I used to think a good tea was supposed to be smooth.
No bitterness. No sharp edges.
Nothing that made me pause and wonder whether I was doing something wrong.
It seemed logical. We naturally gravitate toward things that are easy to enjoy. A tea that is sweet, gentle, and immediately comforting feels like a safe choice.
But over time, I started to question something.
When did we decide bitterness was something we needed to avoid completely?
Somewhere along the way, “no bitterness” became a sign of quality. A smooth tea was considered refined. A tea with a stronger edge was treated as something flawed.
But I think we are missing something.
Bitterness is not always a mistake. Sometimes, it is part of the character.
Think about some of the teas we love. A green tea can have a slight vegetal sharpness. A strong black tea can carry a pleasant astringency. Certain oolongs have a deeper roasted quality that creates complexity.
These flavours give tea personality.
Without them, everything starts to taste the same.
I have had teas that were incredibly smooth but completely forgettable. They were easy to drink, but I had no desire to return to them.
Then there were teas that challenged me at first.
They were slightly unfamiliar. Maybe a little stronger than I expected. Maybe not immediately comforting.
But after spending more time with them, I began to understand what made them special.
Perhaps this is true beyond tea as well.
The things we appreciate most are not always the things that please us instantly. Sometimes they ask us to slow down.
To pay attention.
To meet them halfway.
Of course, bitterness can also mean a tea was poorly made. Over-steeping, incorrect brewing, or lower-quality leaves can create unpleasant flavours. Not every bitter cup is secretly brilliant.
But removing all bitterness from tea should not be the goal.
Because tea without character is simply tea without a story.
The interesting teas are often the ones that reveal themselves gradually. The ones that make you think about the next sip.
So now, when I drink a tea with a little bitterness, I do not immediately assume something has gone wrong.
Sometimes, that little edge is exactly what makes the tea memorable.
Maybe the question is not whether a tea is completely smooth.
Maybe it is whether the flavour gives us something worth noticing.
— Maria Tan
On tea, culture, and everyday rituals.
Wellness Tea Is a Scam, but Tea Can Still Be Good for You
There is a strange contradiction in the way we talk about tea today. For centuries, tea was appreciated for its taste, its rituals, and the moments it created. Today, it is often sold as something else entirely. A solution. A promise. A shortcut. The language surrounding wellness tea has become increasingly familiar. Detox tea. Cleansing…
-
Camellia Tea: A Blossom, A Leaf, A Legacy Rooted in Camellia Sinensis
My grandmother kept her camellia tea in a battered tin that had once held biscuits. She never called it anything fancy. It was just cha, brewed strong in the mornings using fresh tea leaves from the tea plant, poured into small cups that had lost their matching saucers years ago. I didn’t know then that…
-
Why “Caffeine-Free Tea” Marketing Should Be Regulated (Seriously)
Hear me out: we have become far too comfortable with the phrase “caffeine-free tea.” It appears on beautiful packaging, wellness websites, and café menus with the confidence of a health guarantee. The words suggest calm evenings, better sleep, and a gentler relationship with what we drink. But there is a problem. The phrase sounds clearer…
-
The Forgotten Luxury of Sitting Still at Japanese Tea House
You stoop to enter the traditional japanese tea house. That is the first thing the tea house asks of you, before the tea, before the talk, before anything at all. The doorway is low, deliberately so, and even the tall must bow to pass through it. In that small act of folding the body, something…
-
Stop Calling It “Premium”: Why Most Luxury Tea Branding Is Empty
There is a word I have become increasingly cautious of in the tea world. Premium. It appears everywhere. Premium leaves. Premium harvests. Premium collections. Premium experiences. The word sounds reassuring. It suggests care, quality, and something worth paying attention to. But after seeing it attached to almost everything, I sometimes wonder whether it has started…
-
Pryce Tea: A Modern Pour with Old Tea-Room Ambitions
I visited on a weekday afternoon, around three, when the city had quieted into that particular lull between lunch and the evening rush. I’d been curious about Pryce Tea for a while, mostly because the brand keeps surfacing among people who talk about teas the way some people talk about wine. With a reputation built…
-
The Seasons in a Tin: How Weather Shapes What I Reach For
I have a small habit that I never really noticed until recently. The weather changes, and somehow, so does the tea I want. On a hot afternoon, I find myself reaching for something light and floral. When rain settles over the windows, I want something darker, warmer, perhaps a little more comforting. On those rare…
-
Ginger Lily Afternoon Tea on Orchard Road: A Floral Chapter in Singapore’s Culinary Story
I noticed the ginger lily flowers before I noticed anything else. Not real ones, exactly. A wall of them, suspended in resin, catching the light as I stepped off the lift on Level 5 at Hilton Singapore Orchard, home to Ginger Lily, a floral-themed afternoon tea lounge on Orchard Road. I stood there a second…
-
Minimalism, But Make It Warm: A Simpler Way to Drink Better Tea
There is a certain irony about tea. The more we learn about it, the easier it becomes to complicate it. A simple cup of leaves and water slowly becomes surrounded by equipment, measurements, techniques, and expectations. We begin collecting teapots, comparing brewing methods, and searching for the perfect setup. None of these things are wrong….
-
A Humble Cup in an Age of Overdesigned Drinks: iTea Review
The bubble tea I queued for last month came with a caramelized brûlée top I had to crack with the back of my spoon. It was fine. Pretty, even. But somewhere between the torched sugar and the cheese foam and the third topping I didn’t ask for, I lost the drink itself. So I went…
