I have a confession.
I don’t think every tea lover needs to love every tea.
That sounds obvious when written down, but spend enough time around tea enthusiasts and you may start to think otherwise.
Someone discovers that you enjoy tea.
The questions begin.
Do you drink green tea?
What about pu-erh?
Have you tried aged white tea?
Sometimes it feels as though tea appreciation comes with an invisible checklist. The more teas you enjoy, the more qualified you become to call yourself a tea lover.
But I’ve never been convinced that’s how it works.
After all, we don’t apply this logic to most other things. Nobody expects a music lover to enjoy every genre of music. Nobody questions whether someone loves books because they dislike a particular author.
Yet tea seems different.
For some reason, people feel strangely guilty admitting they dislike certain teas.
Matcha might be the best example.
Its popularity has exploded in recent years. Walk into almost any café and you’ll find matcha somewhere on the menu. Social media treats it as the unofficial symbol of modern tea culture.
And yet plenty of tea drinkers simply don’t enjoy it.
The earthy flavour can be intense. The texture can feel unusual. Some people never develop a taste for it no matter how many times they try.
And that’s perfectly reasonable.
The same is true for pu-erh. Or heavily roasted oolongs. Or delicate white teas.
Liking tea and liking every tea are not the same thing.
In fact, personal preference is probably what makes tea culture interesting in the first place.
Ask ten tea drinkers about their favourite tea and you’ll likely receive ten different answers. Those differences are not evidence that someone understands tea less than another person.
They are evidence that taste is personal.
Perhaps tea culture would feel more welcoming if we talked about preferences more openly.
Not every tea needs to become your favourite.
Not every famous tea needs to impress you.
And not every tea trend needs to win you over.
Sometimes being a tea lover simply means continuing to search for the teas that feel right to you.
Even if everyone else seems to prefer something different.
— Maria Tan
On tea, culture, and everyday rituals.
The Best Everyday and Gift-Worthy Blends from Gryphon Tea Singapore
I have a small confession. For the longest time, I treated tea like a background character in my day. It was just the thing I gulped between meetings, barely tasting it. Then a friend handed me a proper cup one quiet afternoon, and I finally slowed down enough to notice the aroma, the warmth, the…
-
We Talk Too Much About Tea and Not Enough About Drinking It
Tea culture has become remarkably good at talking about tea. We discuss origins. Elevation. Harvest seasons. Processing methods. Water temperatures. Brewing vessels. There are endless conversations about tea. And yet I sometimes wonder whether we spend enough time simply drinking it. This may sound like an odd criticism coming from someone who enjoys learning about…
-
High Tea St Regis: A Grand Afternoon Ritual at Regis Singapore
The light in the late afternoon does something quiet to a room. It softens. It lingers on the rim of a porcelain cup in the elegant Tea Room, slides along the curve of a silver pot, and settles into the folds of a linen napkin without asking for attention. There is a stillness here, the…
-
Why We Keep Looking for the Perfect Tea
I used to think there would be a moment when my tea journey felt complete. A tea so good that I would stop searching. A tea that would make every other tea feel unnecessary. Years later, I can confidently say that moment has never arrived. And I’m starting to think that’s the point. Tea drinkers…
-
Darjeeling First Flush: Capturing the Himalayan Spring in a Teacup
I still remember the first time someone handed me a cup of Darjeeling First Flush, a prized form of black tea, and asked me, quite seriously, not to add milk. I almost laughed. Tea without milk felt like toast without butter. But I humored my friend, took a sip, and paused. The liquid was pale…
-
What Kopi and Tea Say About Singapore
One of the things I love most about Singapore is that we never really chose between kopi and tea. We kept both. Walk into almost any hawker centre or coffee shop and you’ll see it immediately. One person orders kopi-o. Another asks for teh-c. Someone else is drinking Chinese tea from a flask they brought…
-
The Tea We Keep Saving for Later
Many tea drinkers have a tea they are saving. A special oolong purchased during a memorable trip. A rare tea gifted by a friend. A tea that feels too valuable, too limited, or too meaningful to drink casually. So it waits. Days become weeks. Weeks become months. The tea remains carefully stored while more ordinary…
-
Earl Grey Tea Benefits: What Is Earl Grey Tea and Why Has It Endured for Centuries?
Introduction Few teas are as instantly recognisable as Earl Grey tea. Even among people who do not regularly drink tea, the distinctive citrus aroma of Earl Grey often feels familiar. It appears in tea shops, cafés, afternoon tea menus, and kitchen cupboards around the world, yet many people still ask the same question: what is…
-
Can You Call Yourself a Tea Lover If You Don’t Like Matcha?
I have a confession. I don’t think every tea lover needs to love every tea. That sounds obvious when written down, but spend enough time around tea enthusiasts and you may start to think otherwise. Someone discovers that you enjoy tea. The questions begin. Do you drink green tea? What about pu-erh? Have you tried…
-
Is Tea Acidic? Understanding Tea Acidity and What It Means for Tea Drinkers
One of the most common questions among both new and experienced tea drinkers is surprisingly simple: is tea acidic? The answer is yes, but the reality is far more nuanced than a simple yes or no. Most teas fall on the mildly acidic side of the pH scale, yet they are generally far less acidic…
