meet with Jianli Wu, my mom, to find our…
The Art of Chinese Tea: Fine Tea Tasting
According to a Chinese saying there are seven necessities for everyday life: firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.…
The Mysterious and Confusing Chinese Tea Names (Part 2)
What are the naming conventions for Chinese tea? Despite the new tea names that are given by the inventors or…
The Mysterious and Confusing Chinese Tea Names (Part 1)
Before I even started my own tea business, I noticed that the western naming of Chinese teas can be fairly…
How to Brew Chinese Tea – Water Temperature
Brewing a perfect cup of tea can be quite challenging. The amount of loose tea leaves, the temperature of the…
Cool Down With Tea
What could be nicer to have on a hot summer day than some delicious ice cream? I say, hot tea!…
Zhen’s Tea Chat
This post had to get pulled to the front of my blog schedule because of a few little stories I…
Jin Jun Mei
The story of Jin Jun Mei began with an interesting talk between Mr. Jiang Yuan Xun and two tea businessmen…
Xi Hu Long Jing (Dragon Well)
Xi Hu Long Jing, also known as Dragon Well, is one of the most famous Chinese teas in the world.…
Bai Nian Song Pin – Experiencing a Pinnacle Antique Pu’er
Having just returned from Coffee and Tea Festival NYC, we celebrated our debut in America with an extremely rare Pu’er…
Chinese Tea 101
It seems a little overdone to talk about the basics of Chinese tea, the origin of tea, the six types…
Jing Zhe – 惊蛰
Another special day has arrived on the Chinese calendar – Jing Zhe 惊蛰. The character 惊 (jing) means to surprise,…