Advent 2025

This month, I'm posting daily the Advent count up on my Instagram account. Follow me there if you don't want to miss my daily Chaxi pictures.

These Chaxi are good examples of the point I was trying to make in my latest tea class on YouTube. This modern way of brewing tea is universal and can apply to any culture. In this case, Christmas becomes the theme of the tea session!

The central idea of the Chaxi is to combine the preparation of an excellent cup of tea with an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of your tea utensils and decoration. 

The Christmas season is the perfect time to hone your Chaxi skills, because Christmas decoration is so readily available.

When I was a kid, I would have an Advent calendar with a piece of chocolate for each day and a larger one for Christmas day. This calendar was a torture tool to teach us patience... However, one year I completely failed the test and ate the whole chocolate on the very first day!! What a shame!

Since then, I learned that the waiting is part of the pleasure. Without feeling the desire for Christmas, there's no deep happiness.

So, these Chaxi are a way to build up awareness and excitement for the big day. 

And to drink good tea in style, because after a difficult year, I deserve every drop! But if you are reading this, then you are probably the reason why I still continue to share my passion and knowledge. 

Today, I was lucky with the weather: sunshine in the morning for this Chaxi:

I brewed my spring 2025 FuShou Shan high mountain Oolong. The chestnuts scents have changed into hazelnuts by now. This is a tea that will continue to age with grace and hasn't reached its full potential, yet. (That's why I decided to give it a 10% discount). 

The leaves are large and green. I chose a white gaiwan in order to have a better color fit with the Chabu and because this lets us better appreciate the evergreen color of these leaves.

I was fumbling with my phone and by mistake activated the AI app (Gemini). I was taken aback by its analysis of the the following picture. The AI told me that this was a Chaxi set up, a modern tea ceremony style and the the tea brewed was likely a high mountain Oolong tea!! I had no idea that AI would be so aware of the Chaxi style and that it could recognize the tea by the color of the brew. Amazing! 

In 14 days it's Christmas. Enjoy great teas during the next 2 weeks. It helps to deal with the stress of season! Because it brings joy to your soul and it radiates energy to the world! (And replenish your stash at tea-masters if you need more!)