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Jason Cohen

Jason Cohen

Master of Ceremonies here and on Tea Technique. Previously, Founder and Executive Director of the Tea Institute at Penn State (defunct).

http://teatechnique.org/

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Extreme ChaXi on Fushimi Inari-taisha

Hiking 233 meters over 4 hours in 90 degree and 90% humidity to brew tea on the top of an ancient Shinto shrine? This is extreme ChaXi. The Fushimi shrine is made up of more than 30,000 tori gates, and the path up the mountain winds its way past

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: The best thing I ate

It may just have been this crab-back. The meat had been pulled from the rest of the crab, coated in miso-butter, and we cooked it until brown and caramelized on a small grill.

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Tea with a friend

I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have great friends around the world. There are few greater joys than to see old friends in the excitement of travel. The joy is magnified when the friend is a fellow 茶人. This was just my experience visiting Tokyo and Emily Huang. Emily – this

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: the teaser trailer

The stupa shrine, a mountain of the mind; in the bright sky the tea shines; radiant white, cups of light, four people, one time, climbing Nogodan; divine

The Practice of Tea Ceremony

This is a draft section of my upcoming book “An introduction to the art and Science of Chinese Tea Ceremony”. Please help improve it with your comments, suggestions, and hate mail! How to practice tea ceremony is a difficult question, as it depends on what you consider to be the

The 2017 Chinese Porcelain Exhibition of the Tea Institute at Penn State

Stéphane Erler has two great articles he recently published on the Tea Institute at Penn State. The first details all of the past Chinese tea exhibitions and shows how much they have grown and changed. The second article is about the first day of this years exhibition on Chinese Porcelain.

The Jason M Cohen Asian Art Gallery at Penn State University

I am overjoyed to have been honored by the Tea Institute at Penn State as they announce our new new art gallery in the Chinese Tea House. The gallery came about because of the work of he leadership after me, particularly the 2nd Executive Director, Ryan Ahn, and the 3rd

Life and Work Status Update

Dear Readers, It has been quite some time since I’ve written to you personally. As I’ve written about in the past, a small team and I have been diligently working on a startup company, Analytical Flavor Systems. I’d like to update you on how things are going

Microbial Colonies of Pu’er Tea – new research

I’ve been talking / teaching / writing about the importance of the origin and cultivation of the microbial colonies within Pu’er tea for years,as they’re responsible for everything from “aging” rate to flavor profiles. (Reminder: all tea ages at the same rate of 1 year per year) Yet,

Kilns for Firing a Yixing Teapot

NOTE: this post is out of date. Those Interested in Yixing Teapots are suggested to read An Introduction to the Art & Science of Chinese Tea Ceremony: Yixing Teapots – Knowledge, Connoisseurship, and Technique There were two types of kilns historically used in Yixing: Snake Kilns and “Modern Tunnel” Kilns. Later,