Tea Education

  • Differences Between Sourcing Mao Feng and Bi Luo Chun

    by Dylan Conroy
    Bi Luo Chun and Mao Feng are pretty opposite each other in terms of flavor. Mao Feng is smooth, rich, and bright. Bi Luo Chun is subtle but with ta...

  • 2020 Blog post: Early Pick Cultivars of Mao Feng

    by Dylan Conroy
    In this episode of Mao Feng Mondays I look a little deeper in a topic that has been bothering me recently, teas on the market too early. Mao Feng ...

  • Second Trip to Bi Luo Chun Areas

    by Dylan Conroy
    With the Bi Luo Chun Season fast approaching it’s time to start putting in leg work. This week's trip to Dong Shan was meant to start getting mysel...

  • My Biggest Lesson in Wuyi: I Know Nothing

    by Dylan Conroy
    The change from the Mao Feng market to Yan Cha has been a bit of a tea culture shock. Looking for tea in huangshan was in a way so much simpler bec...

  • The Most Mis-Identified Green Tea on the Market

    by Dylan Conroy
    This is one of the most mis-identified teas in the tea forums. I have seen this tea asked about numerous times and each time with different answers. Answers have ranged from Chun Mee (close) to Gua Pian (I really hope your GP doesn't look like this). 

    If you ask a Huang Shan native what tea it is, they would simply reply "碌茶“ green tea. 
    Posted in green tea, tea education

  • Reflecting on Huang Shan

    by Dylan Conroy
    Let me tell you a secret. When I first came to China in 2017 Huang Shan was my least favorite place. I found the teas to be the least exciting and ...

  • One River Teas Western Survey Analysis

    by Dylan Conroy
    To start we are going to look at the information collected by One River Tea and myself. We will go through it group by group and then discuss over...

  • How I Found the Newest Qimen Tea

    by Dylan Conroy
    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gCquUwvJ1kc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="acceleromet...
    Posted in qimen, travel stories

  • Companies Don't Sell the Best Tea They Can Find, They Sell the Best They Think They Can Sell

    by Dylan Conroy
    From experience as well as from conversations with other sellers I have found that one of the biggest challenges that the western tea market faces ...
    Posted in opinion

  • Judging Terroir

    by Dylan Conroy
    Abstract: In this article, I will talk about how I see terroir. I will begin to show you the complexities of terroir and begin to reveal that terro...
    Posted in tea education

  • There is Nothing Wrong with a Middle Man

    by Dylan Conroy
    The following article is based on my experiences and the experiences I have seen others go through when it comes to buying tea. As I continue to ga...

  • Overly Used Tea Terms to Avoid

    by Dylan Conroy
    I opened the bag, looked in, and let out a sigh.  “You don’t think it's good?” asked the shop owner in chinese.  Since she asked I replied honestly...