You can’t necessarily believe everything you read on the internet, and when it comes to tea, there is no exception to this rule. This became true when I got presented evidence from ‘Machine Gun Kelly’. For the purpose of this article, MGK requested that his real identity be kept anonymous. “You know, these tea-farmer accounts on Instagram that has thousands of followers. They present their profile in a way that makes you believe that they’re actual tea farmers, when actually, they’re reselling from TaoBao,” according to MGK. With these allegations, MGK showed me exact listings from several prominent tea farmer influencer Instagram accounts, along with one tea vendor. When showing me comparisons from TaoBao listings to their own, it proved that the product photos at hand are copied from Taobao. For reference, ‘TaoBao’ is a China-exclusive online retailer, and is the eighth most visited website globally according to the Alexa Rank. The four accounts that have evidence against them are @TeaFarmerLin, @TeaFarmerBruce, @TeaFarmerGirl, and Crafted Leaf Teas. I was then shown where ‘Crafted-Leaf Teas’ copied a product photo from TaoBao, which is a tea listed for around $6.00 USD for a pound. This particularly hit home, as I had bought 50 grams of this tea from for $20.00 UDS. If they really got their tea from this TaoBao vendor, this means I bought this tea from Crafted-Leaf Teas at 3,900% mark-up. When reaching out to the accused for comment, only Tea Farmer Girl responded. “Some Taobao are ours, and some TaoBao good come from the same factory as ours — all of which are product information provided by the factory,” she stated. However, when looking, the TaoBao accounts come from a Chinese tea warehouse. This is damning. Tea Farmer Girl's admission to this means two things: These accounts are price-gouging the same product for their Western-Facing audience. This also means that they’re not really tea farmers. Lets put this in perspective: China has their own internet that’s specific to them. To be able to run a Western-facing shop, you would have to use a VPN to bypass the Chinese government's restrictions. Given that a lot of Chinese farmers do not live in cities, the likelihood of a farmer owning advanced enough technology to operate a western-facing online retail shop on a larger scale while bypassing the Chinese government is not likely. However, most vendors rely on wholesalers to some extent or another. Not one person or one entity can do everything. However, most vendors don’t copy-and-paste the exact same photo and price their tea at 3,900% mark-up. That still leaves the question: Are these ‘tea farmer’ accounts authentic, or are they just fantasy? That’s for you to decide…. Posts regarding tea from Crafted Leaf Teas has since been removed from my social media, as I no longer associate with them for allegedly selling me tea at 3,900% mark-up. @TeaFarmerLin, @TeaFarmerBruce, and Crafted Leaf Teas have yet to respond for comment. ~The Oolong Drunk

Hello hello! About a month ago, Crimson Lotus Tea released their new line-up of black tea. Although they've sourced black tea for others before, this is the first time they've released a tea that wasn't sheng our shou, in eight years! For this line-up of Dian Hong Black Tea (which is a Yunnan-grown bud-heavy black tea), they released three different variations -- all ranging from being light to heavy with tea buds. After buying a cake of Intergalactic, the most bud-heavy of the three in their line-up, I opened my tea-mail to find samples of the other two in the line-up -- Roam and Big Red. How did Crimson Lotus Tea do with sourcing a tea that's outside of their normal range? Is Intergalactic out of this world? Let's find out! Tea: Intergalactic Dimensions: 3.3g of white tea in a 50ml gaiwan (1g per 15ml) Infusions: 14 Price: $34.99 USD for a 200g tea cake Water Temperature: 200ºf Infusions 1 - 6 When smelling this tea, I first noticed heavy aromas of malt and honeydew. With the first infusion, the tea's slick texture slid its way past my tongue, leaving behind woodsy notes of sweet malt. With a few more infusions, the light notes of sweet notes of tree-bark and tree sap became sharp and sweet. By the seventh infusion, there was a hint of brandy lingering in the mouth, which was overshadowed by a fluffy malt echo that filled the air in my mouth. Infusions 7 - 12 The notes of malt and rum were balancing well with the notes of tree bark, with a texture that was equal parts light and smooth. As the session continued, this tea's notes held a consistency in notes and texture for at least four infusions, before beginning to ease up. However, by the fourteenth infusion, this tea was looking pale in color and was ready to be concluded... Tea: Big Red and Roam Dimensions: 3.3g of white tea in a 50ml gaiwan (1g per 15ml) Infusions: 14 Price: Roam: $24.99 USD for a 200g tea cake Big Red: $29.99 USD for a 200g tea cake Water Temperature: 200ºf Infusions 1 - 12 At first, Roam started out with soft notes of malt and light stone-fruit. With just a few infusions, this tea's body was noticeably balanced with sweetness, fruitiness, and woodiness. This tea's texture also jumped out at me because it was fluffy, yet defined. When trying Big Red, I first noticed a strong woodsy-like maltiness that immediately blanket the entire palate. While having less defined fruit-like sweetness to Roam, this tea's texture was substantially more defined in regards to being smooth. However, just like Big Red, roam was very well defined and held a strong consistency throughout the session. Conclusion: To start, I wanted to commend Crimson Lotus Tea for going outside of their comfort zone with releasing their first line-up of Crimson Lotus Tea-brand black tea. One thing I really enjoyed about Intergalactic was how radiant and pleasant its aroma was. This was carried over to this tea's tasting notes, which at one point, was energizing and room-filling. Another aspect about this tea I liked was its ability to continually change and alter throughout the session. As far as Big Red and Roam goes, they were more consistent with their notes throughout the session. However, one thing to keep in mind with Intergalactic is that this tea still felt very fresh. Due to being so bud-heavy, this tea could benefit from aging for a month or two for its notes to really shine. Due to personal experience with other Dian hong, Intergalactic will continue to grow and become even more incredible after a bit of time. Overall, I believe that Crimson Lotus Tea did a phenomenal job with sourcing Dian Hong. Out of the three, they are all delightful on their own merit. Despite that Crimson Lotus Tea being known for carrying some of the best shou-puer in the industry, who know what else they can master if they continue to explore other avenues in tea? We can only daydream of amazing things... ~The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! Longleaf Tea is a tea company that produces Mississippi-Grown tea, right in the US! Despite producing green and black tea since their launch, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a couple of samples of their white tea. While only producing less than a pound of white tea for experimenting with tea production methods, Longleaf Tea sent me samples of two different kinds -- one from this Summer (2021) and one from the Fall of 2020. This makes it one of the worlds-first North American produced white teas -- ever. Note: For today's write-up, I'll primarily be going over the most recent harvest in white tea Just like how other teas from different regions are reflective of its surroundings, can the same be said for Mississippi-grown white tea? Is Mississippi-grown white tea worth getting hyped over, or will it soon be a Louisiana/Mississippi bayou front porch myth? Let's find out! (Photo: Fall 2020 Harvest) Dimensions: 5g of white tea in a 75ml teapot Infusions: 14 Price: n/a Water Temperature: 200ºf (Photo: Summer 2021 Harvest) Infusions 1 - 7: My initial reaction upon seeing this tea was the wide range of color the dry leaf was. Alongside the wide array of colors, the dry leaf also smelled line pine-wood. The first infusion of this tea brought a smooth and savory texture of grass, along with a faint mouthwatering aftertaste of an autumn leaf pile. As the tea kept opening up, its texture continued to refine a consistent energizing sharpness that brought on heavy notes of tree bark, more green grass, and a radiating humid-mouth feeling that reminded me of what the woods that surrounded the Red River smelled like when fishing with my father. However, by the seventh infusion, the green grass started to resemble tall weeds in a cool and humid summer afternoon. (Photo: Summer 2021 Harvest) Infusions 8 - 14: Halfway through the session, I noticed that a faint pine sap-like sweetness tried to echo in the corners of my mouth, but was still being covered by the tall brown grass and fresh forest smell. By the tenth infusion, this tea was already showing signs of slowing down and by the fourteenth infusion, this tea was showing signs that it had no more to give... (Photo: Summer 2021 Harvest) Conclusion: To start, one of the main aspects about this tea that I enjoyed was in regards to its profile. Despite being harvested from young tea trees on a new farm, this white tea was ready to make itself known. I also enjoyed how the woodsy and grassy notes of this tea were refreshing -- something I don't often associate with woodsy tasting notes. While most white teas are often either floral or fruity, it was lovely to taste a white tea that was strong in carrying an identity of its own. However, one of the main differences between this white tea, and the other sample of white tea from 2020, was that the production of the tea was a little different. The fall 2020 white tea had more tea buds and had better consistency regarding its appearance. Despite how it looked there was something ornately different about how the 2021 version of this tea was made, and was much more appealing to me. Overall, I was a fan of the 2021 Mississippi-grown white tea. One thing that rarely happens to me in tea, that happened to me with this session, is to be brought back to a memory that I had long forgotten. My dad was from Mississippi, and when I was a kid, we'd use to go to the Red River and go fishing during the summer. Now when I drank this tea, and when I closed my eyes, the tasting notes took me back to the Mississippi woods in the summer with my dad. Despite that my dad has long-left this earth, it was surprising to be taken back to another visit with him :') If one was to ask the question: Is Mississippi-grown white tea reflective of its environment? I'd answer with a strong yes. While this tea may not be talked about among the native-Cajun in the Louisiana and Mississippi bayou as a myth, it will actually be enjoyed under the stars that shine on the US-South at night instead... ~ The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk" (Photo: Summer 2021 Harvest)

Hello hello! Last year, I brewed an entire 50g tea cake while trying to follow Cwyn’s 'Death By Tea' Blog as a guide. However, in her initial experiment, she brewed a 100g gourd from the White2Tea Tea Club. While always being unsettled at the fact that I didn’t quite reach the same heights she did, I decided to do it right this time by brewing an entire 200g tea cake of White2Tea’s 2021 Green HYPE. On October 2nd, on the 2nd season of my Instagram LIVE talk show ‘Blissfully Tea Drunk With…’, I broke out the tea cake and began the mega-brew! However, on the next installment of my LIVE talk show, I continued the experiment by having Nicole Wilson of ‘Tea For Me Please’ join me to try and wrap up the session. However, what took place during that period of time? How did it all turn out? Let’s dig in! Specifics: Dimensions: 200g beeng for a 1500 ml coffee craft (roughly 1g per 7.5ml) Infusions: 40 Days: 8 Water Temperature: 200ºf Amount of Water: 12.5 gallons Storage: When not brewing, I placed a lid on the coffee craft, before storing it in a gallon zip-lock baggie in the fridge. Day 1: On day 1, while LIVE on my talk show, I broke out the cake and broke it into several chunks. While breaking apart the beeng, my tea-pic Handke broke when reaching the beeng-hole. After brewing several infusions LIVE, I later took a break and continued to brew this tea throughout the day. After six infusions of flash-steeps, the tea kept quickly expanding and kept becoming stronger and stronger. With a sixth flash-steep, and due to the incredibly high leaf-to-water ration, the tea was still so strong that it was almost undrinkable. Note: You can watch the beginning of this brew HERE on my IG-LIVE talk show! Day 2: On day 2, the tea kept expanding to the point that the coffee craft was now jam-packed. I tried to even wedge my pinky finger in it, and it wouldn’t even budge. Even with several more flash infusions, the tea was still insanely strong. Day 3: Day three looked like day 4, except, my stomach was still having issues processing the concentrated tea. Given this was such a fresh sheng, it was still very acidic. When looking at the coffee craft, my anxiety instantly spiked. Day 4: I only did one flash steep. The taste was becoming less bitter, however, was still so strong that it was still hard to drink. By this point, I had to buy an antacid. Day 5: Now with a lot of anxiety, I also only did one flash steep. I didn’t want to touch it. I was sick of it and yet, it was barely evening out. Day 6: After having anxiety and forcing myself to brew this again, I was still too overwhelmed to keep going... Day 7: By day 7, the next episode of my Instagram-LIVE talk show aired where I tried to wrap up the session with tea-blogger Nicole Wilson, aka Tea For Me Please. While on my LIVE, I did several infusions with Nicole. However, I also began to notice that the flash-steeps were beginning to settle down after a bit. While on the show, I even tried to dump the tea upside-down to show how jam-packed the tea was in the coffee craft. However, after ending the episode, I was determined to not give up and let this session win. I then boiled my kettle, poured it over the tea leaves, and let it sit in the craft for thirty minutes. With hopes of diluting the tea, and with frustration that the fucker was never going to completely brew, I finally managed to kill enough of this tea’s strength to bring it back down to a normal level. After the 30 minute infusion, I infused it one more time. To my surprise, it was smooth, pleasant, and enjoyable. I was prepared to toss it at that point, but instead decided to keep it for one more day…. Note: You can watch day 7 HERE on my IG-LIVE talk show!y Day 8: On day eight, I woke up refreshed and was ready to brew this tea to the end. With determination, and with fear that keeping the leaves any longer would induce an ugly episode of food poisoning, I kept chugging along. Especially with day 7’s 30-minute infusion, this tea quickly declined in strength. By the end of the night, I infused it for one more time and the leaves were finally spent. With a sigh of relief and tears of joy, the nightmare brew was finally over. The Aftermath: When digging this tea out of the coffee craft, I had to use an ice pic to pry out the leaves. They had expanded so much in the tight space that it took over four minutes to finally pry it out. And when prying it out, I managed to isolate the beeng-hole. To my surprise, it was still mostly intact and was dry in the very center. Conclusion: In conclusion, Fuck this. When Cwyn did this on her blog, she used a much larger vessel to brew her 100g gourd. Despite using the largest possible vessel I owned, the leaf-to-water ratio was still insanely high. Because of this high leaf-to-water ratio, the majority of my infusions were flash-steeps to help fight this tea’s strength. If it wasn’t for doing a 30-min brew at the end of day-7, this very well could have kept going for several more days. Overall, this is an experiment I’ll never be repeating again. For starters, 2021 Hype was an amazing tea under normal circumstances. When doing the mega-brew, I really felt like this tea didn’t have a real chance to shine and be as enjoyable as I know it to be. To add, there was so much tea and water, especially for how acidic fresh sheng was, my acid reflux started to negatively impact my health. If I were to do this again, I’d make sure I’d have a large group of people to share with. I’d also make sure I’d have a 3,000ml giawan so that the infusions would be more normal (or, close to what normal is?). I will now chalk this up to one of the crazy-as-hell stunts I did on my talk show ‘Blissfully Tea Drunk With…’, and will make for a fun memory for the future to come. Except, I’m burned out on sheng, so I’ll need a good while before this memory can start becoming fun again…. You can watch my talk show ‘Blissfully Tea Drunk With…’ LIVE Saturdays on my Instagram @theoolongdrunk. With love, ~ The Oolong Drunk “Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! Around a month ago, Crimson Lotus Tea launched a special edition of their rum-barrel shou-puer tea. For the past 3-4 years, Crimson Lotus Tea has released an annual version of rum-barrel shou puer tea. However, this year they released the maocha (loose-leaf puer tea) version of their ten year aged shou puer 'Black Gold', and aged it in a barrel for one full year! After partaking in their 2019 release of rum-barrel shou, which was aged for three months, how does this special edition version of this experiment hold up? Let's find out! The Session Details: Price: $59.99 USD for 60g of tea stored in a clay jar Steeps: 14 Dimensions: 4g of tea in a 60ml mini-gaiwan Temperature of Water: Boiling (206ºf -- in high altitude) Steeps 1 - 7 To start, the loose-leaf had earthy notes of a clean forest and tree bark, with a prominent odor of rum. With the first infusion, the clean notes of alcohol/rum brushed over the tongue while leaving behind a smooth tree bark and room-filling woodsiness. After a few more infusions, the clean and smooth texture kept expanding until it became a near-velvet texture -- leaving behind three-dimensional malt-like tree bark and sweet rum. After the seventh infusion, this tea kept expanding and showed no signs of slowing down. Steeps 8 - 14 Halfway through the session, the velvet-like texture began to slightly mellow. With the tea's body starting to mellow, the mixture of tree bark and rum began to resemble a sweet malt-like black tea. At this stage of the infusion, the liqueur was amber in color. As this tea's strength began to mellow out, it began to show a strong multidimensional oily texture that made the tea glide through the mouth like an actual glass of rum -- just without the bite. However, by the fourteenth infusion, this tea had given all it could and this barrel gave its very last drop of rum-infused daydream... Conclusion: One of my favorite aspects about this tea was how complex it was. While having prominent notes, the notes were presented in a way that was more than face-value. This tea also excelled with having an excellent balance of tasting notes, and despite being heavy in texture, was incredibly smooth and clean. As far as the rum-barrel profile, it was strong enough to be noticeable, yet tied in all of the notes to create one unique and mind-blowing palate. Overall, I believe this is one of Crimson Lotus Tea's greatest experiments. After following them and their line of barrel-aged teas, I truly believe this limited release sets their previous experiments apart. With the bar set already so high on their sou selections, I couldn't imagine (until now) that the bar could keep getting risen. If you happen to grab yourself one of these limited releases from Crimson Teas, I strongly suggest that you should while you can. Teas like this only come around once in a lifetime... ~Blissfully Tea Drunk

Sometimes, there are special occasions in life where you get to catch a glimpse of a shining star. If you’re lucky enough, you sometimes get the rare opportunity of being in the same light of a burning star before its flame burns out. For me, I was one of the lucky ones who not only got to catch a glimpse of a shining star — I got to know her before her flames burned out. This is the story of a social-media sensation that helped shaped the western online-tea community, and how at one point, was the pillar of it. This tea journey inspired so many others, and was the leader of popularizing aestheticism in tea photography, while captivated thousands of others with her storytelling through tea, and photography. This is the true story of Tea_Tography. For this tea journey, I sat down with Jordan and talked to her about how where it all started. However, we must go back to 2010 when Jordan joined the US-Navy on a 6-year contract. Halfway through her naval career, she got a terrifying diagnosis. After learning of her diagnosis, she looked for other ways to better her health. With this in mind, a fellow shipmate introduced her to Teavana. After learning more about the health benefits of tea, she eventually went down the rabbit hole into learning more about the drink itself. It didn’t take long before Jordan was known as the ship’s ‘tea girl’. This was even more evident when her ship took part in the 24th Exercise of RenPac 2014 — a global exercise in Hawaii between the larger-global naval community. Her officer even brought her tea back from a visit from one of the Chinese Naval Ships. “He brought back tea and gave me some. I’m pretty sure it was a tie-guan yin,” she recalled. Being known as her ship’s ‘tea girl’ made unexpected impressions on others on her ship. This even led to how she met her now-husband. “He was working the scullery (the dishwashing area in a mess hall) and I asked him to clean my tea ware,” she said when recalling how the romance started. Over the course of several visits to the scullery to clean her tea-ware, he surprised her. Her shipmate ordered some of her favorite teas without her knowledge and surprised her with them. From that moment on, fate was sealed. (Photo: Jordan at her last day in the Navy cir. 2016) With being on the ship for up to a month at a time, she leaned into her passion for tea and tea knowledge and started regularly reading various tea bloggers for tea recommendations. “When I was under-way, I started reading Oolong Owl (popular tea blogger). Her website would load on the ship, I’d read her reviews, and if we still had internet, I’d order teas so I could have new tea when we arrived to port,” Jordan explained. However, it wasn’t until stumbling upon The Tea Conjurer (now-retired tea blogger) that lit a fire within Jordan that could not be extinguished. Jordan was already a hobbyist-photographer, but it wasn’t until seeing the way The Tea Conjurer captured their tea session that inspired Jordan to take tea photos of her own. It didn’t take long until Jordan felt inspired to post reviews of her very own. Before long, she launched her very own Tumblr page. After several years of enjoying tea under her belt, she finally made the leap forward to publish her first-ever tea review. On Tuesday, October 28th, 2014, Jordan broke ground by publishing her very first tea review. The review was from now-closed tea shop Butiki, and their Lemon French Macaron Tea. After testing the waters of blogging, she picked up steam and became posting reviews more and more regularly. However, it wasn’t until November 27th, 2016 when she launched her Instagram account and posted her first photo. With this post, she would soon be launched into overnight success. When asking her about how quickly she became successful, Jordan said, “It was wild to me at the time. I don’t know if there were a lot of people who were focused with photography at the time, or creating a great review? But realistically, I didn’t know how to put my review into words very well.” While writing reviews didn’t come very naturally, she learned that she was able to captivate her passion and love for the art of tea more easily through photography. “But I knew how to take a photo and I knew how to express myself and the way I liked the tea through photography,” Jordan said. With the rapid growth in popularity, reaching a few new thousand followers every month, she eventually migrated to reviewing teas from Tumblr and other social media platforms, she began exploring ways to publish content on her own platform. On January 6th, 2017, her website was live. However, shortly after the launch of her website, this is where our tea journeys cross. Just like many others, I was also enchanted by the beauty of Jordan’s photos. After coming across one of her photos through White2Tea, I began conversations with her. Unbeknownst to me, she lived in the same city as me. After further conversation, we both decided to meet for tea. I met Jordan at The Cultured Cup, a tea shop in Dallas that we had both wanted to check out. After pulling into The Cultured Cup, I got nervous over meeting the artist herself. I had now followed her photos for quite some time, and yet, I was still relatively new to tea and tea blogging. Upon actually seeing and meeting Jordan, I was surprised to find that she was close to my age. She was kind, sweet, and cool. She had an aura about her that radiated warmth, safety, and intelligence. (Photo: Left, Fort Worth Japanese Gardens. Right, Meeting Jordan at The Cultured Cup, Screen-Grab from tea_tography's Instagram Story) After a day of driving in the DFW metroplex she invited me up to her then-apartment and that’s where I saw it… That’s where I saw what she was famous for — the windowsill that held her staging area for her photos. It was not just surreal, it was magical. I was right in front of the actual social-media sensation. To make the moment more magical, Jordan gifted me an extra temperature-reading tea kettle and even sent me home with tea (which I later pissed her off by posting my most-viewed Instagram story by tossing it in the yard when it broke -- video below). In another adventure, we even met at the Fort Worth Japanese Gardens. After some time, Jordan moved to a closer part of town. In this period, we went to The Cultured Cup several more times. She even came over to my new place to have tea with me in Fort Worth. And at one point, Jordan also attended a birthday party of mine at a pizza-joint and gifted me a Bitter-Leaf Teas gift card (where I bought my gaiwan, which I still use to this day and feature in blog posts and social media posts -- photo here). During this period in her tea journey, Jordan was becoming more and more popular. She had reached a milestone of 10,000 followers, was recently being copied by various social media accounts, and was doing free-lance photography for other tea companies. She also hosted several ‘intro to gong-fu workshops at The University that she then attended, and was continuing to post and upload more and more content. Jordan’s tea journey was not only at full speed, and she was in demand. Tea_Tography was now dominating the western-facing social media tea community. However, she wouldn’t hit a personal peak with her photography sensationalism until January of 2018, where she has over 15,000 Instagram followers and was invited to cover the 2nd Annual Houston Tea Fest. At the time, I was scheduled to host a workshop on puer-tea and also cover the event. After talking again, Jordan and I decided to carpool and head down to Houston together… (Photo: Tea_Tography's Instagram Story, Friday Janurary 25th, 2018) “I don’t remember that,” Jordan said after asking her if she recalled that we listened to the entirety of ‘Reputation’ by Taylor Swift on the 4.5-hour drive down to Houston. I specifically remember because after the first few seconds of ‘I Did Something Bad’ where Taylor sings, “I don’t trust a narcissist, they love me,” I abruptly shouted oh god no and immediately changed the song. Thankfully for me, Jordan also didn’t remember how socially awkward I was for the remainder of the drive. Later that afternoon, Jordan and I detoured and arrived at Tin Yen Tea and Herbs where Jordan and I got a pot of AliShan Taiwanese Oolong and had gong-fu service. It lasted for a little over 2 hours — two hours of pure bliss. Up to that point, this sheltered tea-blogger never knew that shops offered gong-fu service like that. I was in awe. I dropped Jordan off, I went to my hotel, and the excitement of attending my very first tea festival kept me awake all night. (Photo: Tin Yin Tea and Herbs, Tea Session with Jordan) The next morning, Jordan and I met for the free breakfast at the hotel restaurant before heading to the convention. I was slated to speak at 4:00 PM that day, and after touring the entire festival, thirty minutes later we had seen everything. We even popped into a guys lecture about his in-depth look at how Starbucks stinted the entirety of the tea industry…. After finding out that it was just a disgruntled 30-y/o channeling his inner Karen over his thoughts on corporate capitalism, we quietly and quickly hauled ass out of his never-ending bitch-fest. With having toured the entire tea festival, and a little more than six hours to kill until my very own lecture, we decided to leave the convention and mosey on over to the NASA Johnson Space Center. We got rained on when taking a 2-hour tour of the facility, looked at historical NASA memorabilia, and then concluded our outing by grabbing Jimmy Johns. We arrived back at the convention with just enough time for me to set up my power-point. At 4:00 PM, I taught a packed audience of 6 people about puer tea before Jordan and I parted ways. I went back to the festival the next day, voted for my favorite chai in a chai-tea competition, then started my long drive back home after learning that Jordan wasn’t returning to the festival… (Photo: 'What is Puer Tea?', Lecture by The Oolong Drunk on Saturday, January 26th 2018 at The Houston Tea Fest) Jordan and I only hung out a few more times. During one visit, we met at The Cultured Cup for a final time, and a little while after, met back at her then-house in Fort Worth. She invited me in, and upon walking into her house, she gave me a tour of her new home. She first guided me over to her entertainment center that housed her entire tea-ware collection. There it all was. Lined up perfectly were pieces of tea ware, many of which I had recognized from her photos. It was almost like a museum exhibit of the many iconic pieces that helped her with her artistry. Then, she showed me her new camera — a camera she had begun using to develop film with. She then showed me her bathroom, where she had been doing at-home film development. During this tour, I noticed something. I noticed that when showing me her home-photo lab, she was more excited and passionate to show me where she developed photos when compared to her tea ware. In fact, a sparkle in her eye was noticeable when talking about her original passion for photography— a sparkle that no longer existed when it came to tea. She took me to her new staging and we prepared for tea. She dug through dozens of teas that were sent to her for review but picked something she had bought for herself — a Japanese Sencha. This wasn’t something she was supposed to promote, not something she was gifted — this was something that was personally for her. After a few hours, it was time to pack up and leave. Before leaving, she took my photo with two of her cameras and we hugged. I walked back to my car, said goodbye, and drove off for a final time. In the coming months, my own personal life became chaotic and upside down. After a short series of events, including a break-up that left me temporarily homeless, I upped and moved across several states. Despite my personal timeline being disrupted and taking me somewhere else, and despite our tea journeys parting ways from each other, Jordan’s tea journey didn’t last for much longer... (Photo: Last 'The Cultured Cup' adventure, and last selfie, with Jordan) “My reviews were waning at the time. I was in the in-between transition of leaving my thoughts on Instagram posts instead of my actual blog,” Jordan explained as she detailed the beginning of the end of Tea_Tography. Jordan continued to explain that she was caught in a rut of feeling obligated to keep up with a regular posting schedule. And after a change in Instagram's algorithm, the infrequency of follower engagement, she began putting more pressure on herself to keep posting on a regular schedule. With her becoming more and more in demand, she was putting more pressure on herself than she ever thought she would. The pressure she was putting on herself became mentally taxing. “I was drinking tea for the enjoyment of posting about it, and not drinking tea for the enjoyment of the tea itself,” she said. After feeling the stress that came with the obligation to keep a regular posting schedule, especially with being hard on herself, Jordan quickly felt her passion for Tea_Tography fade. “I tried to re-spark my passion for tea by transitioning over to youtube. It didn’t last long. It actually became more strenuous than photography,” she continued to explain. After reaching a new limit with creative fatigue, she quickly realized that blogging has made her not only resent tea, but photography as well. Then, at the end of January of 2020, Jordan decided to sell her beloved digital camera — the very tool that she utilized to help her get to her spot. She was done with not just tea, she was also done with photography. (Photo: The very last digital-camera photograph, by Tea_Tography) While trying to retain any tangible inspiration for tea and photography, she tried to experiment with using her analog camera to capture tea time. However, that didn’t last long, as the process of developing film was too expensive to upkeep. After taking long breaks between posting her next three photos on social media with film, she knew the end was coming. On October 20th, 2020, Jordan published her very last photo of tea. Six years after her initial blog post, and after gaining thousands of followers and becoming a sensation, Jordan’s tea journey came to an end and Tea_Tography was concluded… When asking her about the final days of her blog, Jordan reflects, “I did feel guilty. I felt like I had to take photos, but that’s when I started resenting everything about it. I felt forced.” After asking her if she would have done anything differently, she said, “I wish I had taken a different approach and enjoyed tea for what it was, and didn't try to be so show-ey. I wish I did it for me.” “As I get older, I get more private with what I do. I have a lot of hobbies and I don’t post them on social media. I just do stuff for me now. Getting older and maturing has helped me realize that to enjoy these things, I have to do them alone,” she stated in regards to knowing her true inner-self. However, she realizes that tea is a massive part of her life’s journey and has played a part in every major life event up to this point and time. “I still really enjoy tea. It still has a place in my heart. I have so many memories with it if I had not gotten invested in it,” she said as we wrapped up our phone call. Jordan and I concluded our convo after she said, “I will always love it. I just won’t be so apt to share it on a large community. In a small setting with friends and family, but it will be a time that will now be spent for me.” Jordan and I hung up and I began reflecting on her incredible journey. I remember the last time seeing Jordan that the sparkle she once had for tea, was gone. It was something that was there when first meeting her, and something I didn’t pick up on until writing this article now. Even now, Jordan’s domain has expired as her blog sits archived — still open to see. One of her final blog posts was her review of The Houston Tea Festival, and when looking back, saw that the last-4 of her Instagram posts were done entirely on film. Looking back at the archive of Tea_Tography, I was reminded to appreciate the beauty we have in our community now. I now see various bloggers and photographers who were initially inspired by Jordan and have furthered their own journey in tea with inspiration through Jordan’s work. Many of which, probably don’t even know the story of Tea_Tography or where some of us get inspiration from. This is especially true, especially with estheticism on photographing tea. It also made me wonder how the balance of being a fan of someone’s work, and demand for more, can inadvertently make them put pressure on themselves to the point of pushing them away from their art. I got a tear in the corner of my eye and felt it slide down the side of my cheek as I closed the pages on my notes from talking with Jordan, and continued to reflect on everything she had just said. Tea_Tography was now in the past. She arrived, captivated an audience, and was quietly gone. Sometimes, we get a glimpse of a shining star. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get the rare opportunity of getting to be in the same light of a burning star before its flames burn out. Just like many of the stars in our own galaxy that have burned out many years ago, their light still reaches us and lights up the inner corners of our hearts. Their light continues to shine bright, and despite being gone, will continue to shine for many many years to come..… ~The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk" (Photo: Very last photo on film, by Tea_Tography)

It's not every day you come across a social experiment on tea, especially when infused with the US Stock Exchange. The US Stock Market is also not everyone's first thought when thinking about tea, except for Chase. Chase is a 27-year-old from Indiana, who currently works in Chicago for political campaigns, would tell you differently. After coming across one of the most bizarre tea-related vlogs on all of the internet, I spoke with Chase -- who runs a vlog named ''One David's Tea Share A Day' where he posts daily updates to, well, buying one share of David's Tea stock a day. Yes, you read that right. Chase is vlogging his journey buying one share of David's Tea stock a day. Chase started his series on April 16th, 2021, and is currently up to almost 200 shares of David's Tea Stock. "My plan is to go for at least two years, but will continue this project indefinitely," he continued. Chase also explained that this isn't a meme in the making, but instead, he's completely serious. But why David’s Tea, you ask? [Photo: Personal Tea Haul from David's Tea] "When solidifying this project, David's Tea was the largest [retail] tea company in the US at the time," Chase claimed. He went on to say that even if it wasn't for David's Tea's rank in the US market, he's just simply a fan of them. After speaking with David, I later spoke with 'CatsDrinkTeaToo' -- who requested I keep his identity anonymous. 'CatsDrinkTeaToo' is a tea-drinker on Instagram who has also been a licensed stock-broker for the past three years. When I asked Cats about the ability to have enough influence over the market by buying one share a day, it won't cut it. "Theoretically it's a great idea but realistically, it won't happen," Cats said. In regards to having any influence over the market for continually buying one share a day, Cats continued to say, "It's not large enough to influence the price." He further explained that you'd need to buy roughly around 49-million dollars worth of David's Tea stock for where it's currently priced, and even at that, your influence would still be little-to-non existent. According to Cats, David's Tea is a low-traded stock and had around 280 exchanges the day I spoke with him. Despite being a low-traded stock, Cats warned that market manipulation can happen at any time. He also warned that when talking about trading stock, you have to be careful to not convince others to buy alongside you because according to the SEC, doing so is market manipulation -- which is illegal. However, according to Chase, he's very aware that he's walking a very thin line. "I want to enjoy my journey and share tea with others. I'm not convincing them to invest in David's Tea, and never will, but I am trying to convince others to drink tea with me" he claimed. While trying to avoid a financial influence, Chase wants to set a social one. "Young people need to change companies from the top down," Chase said after explaining that he started this social-media series after wanting to show the youth that it's important to take charge of their financial future. He indicated that there's no other option, and due to the current state of the economy, making a change from the bottom-up isn't working. According to Cats, the younger generation just simply isn't saving. And he's right. According to a 2019 article from Forbes, Generation-Z can no-longer afford to buy a home, or save for retirement. "It's an art project. I'm here for the long haul," Chase concluded as we ended our convo. David's Tea became public on June 5th, 2015 on the US Stock Exchange, and has yet to respond for further comment. -- The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! This week, I got a box in the mail from Canadian-based tea company, Pugs and Pigs! They included a few pouches of their limited-released tea 'White Grapes' -- a chardonnay barrel-aged Taiwanese oolong. In this experiment, Pugs and Pigs aged a cultivar blend oolong (Si Ji Chun and Ying Xiang) in a chardonnay barrel for three months. Was this unique experiment in tea fragrancing a success, or a bust? Let's find out! Price: $5.00 USD for a 5g pouch Steeps: 12 Dimensions: 5g of tea in a 75ml yixing tea pot Temperature of Water: 200ºf Infusions 1 - 6 To start, this tea's first infusion opened up to the faint notes of green-grass, dairy creme, and a light fruity-tart hint of green grape skin. As the tea opened up with the second and third infusion, the notes of buttery creme blossomed in the mouth with a very slick, yet subtle note of green grapes. The tartness of the green-grape skin was more noticeable and left behind a tongue-warm sweetness -- similar to the same kind of feeling and sweetness of how a fig or date is warm. By the sixth infusion, this oolong's gardenia-like green grape sweetness was perfectly balanced with notes of grass and butter. Despite being noticeable, the sweetness was more subtle. Infusions 7 - 12 At the 7th infusion, there was a notable drop in the grape-skin like sweetness. Along with the grape-skin like sweetness, the creamy buttery notes began to drop off as well -- leaving behind strong grassy notes of fresh hay and spinach. As the session continued, the grape-skin sweetness became more and more faint. By the twelfth infusion, this tea began to faze out completely. Despite fazing out, it still held a strong backbone that fought hard to stay alive. However, I decided to end it here and let this tea session rest... Conclusion: To start, one thing I liked about this tea was how aromatic this tea's wet leaf was. The first three infusions, I stuck my nose in my teapot and a strong aroma of sweet polished grapes and popcorn butter ran across my face. Not only was the aroma impressive, but it was also surprising. Another aspect about this tea I liked was how it managed to have a wide range of notes and textures that balanced well together. However, one drawback with this tea is that the notes of chardonnay were light. It's not something that was strong, but rather, light and breezy. In conclusion, I think you'd want to adjust your expectations before trying this tea. Because of how subtle the notes are, along with the price point, I'm not sure I'd recommend this to someone who's not used to drinking delicate teas. However, in my opinion, this is an experiment gone right. With how that more seasoned tea enthusiasts will love and appreciate, and should at least try once. I'll certainly be looking forward to the next year's production of this tea! Click HERE to join the discussion on instagram! ~ Blissfully Tea Drunk

Hello hello! Last week, we explored indie alt-rock with Arcade Fire's The Suburbs! However, we're going to keep traveling down this journey of alt-rock by exploring the goddess of all goddesses -- Lana Del Rey. Yes, the queen herself! Unlike Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, this alt-rock album by Lana Del Rey veers more towards alternative psychedelic rock. In fact, this album was produced by The Black Key's Dan Auerbach, and was sung and recorded LIVE. To add, Lana infamously kicked-out of her home and shut her door on the face of a Rolling Stone Magazine reporter, after asking her about her infamous SNL performance when writing about this album. Yesterday, Ultraviolence celebrated its 7th birthday, so there is no better time than to recommend it than now! So while this is one of my favorite albums of all time, why is this album great for listening with tea time? Start your kettles, put on your headphones, and let's find out! Note: In this tea and music pairing, I'll be discussing the deluxe edition of this album. (Image: Property of Polydor Ltd. UK under exclusive license to Interscope Records USA) Album: Ultraviolence Artist: God... aka Lana Del Rey Year: 2014 Primary Tea Pairing: GuShu Sheng Puer Secondary Tea Pairings: Rock Oolong, Hei Cha, or Shou Puer Ultraviolence opens up to the soundscape of the echoey vocals of Lana behind a California flair, Immediately, her vocals and lyrics of the album's introductory track to show you that Lana is emoting raw feelings. As the album progresses, we get a glimpse of the emotional viewpoint of what it's like to be in a complicated and confusing relationship. And as tracks such as Shades of Cool or West Coast pass by, this album seems to show these themes in a mediative and relatable way. As the album reaches its halfway point, up to the end, this album's cheekiness shines through as she mocks her critics in 'I F***** My Way Up To The Top', and drives her nonchalant snarky attitude with a chillness that perfectly collides with a tea session. However, the album reaches a vulnerable high point with tracks like 'Old Money', and continues to the end with bonus-track 'Flipside'. Overall, this album is a perfect tea and music pairing because it's atmospheric in a way that immerses you into an entirely new universe and emotionally progresses in a very similar way that a gong-fu session does. To add, its stoner-chill production helps you relax, and bring you to the same vulnerability that Lana is at. For me personally, I listened to this album when I spread my dad's ashes at the beach (specifically, when Shades of Cool and Brooklyn Baby came on). I connected to this album because although it wasn't a partner, I had a very complicated relationship with my dad and Lana was the first person to seem to understand how confusing love can be. Now every time I hear those songs with tea time, I'm instantly transported back to that spot in time on the beach. If you let yourself become vulnerable with Lana, maybe this album with tea can transport you to a place in time as well... What do YOU think of this week's tea and music pairing? Click HERE to join the discussion on Instagram! - The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! We all have embarrassing things we've all done when it comes to tea. Or on the flip-side to this, we all do unconventional things when it comes to tea -- the thing's that others would look at and wonder if there's something wrong with us. Last week on social media, I asked in my 'instagram story' to get their tea sins off their chest! With the permission of everyone who agreed to share, today we'll be going over some of the zaniest and wackiest tea confessions that you guys submitted. And also, we'll be touching base on one large hidden underlying issue that should be touched on. Also, as promised on social media, I'll later confess some of my biggest tea sins as well. But before I do, we'll also be hearing some of the confessions by other tea bloggers/vendors within the tea community! First, let's start the tea confessions that you guys submitted! Anonymous Confessions from Tea Drinkers: Before we start, I want to state that I got written permission to post these confessions from the tea drinkers who submitted them. Anyhow! Out of the dozens of responses that you guys submitted, three of you confessed to drinking the rinse of your tea. For those of you who are familiar with a rinse, it's where tea leaves is essentially 'washed off' to rid the tea of any dust/dirt that it might have accumulated. Despite that only three of you confessed to drinking your rise, a large number of you also admitted to loving and enjoying boba tea! While several of you admitted to loving boba, three of you confessed to enjoying tea bags as well, along with other flavored teas. One tea drinker anonymously confessed, "I like Lipton. Reminds me of my grandmother." Some confessions revolved around the process of making tea. One tea drinker anonymously admitted, "I brewed Gyokuro in an automatic tea kettle - more than once." Meanwhile, another tea drinker confessed, "I like to [drink] every tea gong fu style, even herbal blends." Another tea drinker admitted that they don't warm-up their tea-ware before a gong-fu session, while a different tea drinker confessed, "I [leave] my leaves out in my gaiwan for so long (days) that at times I find mold on them." Other confessions ranged from adding oat milk to ceremonial-grade matcha, while some else admitted to regularly overstuffing a 40mg teapot with 4 grams of tea. One of you also admitted to leaving tea leaves out overnight and continuing a session the next day, while someone else admitted to never measuring their tea for their session. However, the one confession that wins the award of 'confessions of all confessions' is when an anonymous tea drinker horrifically stated, "I accidentally garbage-disposaled one of my tea pets." Oomph. Confessions from Tea Bloggers/Vendors: Many people who work in the tea industry (bloggers, vendors, etc.) are not so perfect either. After agreeing to speak openly, a few tea bloggers/entities shared some of their tea sins! Lu Ann of 'The Tea Cup Of Life' shared that she'll sometimes pick teabags over loose leaf tea, as well as purposely overstepping some of her teas. On a similar spectrum, Nazanin of 'Tea Thoughts' confessed that unless it's a green tea, she'll boil it. And just like a similar confession from an anonymous tea drinker from before, Don of Mei Leaf confessed that he’s also had to turn tea pots into ornaments after forgotten tea leaves from a previous session start to mold — accidentally ruining the tea-ware. However, in a surprising confession from Micah, who's also known as 'The Weekend Sessions', he openly admitted that people in his personal life don't even know he has a tea blog! On the sweet and wholesome side of confessing, Geoffrey of 'Steep Stories' confessed that, despite being a purist when it comes to tea, he'll drink chamomile tea every night before bed. On another wholesome note, Jann of 'Tea With Jann' was open to confessing that she'll sometimes take a whiff of empty tea jars to get a good smell of the teas she once enjoyed. Jann, I must say, this is a fantastic idea and now I'll be following in your footsteps! (Hey not all confessions have to be bad!) My Own Tea Sins/Confessions: Now, I agreed to share some of my tea confessions with you all as well. Since I have too many things to confess to (such as enjoying tea bags or adding espresso to tea-latès), I figured I'd be a lot more specific in three of my biggest sings/confessions. #3 I once blended a shou puer and white tea together, and then drank it. #2 After reviewing Cha-Gao (Black Magic from Bitterelaf Teas to be exact), I once ate a piece of it like a tic-tac. It fried my tongue and I couldn't properly taste anything for almost two weeks... A month later, I got curious and tried it again but a much smaller piece. It fried my tongue again, and just like before, couldn't properly taste anything. Except this time it was only for a week... (You can read that review, and my expierence rating cha-gao here!) #1 More Recently, I stored a high-oxidized oolong in an empty mustard jar. Despite running the jar through the dishwasher twice, there was still an odor of mustard in the lid that I had missed. A month later when I opened the jar to make that oolong, it smelled exactly like mustard. I brewed it, and the tea completely absorbed the mustard note and lost most of its natural tasting notes. In an attempted to repurpose the tea, I brewed the tea concentrated and added it to a glass of ice and dairy creamer, along with boba. In a failed attempt to make a delicious treat, I had instead made a mustard-scented boba milk tea. Despite the fuck-up, something still felt off. While going full-throttle at trying to make this tea work, I bought mustard seeds and made the rest of my oolong, with mustard seeds, to try to make a better version of Mustard-Scented Oolong Milk Tea. I finally came up with a concoction that had a bliss-point of all of the notes. However, it was only halfway through drinking this perfect monstrosity that I realized how insane I was being for trying to 'win' at this recipe while starting to feel sick. While being unable to settle in my stomach, I threw up in my work's parking lot forty minutes later. Conclusion: After reading the responses from everyone, an indirect problem arose from all of the admissions -- Too many tea drinkers felt ashamed for drinking what they truly enjoyed. A large number of tea drinkers felt ashamed to drink bagged tea, fruity tea, and even scented teas! Personally, this made me sad. So what should you take away from all of this? Well first, none of us are perfect and we all enjoy a variety of things. There are no real 'set' rules in the world of tea for what is good or bad, and shouldn't matter as long as you are the one who enjoys it. Drinking a tea bag doesn't make you less of a tea drinker. Instead, judging and shaming someone for drinking a bagged tea is what will make you less of a tea drinker. I encourage all of you to openly enjoy what you enjoy. I also encourage you to celebrate other tea friends for what they like and try to be supportive all around. Don't let others make you feel ashamed for liking what you like (except, if you enjoy mustard-infused oolong milk tea). Let your freak-flag infuse! And enjoy whatever you damn well please ;-) --The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello!!! Last week, we visited 'daddy' with Daddy's Home by St. Vincent! However, this week we'll continue down the path of alt-rock with none other, Arcade Fire! Arcade Fire launched into the music scene with their whimsical musicality of staying up late, riding watching Juno and The Breakfast Club on the weekend, and enjoying freedom by wearing your best second-hand flannel and worn-out converse. While upping the ante, Arcade Fire released 'The Suburbs' -- an alternative indie-rock album that caught the attention of the music scene, which resulted in their Grammy upset of a masterpiece 'Album of the Year win. Despite the hype around this album, let's dig into this album as to why it makes for one helluva tea and music pairing! Put on your best pair of headphones, pick out your favorite thrift-store band t-shirt, and ket your kettles boiling! (Image Property: Arcade Fire Music under exclusive License to Sony Music Entertainment) Album: The Suburbs Artist: Arcade Fire Year: 2010 Primary Tea Pairing: Green Oolong (Chinese of Taiwanese) Secondary Tea Pairings: Fresh Sheng Puer or Fresh White Tea The Suburbs opens up to a 2-parter introduction that takes you down into the band's soundscape by introducing you to the struggle of living in Houston suburbia. While exploring the fears and anxiety of living in a catholic home with pressures of having your future pre-determined, the listener is taken into this journey of fear and anxiety of being stuck in the nine to five rut. While exploring different themes of wanting to express artistic freedom, leaving home for the first time, and wanting to break the mold, Arcade Fire continues this journey by showing that the grass is never greener on the other side. This album carries a tension that lasts throughout the album -- while leading up to Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by showing that once a suburban kid was able to break free from the 'sprawl', the artistic and freedom of city life was not as glorious as once seemed. This song wraps up the entire album by showing that the suburban kids were rejected by the city life, and ends with the note that breaking free from your cycle doesn't necessarily mean an easier life. This album pairs perfectly with a tea session because as the album progresses and builds tension to its grand finale, a tea may build tensions until reaching its 'bliss point' in a session. This album is also atmospheric and creates vivid imagery which adds to the overall experience of your gong-fu session. It also helps you remember that you're not alone in wanting to break free from your rut and that having dreams and hope may be enough to get you through the next day... Do YOU agree with this week's Music? Click HERE to join the discussion on social media!

Hello hello! Last week, we explored the modernized disco-inspired 60's pop-rock infusion with 'a touch of this beat' by Aly & Aj! Now that we're moving on from the 60's infusion, we're grooving on over to the 70's tie-dye's lava-lamp glow. With the psychedelic steel guitar and 70's Downtown NYC Stevie Wonder quirkiness, this week we'll be pairing tea time with 'Daddy's Home' by St. Vincent. Only a mere several weeks ago, St. Vincent dropped her 7th studio album which includes many inspirations of Dan Steely, Stevie Wonder, Downtown New York City, and of course -- a lava lamp. However, why is this album a great pairing to listen to with tea time? Let's go back to the origins of Miss Mary Jane at Woodstock and find out! Side-note: I wanted to give a shout-out to one of our very own, Luke! Luke is a tea drinker in our community and creates music himself. He released a new project title 'Music for the Dark', and is a wonderful listen! You can find it for free here, so go check it out after this week's Music Monday. (Image Credit: Property of Loma Vista Recordings) Album: Daddy's Home Artist: St. Vincent Year: 2021 Primary Tea Pairing: GuShu Aged Sheng Puer Secondary Tea Pairings: Old-Tree Hong (black tea) or Golden Flowers 'FU' Heicha Daddy's Home opens up to a clunker of a David Bowie-Stevie Wonder infusion titled, 'Pay Your Way In Pain'. This perfect album opener is perfect for setting the elevation and excitement that's about to follow -- which seems to mirror the beginnings of a tea session harmoniously. Next, the album drives in a 1979 Yellow Volkswagon Bus to the front of the gates of heaven with the angelic melodies of 'Down and Out Downtown' -- all while being accompanied by backup singers. Soon after, the album continues down this mellow path -- only to keep presenting nostalgic vibes of 'School House Rock'. Halfway through the album, this album keeps taking quirky turns with harmonious melodies, that make you question if you have tea, or mushroom, in your teapot. However, as your tea session starts to mellow out and chillax, so does this album as it slows down to the rhythm of a lava lamp. Towards the end of this album, which seems to align perfectly with the flow of a tea session, ends on the grand-finale '...At The Holiday Party' -- bringing this perfect journey to a close (with the addition of an encore track -- 'Candy Darling'). After the end of this album, and at the end of your session, you'll find yourself glad to have taken a step back in time with this modern masterpiece -- only wishing you could hit the ganja in your teapot once again... What do YOU think of this week's 'Music Monday'? You can Join the discussion HERE! --The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! Last week, we explored the modernized-greek tragedy of 'Melodrama' by Lorde! However, for this week, we'll be taking a left-turn into the realm of 1960's pop-rock disco infusion that came from a very unexpected place. Aly & AJ, who grew up as Disney stars, took a step back from the spotlight. After a 14 year long stretch from their last album, they came back together to make this wild blend of genres. This week, we'll be pairing tea with, 'a touch of at the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun'. (No, you're not tea drunk -- that's really the album title.) After 14 years from their last album, how do you re-emerge yourself back into the spotlight? Which teas pair perfectly with this 1960's flower-power-inspired groovy album? Get your kettles boiling, and let's find out! (image credit: Aly & AJ Music LLC) Album: a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun Artist: Aly & AJ Year: 2021 Primary Tea Pairing: White Tea Secondary Tea Pairings: Sheng Puer or Green Tea This album opens up to a melodic tune called 'Pretty Places' -- which opens up to a dreamy soundscape that echoes pop-rock themes of lucidity, and flower-power groves. As this album continues, it tries to break through its electro dream pop-rock undertones into the realm of disco-pop. Despite never fully committing to a disco theme, Aly & AJ both continue strumming to their guitars underneath California tie-die rays of the sun. Halfway through this surfboard of pop-rock groves, this album continues the momentum of committing to its theme. With standouts such as Paradise, Listen!!!, and a buddy-cop-themed saxophone-infused tune 'Break Yourself', you somehow find yourself tapping your feet at your tea table, especially with the god-tier song ''Don't Need Nothing'. Despite being a happy-go-lucky album for the majority of its run time, it also takes a step-down and humbles itself with sobering moments that seem to emotionally hit the spot at just the right moment. These sobering moment carry this album through the threshold from being good, to impeccable. After coming down to reality with 'Stomach' and 'Personal Cathedrals', this album slowly smooths out while leaving you wanting more... This album makes for an amazing pairing with tea time because it keeps a groovy beat that helps you keep your spirits high in your gong-fu session. This session also flows so smooth that it almost has tasting notes of its own, and seems to match a gong-fu session ever so perfectly. What do YOU think of this week's Music Monday? Click HERE to join the discussion on Instagram! ~The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Hello hello! Now that I'm back after taking a short hiatus, and after moving 700 miles across the United States, Music Monday finally returns! On the last Music Monday, we took a trip down the 90's nostalgia with Kiesza's dance album 'Sounds of a Woman'! However, for this week's Music Monday, we'll be exploring a loosely-80's themed greek tragedy that takes the form of conceptual pop... This is Melodrama by Lorde. Melodrama is Lorde's sophomore album that explores one continual storyline from beginning to end and takes you down a Shakespearian journey of self-exploration, and the various stages of the very emotions that make us human. From ignorance to reality, we will be exploring why this self-contained narrative is not only one of my favorite albums ever made, but also why makes for a perfect pairing with tea time... (Photo Credit: Universal Music New Zealand Limited) Album: Melodrama Artist: Lorde Year: 2017 Primary Tea Pairing: Young/Fresh Sheng Puer Secondary Tea Pairings: Shou Puer and White Tea Melodrama opens up to the happy-go-lucky dance anthem 'Green Light' that tries to mask the impending doom of the demise of a failing relationship. While going out to party, Lorde expresses that she needs to be let go from the burden of what's to come. Instead, she goes out on the night and explores the themes of excitement and wanderlust of the party that's forthcoming. This excitement and flirtation of the night-out continue through masterpiece tracks such as 'Homemade Dynamite' and 'The Louvre'. Except, when realizing that the emotional depth of the friends at hand are seemingly as shallow as the bottles they just emptied, Lorde is struck with the reality that she's a liability to everyone around her. She emotes this, along with what it feels like entering adulthood fresh as an old-teen in the emotionally gut-wrenching song 'Liability' Then, halfway through the album, the impending break-up finally happens as Hard Feelings/Loveless and continues the journey with the song 'Writer in the Dark' -- a song that perfectly encapsulates the self-pity that usually comes right after breaking up with someone with a vocal performance that would have you believe that Kate Bush recorded the song herself. The album wraps up to an end with Supercut, where Lorde reaches the 'acceptance' phase of her journey, before re-joining the party (that she had previously left), realize that she's not a liability after all, and let herself finally live in the moment. The album ends where the album cover begins -- making it to bed after a long night as the sunrise hits her face through the bedroom window. The journey of the night is complete. This album is a perfect pairing with tea time because it takes you on an emotional path and places you on the night out that Lorde describes throughout the album. Not only is this album a fantastic stage-play for the ears, but it also flows effortlessly throughout a gong-fu session and happens to hit the tasting notes with every lyric sung. So next time you put on an album with tea-time, let yourself go down this journey of a single night with Lorde and let your tea take you to perfect places... After all, what the fuck are perfect places anyway? Click HERE to join the discussion on Instagram! ~ The Oolong Drunk "Blissfully Tea Drunk"

Dear [redacted], You’re probably surprised to hear from me. I’ve been talking to a professional about moving past some of the emotional trauma I went through when I got sick, and since I’m nearing an end to my journey, confronting you is one of the last steps I need to take in my recovery. So, here we are. It’s been quite a while since we last spoke. In fact, you might find it seemingly difficult to communicate with me since I blocked you on social media. However, that wasn’t my intent. In fact, I’d like to imagine that we’re still on great terms and steeping ideas about tea and our place in the world of tea. Instead, all of that came to a screeching halt when I got sick. On August 6th, I went to bed feeling like myself. On August 7th, I woke up crippled from the fever that engulfed my entire body — a fever that lasted for almost a week straight. I was in the ER, and even blacked out when dialing 9-1-1…. I even found a will on my writing desk. This was a will that I don’t remember writing, and was also accompanied by a goodbye letter to my close friends and family... In my disillusioned reality, I must have feared that I needed to write this. Not only do I have absolutely no recollection of writing any of it, but I broke down and cried when I found it several days later. After two weeks of recovery I was released from quarantined, except, I wasn’t really recovered. I was eventually diagnosed with chronic asthma, chronic fatigue, blood-sugar issues, heart regulatory issues, loss of hair, and one of the most scary things of all — I lost my taste. For someone like you and I, it’s a devastating loss. We taste tea, we talk about tea, you sell tea, and I review it. The gravity of our weight in the tea industry is all dependent on our ability to taste tea. Losing taste didn’t mean I couldn’t just drink tea, it meant that I’d have to say goodbye to it. When the thought of losing tea forever crossed my mind, I was dizzy. I was even throttled into a panic-attacked that caused me to hyperventilate, shake, and vomit. Not only did going through Covid physically pain me, it financially crippled me too. I was feeling stress from every angle in my life. Once I recovered from that panic attack, I took a step back and noticed a large number of tea drinkers in our community had Covid and lost their taste as well — the same people who support you and I both. Seeing some of these people share a similar worry about losing taste forever encouraged me to make a post about my experience with becoming ill with such a deadly virus. Not only did I need to talk about my experience for my own journey, I needed to share it to reassure our followers that they’re not alone. I needed to show that we’re all in this together. So I wrote a lengthy article on my personal experience, made myself vulnerable and exposed myself to the world. I even added photos from my hospital visit, wrote about my own personal health, and shared it with our community. After posting the article, I was petrified what the reaction would be. Would I be questioned about my intent, such as doing it for attention? Or be questioned about looking for sympathy? Or, would I not connect with my audience like I had hoped? Talking about such a panicked experience with risking losing tea, and even my own life, was terrifying in its own right. Instead, I woke up to a flood of messages from our followers with people connecting to my experience on such an interpersonal level. Almost everyone who had Covid and drank tea reached out and showed support. They expressed how they went through something so awful and finally felt like they could connect with somebody and feel less alone. On the plus side, it was helping me feel less isolated over going through something so scary…. Until I opened your message. Yes, your message. “If the virus is real then ask yourself. Haven't I had a flu before? Is the truth in your cup of tea or in the digital media?” — you questioned. I was confused. After trying to decipher what you were trying to imply, and told you that I hoped that you weren’t trying to discredit my illness you replied, “Forgive me, one question, did you had flue shots in the past?” After I gave you an emotional reply you came back and said, “My intuitive way has led and leading to uncover things in many ‘places’ of my life.” Your last message, you insinuated that the problem lies within me and I need to stop thinking ‘inside of the box’….” I was shocked. Was this even you? I read it over and over again until it all became a blur. You not only betray our professional relationship, you betrayed something much more important — our personal one. With all of our conversations, all of our connection, all of our mutual admirations for each-other’s work, all of the countless hours I’ve spent making and drinking your tea... All of the countless hours I spent believing your vision, writing about it, and sharing it with my followers… You threw it ALL away with just a few messages through instagram. You tried to link my near-death experience to a conspiracy theory, and all it did was ruin the bond we had. I blocked you. I went to my room. I closed my door. And I cried. Despite all of the love and support form my followers, it wouldn't bring my taste back. With the loss of taste, and with such a damaging message coming from such a highly respected colleague, I almost quit my tea blog. I even questioned relentlessly, “What’s was wrong with me?” Thankfully, two months later I started to get my taste back. And thankfully, I was privileged enough to be able to taste tea in the way I used to. I’m writing you to tell you how you affected me. I need you to understand how you hurt me on such a painful and vulnerable level. I also needed you to understand that I still feel guilty for cutting ties with you — like it was my own fault. While my physical post-Covid symptoms may never go away, I’m writing you now so I can continue working on my post-Covid meath-health symptoms. I’m writing you so I can finish my healing process. I need to wrap up my healing process by telling you that I forgive you. Hopefully, now that I've confronted you, I can start feeling less guilty over what you did to me. When I go back to get my 2nd Covid vaccine in 5 days, I will remember that I was one of the lucky ones who survived. I’ll also think of all the people who I got to survive and recover with. I will be thinking about how much I love them, and how much I’m grateful to every single one of my followers for sticking by my side. I will also be thinking about the outpouring love and support I received from the greater tea community when getting my second shot... As difficult as it is to say this, I truly hope you never have to go through what I did and have to have a life-ending crisis on such a monstrous level. This has been weighing heavy on my mind and on my heart, but I have to try and let that go now. I don’t think it’ll be able to let it go all at once, but I need to start letting go of all this weight. I've cleaned my site of any mention of you, your teas, or your company. The audience that reads my blog deserves better, and so do I. With every cell of my heart, I truly do wish you are doing better for the people around you and for yourself…. ~ Cody The Oolong Drunk “Blissfully Tea Drunk” [Click on photo to read screen-shot of message]