Japan is famous for several pottery styles but one of my favorites is known as Hagi Yaki. It is a glazed, high-fired stoneware that is the specialty of the city of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The glaze can be made in a variety of colors but milky white is the among the most recognizable. This […] [Read more]
Gongfu (sometimes also called kung fu) simply means preparing tea with great skill. It’s often referred to as the Chinese tea ceremony but that’s not quite correct. Although the process can feel very ceremonial the truth is that there is no such thing as a Chinese tea ceremony. Gongfu is not codified in the rigid […] [Read more]
My first yixing, dedicated to Dancong There comes a time in every tea lover’s life when they are faced with a dilemma. How do you season an yixing teapot? There are several different ways to do it and it’s hard to know which one is right for you and your teaware. Good quality yixing teapots […] [Read more]
I think that every tea drinker has the same problem. What is the best way to store all of the tea that we accumulate? The main enemies of tea leaves are heat, light, and moisture. There’s a handful of exceptions to that rule but this applies to most categories of tea. I find that a […] [Read more]
Making tea without the help of tea bags can seem daunting at first but it’s super easy. There are a lot of different accouterments out there but the truth is that you don’t need much equipment at all. At its most basic level, the requirements for making tea are: – Brewing vessel – Hot water […] [Read more]
This week I felt inspired to dedicate a new installment of Meet the Tea to one of my favorite white teas, Yue Guang Bai (aka Moonlight White). It is known for both the striking appearance of the leaves and the fuller-bodied taste. There are a few different stories about how this tea got its name. […] [Read more]
You read that right. There is a tea called duck shit oolong! Ya Shi Xiang is a cultivar used to make a Dan Cong oolong by the same name, A lot of people in the US first learned about this tea when it was written about by Forbes in 2015. Unfortunately, they did not bother […] [Read more]
Tencha is a Japanese green tea that is ground into a powder to make matcha. Ten can be translated as mortar or grind, and cha is the word for tea. The processing is similar to other shade-grown teas like gyokuro, but there are some key differences. It is not common to drink it in its […] [Read more]
Dong Fang Mei Ren is one of my favorite teas, and I’m excited to share a bit more about it with you. This famous Taiwanese oolong goes by many names. You might also know it as: Peng Feng Cha Oriental Beauty Eastern Beauty Bai Hao Oolong White Tip Oolong Champagne Oolong Five Color Oolong Braggart’s […] [Read more]
Tie Guan Yin goes by various spellings but it is probably the best known Chinese oolong tea. It is commonly referred to as Iron Goddess of Mercy and there are many legends about how this tea got its name. Traditionally it was made as a strip style tea with heavier roasting but that changed after […] [Read more]
