Welcome to The Steeping Leaf: About Me!

Welcome, readers! This is a personal endeavor that I've had on my backlog for a while. I hope to make this an interactive tea room for anyone who wants to dive into the vast world of tea. 

From my personal journey, I've actually been drinking tea since I was young, around 8 years old while playing Runescape and doing homework, and somehow this habit evolved over the course of my life to frequenting tea houses, taking tea lessons with my mentor in Taiwan, and being fascinated with the tea industry. 

A bit about me: I am Taiwanese-Chinese, originally from sunny Los Angeles, CA and am currently traveling the world to learn more about tea culture in other countries - currently in Brazil! 

I will share what I've learned from my mentor and my ongoing learnings, introduce some big tea stores and influencers in the space, and hopefully share some great tea with you all! On my shop, I've started working with suppliers to handpick teas that have evolved into my all-time favorites over the past decade. I will be evolving my selection as time goes on - my highest priority is sourcing from top quality farms and these relationships take time to build! For now, feel free to check out the current selection, and I'll be sending out my first batch in December (just in time for the holidays!) 

In future posts, I'll be diving into the different types of tea (green tea, yellow tea, black tea, yellow tea, puerh tea, oolong tea, etc.), tea sourcing, tea processing, health benefits of drinking tea, loose leaf vs. tea bags, and origins of some of these teas from China and Taiwan. 

Fun facts: my long-time favorites and good starter teas are the Alishan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Taiwan and Dragonwell (Longjing) Tea from Hangzhou, China. These two teas are representative of my ancestral background - guess it was meant to be! As an Asian-American, I strive to combine modern methods of brewing with the traditional methods of drinking tea. 

Spilling tea while drinking tea is one of my favorite hobbies ;) 

Until the next steep, 

Jovi