Gongfu Girl

10/14/2018

Watch Floating Leaves Tea's mini-documentary on D**g Ding oolong.

02/16/2018

Michigan gallery showing tea-related ceramic works.

02/12/2018

"Ever since David Chu took the reins of Danish silverware and jewelry heritage brand Georg Jensen in 2013, he’s tried to re-position the company away from a lifestyle brand and more towards art and design. Part of his strategy in doing this was to actively collaborate with artists and architects. And Chu did not waste any time as the company has since worked with industrial designer Marc Newson, Spanish designer Patricia Urquila as well as the late architect Zaha Hadid. Now in its 111th year, George Jensen has, for the first time, collaborated with an Asian designer: the famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma."

Ever since David Chu took the reins of Danish silverware and jewelry heritage brand Georg Jensen in 2013, he’s tried to re-position the company away from a lifestyle brand and more towards art and design. Part of his strategy in doing this was to actively collaborate with artists and architects. A...

11/21/2017

"At one time, we were all beginners. We all had to learn to walk correctly, sit down in the proper place and could not figure out right foot, left foot and which one we had to use first."

Beginning Chado study is hard. Nobody is inherently beautiful and graceful and perfect out of the gate. Even Japanese people who begin to study make mistakes. It is like learning a foreign language. You are not going to be fluent after a few lessons, and even after years and years of study, you neve...

09/19/2017

Misleading headline, but interesting article.

"Tea, dear friends, is a miraculous potion and if brewed to perfection it is composed on the physiognomy of the human face - and thus made to yield its God-given properties it will entice three of our most precious five senses. Following the order of the human face, a perfectly brewed tea begins with the gift of sight in our eyes on the top of our face designed to see, coming down to the nose in the middle to smell the aroma and concluding with the lips and the mouth where our sense of taste informs the treasure house of our palate."

On the colonial colouring of the culinary calamity the British call a cup of tea.

09/14/2017

A profound loss to the tea community.

Winnie Yu, co-founder of Teance Fine Teas in Berkeley, and a woman whose influence on American tea culture was quiet but pervasive, died in Berkeley on September 11 after a year-long illness. She was 47. Yu was born in Hainan, China, in 1970. Her parents, who were artists, emigrated first to Hong Ko...

09/01/2017

The tea industry in Assam, the world's largest growing area, has been in crisis for years with accusations of slave labour

07/20/2017

"In addition to ownership of the tea industry by locals, I envision that the tea business will be governed and managed by the locals. Instead of Darjeeling teas being sold in auction in Kolkata, I envision that a local auction in Darjeeling will be the most efficient way for the teas to get into the market …

The Tea Industry that seems to be struggling due to exploitation at the hands of the State will have a bright future if the demand for a separate state is fulfilled."

- Allan Rai

Darjeeling has shut down for business. Tea production has ground to a halt. The call is now for a state of Gorkhaland. What does it mean for Darjeeling?

06/04/2017

"World Tea Organization is sad to announce that, 09:22 06/04/2017 Beijing time, Mr. Tianfu Zhang, the 'Tea Immortal Life Time Contribution Award' winner and World Tea Organization senior advisor, just passed away in peace, at the tea immortal age of 108. Mr. Tianfu Zhang is the greatest tea expert in the world for his effort for building up the modern Chinese Tea industry, including the first tea R&D institute, the first tea machine and the cultivating of Chinese organic tea industry, and the most important, the promotion of the Chinese Tea Culture!Here we are in memory of his contribution to the tea society and wish him a peaceful life in heaven. We are encouraged to working harder towards a better 'Healthy, Harmony, Pure, Nature' tea world"
— World Tea Organization President and all board members

“Tea Immortal Life Time Contribution Award” winner and World Tea Organization senior advisor, just passed away in peace, at the tea immortal age of 108. Mr. Tianfu Zhang is the greatest tea expert in the world for his effort for building up the modern Chinese Tea industry, including the first tea R...

04/23/2017

"Raku tea bowls occupy a unique space in the world of tea because they strongly embody the aesthetic of Rikyū’s wabi-cha, the tea ceremony style strongly associated with the aesthetic sense of rustic simplicity. The roots of Raku tea bowls lie in the sosansai, or three-colored glazed wares; Chōjirō’s father brought the technical skills for making this ware with him when he immigrated to Japan from China. Chōjirō took this type of colorful pottery and purposely converted it to monochrome tones in a strong artistic statement negating what was then common practice in the world and rejecting values that he viewed as overused. 'That’s why the stillness in Chōjirō’s bowls in intrinsically deep,' explains Kichizaemon.' Something that is deep is strong even if it is still. In the absolute pursuit of that stillness in a work, the artist makes its intensity evident to those who view it.'"

Black Raku chawan, or tea bowls, are currently gaining global attention. The founder of the Raku family of potters created this implement at the request of Sen no Rikyū, who elevated the Japanese tea ceremony to entirely new levels of refinement. What is the allure of these tea bowls that crosses na...

04/12/2017

Very pleased to be included in this list of tea blogs.

Writing and maintaining a blog is tough business and for many writers, tea might prove to be a limited topic to write upon. But not the ones gracing our list to

03/21/2017

Interesting article.

A poorly policed accreditation system has made us lose sight of the essence of tea culture.