It's All About Tea

What is your favorite tea type? For many, the answer is – oolong!

What makes oolong so favored? Perhaps it's the multidimensionality – the variety within this single tea category. A lightly oxidized oolong resembles green tea, while a more deeply oxidized, dark-roasted oolong resembles black tea. Nevertheless, it is neither. It is in between and can not be imitated. (Read more)

All throughout China, Taiwan, and other parts of East Asia, the bubble tea trend has reached its peak, with crowds of youth lining up for a big cup of the ice-cold tea beverage. Yet we still find small groups of elderly folk sitting somewhere shaded in a park, enjoying hot Gong Fu style tea.

For the westerner, it is counterintuitive to be drinking hot tea for hours on a hot, muggy day. Many of the older people, however, know the secrets of Chinese medicine and know exactly which beverages to drink in the summer to keep the body cool. (Read more)

Gong fu cha refers to the Chinese tea ceremony, and it translates as “skillfully making tea”. Chanoyu, on the other hand, is the Japanese tea ceremony which literally translates as “hot water for tea”. What are some of the biggest differences between the two? (Read more)

The Gaiwan has existed as part of traditional Chinese tea drinking since the 12th century, if not earlier. However, it was not always implemented in the same way as it is in today’s gong fu ceremonies. Back in the day, people would drink tea directly from the Gaiwan. (Read more)

Let's take an in-depth look at matcha vs. green tea. Yes, technically, matcha is green tea. But we cannot take the green tea leaves we have sitting in our cupboard and grind those up. Matcha tea processing is a complex tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Even the tea leaves farmers use to prepare the powder require special growing conditions. So let's discuss what makes both matcha powder and Japanese green tea so unique in their own way. (Read more)