The Journal
History you can read
What Is a Gaiwan? The Chinese Lidded Bowl, Explained
8/27/2026A gaiwan is a three-piece lidded bowl used to brew and drink Chinese tea. Here's its real history, what "Three Powers" actually means, and how to use one without burning your fingers.
How We Brew Sheng Pu-erh
Leaf, water, and patience — the exact ratios and steep times we use, and why young sheng punishes impatience more than any other tea.
Shu Pu-erh: More Than Just Tea
Digestive folklore, a fixture of family tables across China, and why shu pu-erh is often the first tea people actually build a daily habit around.
Tie Guan Yin: Why Millions of People Fall in Love With This Oolong
Iron Goddess of Mercy, a legend behind the name, and the lightly-oxidized oolong that converts more green-tea drinkers than anything else.
Why Water Matters More Than Most People Think
Same leaf, same technique, different water — and you'll get a noticeably different cup. Here's why.
Cold Brew Tea: Steeping in the Fridge, Not the Kettle
No heat, no bitterness — just tea, cold water, and patience. Here's how we cold-brew, and what it does to an aged sheng and an old shu.
How To Brew Tea, Properly: The Gongfu Cha Method
Three variables — leaf, water, time — decide whether your tea sings or turns bitter. Here's the whole Gongfu Cha method, spelled out.
Sheng Pu-erh: raw tea that's built to age
Processed like a green tea, aged like nothing else — and why the same cake tastes different every few years.
Shu Pu-erh: instant-aged, wet-piled, and forgiving
How a 1970s Kunming factory shortcut decades of aging into about 60 days — and why it's the easy way into pu-erh.
GABA tea: what nitrogen-processing actually does
An unusual anaerobic process, a distinct tangy flavor, and what the research does (and doesn't) say.
Red tea (what the West calls "black tea")
Same tea, two names — and why it's the most forgiving cup to brew.
Oolong: the widest spectrum in tea
Oolong isn't one flavor — it's an entire range between green and black, and that's the point.
Green tea: the freshest expression of the leaf
Why green tea is a race against time, and why bitterness is almost always a brewing mistake.
White tea, explained: why the fuzz matters
The least processed tea there is — and why that makes pluck timing everything.
My thoughts before / after shu puerh
A field guide to ripe Pu-erh, and why the wet-pile scares nobody who knows.