In July, a very 2020 thing happened.

I shattered a gaiwan lid. Even “funnier”? This was the second such gaiwan lid I’d shattered this year. My luck with even the most basic teaware was middling at best. […]

Did you know they grow tea in Bhutan?

Well, until a few months ago, neither did I.

Long time readers of this blog (all three of you) will remember that my original mission statement was to track down […]

If there is one prediction I never would have made for this blog in 2020, it’s that I would spend at least five articles talking about one plant. Okay . . . true, there are four hundred articles here that talk a […]

I recently noticed I don’t cover a lot of matcha on this here blog. There are some completely innocuous reasons for that: (1) everyone is already covering matcha just fine, and (2) when I do cover matcha, I tend t […]

Back in June, I was tagged in an Instagram post by O5 Tea. It featured a very familiar plant.

Pedro, one of the tea outfit’s co-owners referenced my first Ivan Chai article to go along with something they j […]

Let’s talk about border sheng.

As long-time readers already know, I’m a bit of an old hat (and advocate) of sheng cha produced outside of Yunnan province, China. I’ve devoted the last decade or so to tryin […]

Meet Herb.

Herb is a tea pet. What’s a tea pet, you might be asking? Well, it’s a long story, and—honestly—one I haven’t taken much interest in. Until now.

There is no clear origin story about how […]

A couple of months back, I did an Instagram Live tasting with this chap.

So Han Fan, purveyor of West China Tea.

I’ve “known” So Han for nearly six years. I put that in quotes because . . . we’ve never a […]

One of the nerdy pursuits we in the tea community like to pay attention to is origin. Single origin teas are the bread-‘n-butter of tea geekery. However, outside of good ol’ Camellia sinensis, herbal infusions are […]

Trigger Warning: The following article discusses religion and race. So, consider yourself doubly warned.

In my Bible readings, there is one aspect I keep coming back to. In the Gospels, Jesus conveyed his […]

One of the (few) benefits of this whole quarantine/lockdown thing we’ve endured so far in 2020 has been the chance to get to know new people. Granted, not in real outdoor life, but in an online capacity. During […]

At the beginning of May (of 2020), I received a box from Moychay . . .

A blogger friend saw the write-up I did on Ivan Chai a couple of months prior, and recommended I get in contact with this Russian-based […]

Episode 1
The Rise of the Steam

The kettle boils! A tea geek, locked in his room during quarantine, casually watched an episode of some Star Wars cartoon, and—lo!—a tea pot appeared into view. At first, he […]

I’ve often expressed my ambivalence to the tea category that is puerh. Sometimes, though, a story about it demands my attention. And most of those times, the story isn’t even mine. Even stranger still? A few of […]

This is Dan.

Dan’s a pretty solid dude, and a darn good friend. Dan is also married to my matcha dealer.

Dan’s a lucky sonuva- . . .

I’m getting off-topic already, aren’t I?

Let’s start ove […]

Strange times we’re living in, huh?

For those catching this article from somewhere in the future (hopefully a brighter one), this is being written during the COVID-19 lockdown/quarantine. I promised […]

As I’ve said many times, it often takes a mere photograph to grab my attention, and to remind me of something I’ve neglected. For instace, this one.

This was posted in August by blogger compatriot (and all […]