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Latest — Sep 9, 2026

High Modernism in the Ancient Arbor: Tea Technique Research Trip 2026 – Menghai, Yunnan - Part 3

Modern Culture Impositions of forest management and tea processing are not the only way the denizens of Menghai have experienced modernism; the Dai majority in the valleys and the upland citizens of Zomia[1] alike have both embraced the modernization of their culture. What is modernity? Modernity is often framed

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High Modernism in the Ancient Arbor: Tea Technique Research Trip 2026 – Menghai, Yunnan - Part 2

Modern Production Origin Myths and Armchair Experts It has become common amongst educated pu’er drinkers to read deeply into the processing of tea, intuiting the definition of the class by its unique stages of production. Pu’er offers a delightful array of trivializing factoids memorable to fellow pedants who

High Modernism in the Ancient Arbor: Tea Technique Research Trip 2026 – Menghai, Yunnan - Part 1

The more you know, the more you know you don't know… - Not Aristotle Tea is a jianghu[1], a field of fractal complexity, where each hard-won fact contains shades of truth and applicability. 19 years into this journey, I thought I knew something about Menghai and its

Guest Post: Pat Penny – Menghai – Tea Technique Research Trip 2026

Dank Piles and Bitter Draughts Welcome, gentle reader, to our sophomore year of Yunnan spring pu’er research. The TLDR of last year’s trip was as follows: Went to Yiwu, had a great time, learned lots, ate moldy tofu, fell madly in love with Yiwu pu’er tea all

Wuyi Revisited: 2025 Trip Report

Listen to the Tea Technique Editorial Conversation podcast on this trip report: Back Again I said I’d be back – and so I am. A year after our introduction to Wuyi on the Tea Technique Research Trip 2024, I’ve returned to forge new friendships, deepen existing connections, seek out

Guest Post: Pat Penny – Yiwu - Tea Technique Research Trip 2025

Here it is folks, my personal mecca of tea trips – Yiwu, Yunnan. We battled the bugs, the snakes, and the escalating political tensions and tariffs to go and study with a variety of knowledgeable Charen in Yiwu and the experience did not disappoint. Yiwu has been a bucket list tea

Where Heaven is Close and the Emperor is far Away: Tea Technique Research Trip 2025 – Yiwu, Yunnan

Listen to the Tea Technique Editorial Conversation about this Trip Report: Yunnan was the south western frontier of imperial China, populated by sinofied tribes, the gateway to Southeast Asia and India, the nexus of the southern silk road and tea horse trail. Yunnan is still a tribal land, far from

Object Impermanence: A Fleeting Forlorn Future

A friend, a good friend, a conscientious friend knocked a teapot off my shelf. It wasn't rare, or expensive, or antique. It was, in fact, purposely flawed, part of a set I commissioned to study for the book on Yixing teapots. The set, now incomplete; the tea session

Guest Post: Patrick Penny, Research Trip 2024 – Wuyi

Dear reader, you find me writing this from the comforts of Wistaria Tea House in Taipei where I end my travels reflecting on this year’s research trip over a 2003 Tze Ping sheng puerh, enjoying a moments peace before flying back to the US and returning to daily life.

I Barely Wuyi (武夷) - Tea Technique Research Trip 2024

Listen to the Tea Technique Podcast on the 2024 Research Trip to Wuyi: Intro Wuyi may be the most mythical of China's tea origins, unique in history, environment, natural preservation, production process, and flavor profiles. It may also be the most hyper-real, a place of collective modern