Top 10 videos of 2021

Winter 2021, Qingxin Oolong from Alishan

2021 is the year the number of my video tea classes really took off! For this, let's thank all of you who place orders on www.tea-masters.com because you are not only getting great teas and accessories, but you help sharing my tea knowledge with fellow tea lovers all over the world. In a different business model, I could limit the access to my tea classes to my customers or charge for the participation. Instead, thanks to your generous orders, I can be generous in return by letting everybody watch and learn.

If I produce so much content about learning the proper tea technique, it's because my experience tells me that skills do matter a lot. This message isn't so popular with the broad public and that's why the number of views of my classes remain relatively confidential. Of course, another reason is that I'm not a natural born public speaker and sometimes my subjects are too detailed for the average tea person. But I'm a demanding professor, because I know that tea is like life: no pain, no gain. The more you learn, the more you might enjoy your tea in the end (when everything clicks). While I try to make things look simple, I know that there are no shortcuts. 

I know it's not pleasant to hear and realize that the main reason a tea doesn't taste great is because we didn't prepare it well. It's not enough to have the right tea, the right ware, the right water, even the way we brew the tea will have a large impact on our enjoyment. But taking the red pill and becoming aware of all the tea challenges is what enables you to make real progress. The is the way to becoming a tea master!!

So, from over 110 videos, here are the top 10:

10. The White Road #1 Jingdezhen, by Edmund de Waal. A review of book by a ceramist.

9. Chinese New Year traditions, those linked to tea.

8. Class about Gaiwan, Gaibei and Zhong. This class was inspired by the reading of 'The Dream of the Red Chamber' by Cao XueQin.
7. Hei Cha class. Fermented teas, including puerh.

6. Tea happiness starts with the preheating step. It's all about details!
5. The fastest way to rinse tea. A class about rinsing tea and good humour.

3. How to end a Chaxi. Like several others, I made this class to answer the question of a viewer.
2. A Free Tea Scoop for all Viewers of this video! This is the most liked video of 2021!

1. Training to become a tea master. More difficult than Navy Seal!

Wait! Where's #4? It's the same as #1, but in French! 4. 2 exercices pour devenir maitre de thé.

Vous pouvez retrouvez toutes mes vidéos en français sur ce lien YouTube. Und deutschsprachige Teefreunde können auch meine Klassen auf deutsch hier sehen!

This weekend, I won't teach a class, but I'm organizing a 'Back to the future tea class' on Zoom (Meeting ID: 772 0292 3071 and Passcode: C8026A). I will host the event on January 1st, 2022 in Taipei, while it will still be December 31st for my North American friends (9:30 PM Eastern)!

Winter 2021, Qingxin Oolong from Alishan