Blog 37: “Suffocative Steeping”
In our last blog, we briefly mentioned two terms in Gaiwan use: suffocative steeping and root saving. Both can be confusing and often...
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Blog 35: Another Example of Bad Infusion
In our last blog, we talked about an infusion technique called “high infusion”. High infusion is generally used for showing and...
Blog 34: How NOT to Infuse Your Tea
Experiencing a Chinese tea presentation for the first time can be overwhelming. Normally, a presenter/specialist(茶艺师) would dress up in...
Blog 33: Getting Tea Drunk?
Drinking too much alcohol can get you drunk, and drinking too much tea can also get you drunk. Tea drunk(Chinese: 茶醉, pronounced “Cha...
Blog 28: Which Infusion is the Best?
Since the inception of this tea blog, we’ve received multiple questions about the use of Gaiwan(Chinese: 盖碗, meaning lid and bowl). The...
Blog 20: Washing Tea!?
One of the biggest misunderstandings among tea lovers, including the majority tea drinkers in Asia, is that you need to “wash” your tea...
Blog 18: Doctrine of the Mean
Doctrine of the mean might sound unfamiliar to you. It is an important part of the confucianism as well as the title of one of four books...
Blog 14: The Moss Fragrance in Tea
No matter how tiny it is, every life has its presence in the mountain. In tea gardens, moss is often overlooked but cannot be neglected....
Blog 11: Tea Plants Do Not Produce Tea?!
Yes, tea plants do not produce tea, just as grape vines do not produce wine. It is a winemaker who harvests grapes and make them into...
Blog10: Mountain Call
Every late April and early May is the once a year tea-harvesting season of Wu-Yi oolong rock tea in the Wu-Yi mountains. Mountain call...
Blog 9: Sound of Tong-Mu
Today, we will discover the home of our black tea mountain, Tong-Mu, with a unique approach: the sound of it. Before we begin, I’d like...
Blog 8: A Disorganized Tea Mountain
We’ve discussed how a valley can regulate the optimum amount of sunlight for tea plants in our "about" page. Today, let’s talk about the...
Blog 7: Making Water for Your Tea
We have talked about the importance of water quality in making tea. Today, I’d like to discuss how to cook water and what the right...
Blog 6: A Common Misunderstanding of Tea
If you follow us on social media, you would probably notice that April is the month we prepare for our once-a-year harvest. This is a...
Blog 5: Different Categories in Wu-Yi Black Tea
Wu-Yi black tea is the original black tea. In modern days, there are three major categories of Wu-Yi Black Tea: Jin Jun Mei (Golden...
Blog 4: The Water For Making Tea
Most tea lovers are passionate about the tea they have, but few have considered the water they use for making tea. In fact, water...
Blog 3: Women in Wu-Yi Rock Tea-making
During one of my tea events in D.C. a week ago, a young lady asked why there are fewer female tea masters in rock tea. To answer this...
Blog 2: What Does Our Logo Mean?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we’ve got. You may have noticed, our logo is two Chinese characters: “茗” and “觉”,...
Blog 1: Welcome to Valley Brook TEA
Today marks the beginning of Valley Brook tea, a tea business that I wanted to start in the U.S. long ago. I come from a family with a...
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