Tea Snobs Made Brewing Hard—So I’m Making It Simple Again
There was a time when I thought I was making tea incorrectly.
The water was probably too hot. The leaves were probably wrong. The pot was certainly not the right one.
At least, that was what I had been led to believe.
Tea culture can make a simple act feel surprisingly complicated. We have temperatures to remember, measurements to follow, vessels to choose, and opinions about almost everything that happens between the kettle and the cup.
Some of this knowledge is useful.
Much of it is.
But I have come to believe that tea should not feel like an examination.
The purpose of brewing tea is not to demonstrate how much we know about it. It is to make a cup we want to drink.
I still pay attention to water temperature and steeping time. I still enjoy experimenting with different vessels and techniques. The difference is that I no longer treat these things as commandments.
They are tools.
There is a distinction worth making.
A skilled tea drinker understands how variables affect the cup. A tea snob sometimes makes you feel as though there is only one acceptable way to drink it.
The first invites curiosity.
The second creates hesitation.
I have watched people become nervous around tea because they are afraid of getting it wrong. They measure everything carefully, then apologise when the tea does not taste the way they expected.
That seems unfortunate.
Tea should encourage exploration, not anxiety.
Some of the best cups I have had were not prepared perfectly. They were brewed in ordinary mugs, with ordinary water, by people who were more interested in sharing the tea than demonstrating their technique.
The tea was not diminished by this.
If anything, it felt more alive.
So I have simplified my own approach.
Use good leaves.
Use water you enjoy drinking.
Pay attention.
Taste the tea.
Then adjust.
That is enough.
There is nothing wrong with learning the finer details of tea. There is great satisfaction in understanding the craft.
But knowledge should make the cup more enjoyable, not make us afraid to brew it.
Perhaps the simplest way to appreciate tea is to stop worrying about whether we deserve to call ourselves tea experts.
We only need to be willing to drink the tea.
With quiet regard,
N. P. Lim
Matcha Hype Has Gone Too Far (But I Still Drink It)
I have a confession. I am slightly tired of seeing matcha everywhere. Not because I dislike matcha. In fact, I drink it quite often. But there is something amusing about watching a humble tea become the centre of every café menu, wellness conversation, and social media trend. Matcha has gone from a traditional Japanese tea…
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Hortus Afternoon Tea Review: When the Garden Becomes the Occasion in the Flower Dome
I forgot, for a moment, that I was indoors at Hortus, the Mediterranean restaurant nestled within the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay. There were trees above me, real ones, and the air held that cool, green stillness you usually find early in the morning somewhere far from the city. A leaf drifted down…
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The Real Reason Your Tea at Cafés Tastes Flat
There is a particular disappointment that comes with ordering tea at a café. You see the menu. You notice the carefully written descriptions. Perhaps there is a mention of fragrant jasmine, roasted oolong, or a carefully selected blend. The presentation arrives beautifully arranged, and for a moment, there is anticipation. Then you take the first…
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Herbal Tea in Chinese: A Cup Shaped by Heat, Balance, and Belief
The first sip was bitter. I was maybe seven, and my grandmother had pressed a small ceramic cup into my hands, dark liquid inside, steam curling up between us. She didn’t explain. She just said, “Drink. You’ve been too heaty.“ I made a face. She didn’t smile. She just waited until I finished. Years later,…
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Maybe Your Favourite Tea Is Not Your Best Tea
I have a tea sitting in my cupboard that I would never call my “best” tea. It is not the rarest. It is not the most expensive. It does not come with an impressive story about ancient tea trees, remote mountains, or a limited harvest. And yet, I drink it more often than almost anything…
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Clipper Tea Review: Does the Packaging Match the Pour?
There’s a box of Clipper Tea that’s lived in my cupboard longer than most of my mugs. I didn’t plan to buy it. I was standing in the tea aisle, tired, half-decided on something familiar, when the colour caught me. Bright, cheerful, a little hand-drawn looking. So I brought it home. And I’ve been drinking…
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Hear Me Out, Tea Does Not Need to Be Serious All the Time
There is something I have noticed about tea culture. We take tea very seriously. Perhaps too seriously. We discuss origins, processing methods, brewing temperatures, and the history behind every leaf. We debate whether a tea should be enjoyed in a certain way. We carefully consider the correct vessel, the right water, and the ideal environment….
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Red Bush Tea: The Tea That Does Not Need to Shout
There is a red pot in my mother’s kitchen that only comes out in the evening. By then the coffee has done its work and gone quiet. The day has loosened. She fills the kettle, drops in a spoonful of something the colour of dried autumn, and lets it sit while she tidies the last…
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Hear Me Out: High Tea Is Overrated
Hear me out: high tea is one of the most convincing ways we have found to make snacking feel important. I understand the appeal. The room is polished, the cups are delicate, and everything arrives in miniature. There is something satisfying about sitting down in the middle of the afternoon and behaving as though time…
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Where Tea Is Given Time to Speak: Anteasocial Review
I almost walked past it. Owen Road Singapore doesn’t announce much. A quiet stretch, low buildings, the kind of road you pass through on the way to somewhere louder. Then there it was, unassuming, just numbers on a wall: 117. Anteasocial is a contemporary Oriental specialty teahouse in Singapore, and if you’re looking for a…
