I have a small confession to make.
Sometimes I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to be tasting.
A tea description might promise orchid, honey, toasted nuts, stone fruit, and something wonderfully mysterious called a “long mineral finish.”
I take a sip.
I taste tea.
And then I start wondering if everyone else is experiencing something I am not.
Tea culture has become remarkably good at describing tea. We have tasting wheels, elaborate notes, and entire conversations dedicated to identifying the smallest details in a cup.
There is something wonderful about that. Learning how to notice flavour can make tea more interesting.
But I think we sometimes take it too seriously.
I have had teas where I could immediately understand the description. I have also had teas where someone told me I should be tasting flowers and I spent the next five minutes searching desperately for a flower that simply was not there.
Perhaps the problem is that we have started treating tasting notes like an examination.
There is a right answer.
There is a wrong answer.
And if you cannot find the notes everyone else is talking about, you start wondering whether you understand tea at all.
But tea is not a test.
Maybe you taste honey.
Maybe you taste nothing particularly identifiable.
Maybe you simply think it is delicious.
That should count for something.
I sometimes envy the freedom of people who drink tea without worrying about describing it. They take a sip, decide whether they like it, and continue with their day. No tasting wheel required.
There is a strange relief in that.
Because tea does not need to behave like wine.
It does not need a vocabulary of impressive words before we are allowed to appreciate it. Sometimes a tea is floral. Sometimes it is earthy. Sometimes it is simply the tea we wanted that afternoon.
And honestly, I think that is enough.
The more I drink tea, the less interested I become in proving that I can identify every flavour.
I would rather know whether I want another cup.
Perhaps that is a better measure of appreciation anyway.
Not whether we can describe the tea perfectly.
But whether we enjoyed drinking it.
— Maria Tan
On tea, culture, and everyday rituals.
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There is a particular moment that has become increasingly familiar in modern tea culture. A tea is presented. Before the first sip, we are introduced to its story. The region. The altitude. The history. The carefully chosen words that describe its character. Perhaps there are notes of wildflowers, distant forests, roasted grains, or forgotten memories….
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I have always found the phrase “detox tea” a little strange. Not because I dislike tea. Quite the opposite. Tea has been part of my daily life for years. I love the quiet ritual of choosing leaves, waiting for the water, and taking a moment to slow down. But somewhere along the way, tea became…
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I almost walked past it. Located at Nine Neil Road, Tea Chapter Trading Pte Ltd sits quietly, a three-storey shophouse just across from Maxwell MRT in Singapore, its restored facade catching afternoon light. Around it, Chinatown moves at its usual pace. Inside, something slower has been happening since October 1989. I stepped in on a…
