Notable Tea blogs

.m.
Posts: 877
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:26 pm
Location: Prague

Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:23 am

MattCha's blog should be mentioned here at with honors. His old posts on the elements (water, fire, etc.) involved in teamaking are true gems of timeless knowledge worth rereading again and again. And his thoughtful discussions of teaware, puerh and korean tea and other topics are simply a joy to read.

http://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/
User avatar
Victoria
Admin
Posts: 3043
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Contact:

Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:36 am

Bok wrote:
Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:02 am
Seems a good idea!

Although the original idea was to only list the blogs of persons who have an agreed expertise and knowledge, people with a reputation and history of competent advice.
Too many teablogs are just musings and thoughts of random people. Too much half-knowledge or even bad information on those. We all do not know who is the person behind and how much do they really know? And without the correcting influence of other people as on this forum (which can contradict or correct), their value is doubtful.

Which is why I wrote notable in the headline. But anyways, appreciate everyone‘s input!
Maybe a word or two of why one thinks this or that blog is worthy entering the list would be helpful?
Since you are the OP on this thread you might gather Notable Blogs list that you curate here, and then possibly underneath have other General Interest blogs or sim.
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:28 am

Victoria wrote:
Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:36 am
Since you are the OP on this thread you might gather Notable Blogs list that you curate here, and then possibly underneath have other General Interest blogs or sim.
Sounds like a plan!
User avatar
Tillerman
Vendor
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:58 pm
Location: Napa, CA
Contact:

Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:50 pm

Bok wrote:
Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:02 am
Maybe a word or two of why one thinks this or that blog is worthy entering the list would be helpful?
Tea For Me Please
www.teaformeplease.com

This blog is written by Nicole Martin; she has a large following. The blog has been going for some 10 years now. Although a little less active of late, she generally does 3 posts per week. The first, on Monday, is generally on some aspect of tea knowledge (e.g. GABA and L-theanine or Tech startups and tea - it is accurate and informative - she does her research.) The Wednesday post often is a review of a given tea (not much flowery BS - descriptive and informative) and the Friday post is a "roundup" of significant posts from other bloggers during the week. This is one of the few, along with marshaln, that I follow regularly. It is well written and serious.
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:07 pm

tealifehk wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:34 am
Just started my first tea blog at http://www.droolong.com ! Only one post so far, but lots to come!
Coming along well I see, interesting thoughts are rolling in!
User avatar
tealifehk
Vendor
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:58 am
Location: Hong Kong
Contact:

Thu Dec 28, 2017 7:49 am

Bok wrote:
Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:07 pm
tealifehk wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:34 am
Just started my first tea blog at http://www.droolong.com ! Only one post so far, but lots to come!
Coming along well I see, interesting thoughts are rolling in!
Thank you! I'm not posting as much as I'd like to, but I'll keep the posts and thoughts rolling in!
User avatar
Tillerman
Vendor
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:58 pm
Location: Napa, CA
Contact:

Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:05 am

tealifehk wrote:
Thu Dec 28, 2017 7:49 am
Bok wrote:
Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:07 pm
tealifehk wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:34 am
Just started my first tea blog at http://www.droolong.com ! Only one post so far, but lots to come!
Coming along well I see, interesting thoughts are rolling in!
Thank you! I'm not posting as much as I'd like to, but I'll keep the posts and thoughts rolling in!
Very good posts tealifehk!
wildisthewind
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:27 am
Location: USA

Fri Apr 06, 2018 3:44 pm

Some really good stuff at http://www.teageek.net/blog - often grounded in science, and always careful to distinguish between his opinions and verifiable facts. Infrequent updates, these days, though. I think he's busy writing a book?
User avatar
pedant
Admin
Posts: 1516
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 4:35 am
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:55 pm

here is florent of thés du japon's blog:
https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress.com/

of course it largely serves as marketing, but there is interesting info about various cultivars and unusual japanese tea styles
thetealetter
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 6:22 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:23 am

Bok wrote:
Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:02 am
Seems a good idea!

Although the original idea was to only list the blogs of persons who have an agreed expertise and knowledge, people with a reputation and history of competent advice.
Too many teablogs are just musings and thoughts of random people. Too much half-knowledge or even bad information on those. We all do not know who is the person behind and how much do they really know? And without the correcting influence of other people as on this forum (which can contradict or correct), their value is doubtful.

Which is why I wrote notable in the headline. But anyways, appreciate everyone‘s input!
Maybe a word or two of why one thinks this or that blog is worthy entering the list would be helpful?
I reckon this thread should be called something else, like "science-based tea bloggers" or something like that.

On my blog, I happen to write a variety of content that ranges from science-backed to experiential and philosophical tea-related content. Mostly I write what I feel like writing and what I'm interested in at the moment. I don't think that makes my blog less notable than any other per se. I'm a hobbyist, not a scientist. Not only that, my experience with tea ranges far beyond the details of a research paper. If that bothers you, my blog isn't for you. Fortunately there are many others in this thread and elsewhere I'm sure you can enjoy.

That said, I'm careful not to make objective claims of fact regarding tea without confidence I've researched it to the best of my ability, especially where gaps in my knowledge/experience are concerned (and there are many).

Let's calm down on the gatekeeping and encourage everyone to enjoy tea however they please, whether it's drinking it, writing about it, reading about it, or all three. Tea's big enough and deep enough for everyone to find something about it they enjoy!
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:15 am

thetealetter wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:23 am
Mostly I write what I feel like writing and what I'm interested in at the moment. I don't think that makes my blog less notable than any other per se.
Notable in the sense that it is coming from people who have a deeper understanding and knowledge of tea due to their for example:

-location closer to the sources and/or with access to teas or teaware that the normal person does not have.

-have the funds and luck to possess the real old teaware and clay that other can only fantasise about

-have decades of making tea experience, often with tea teachers and farmers

-have been in the industry sourcing and selling tea for a long time

And so on...

I think we can all agree that if any of those decide to share their knowledge, it is going to be of more net worth, than relatively lay persons sharing whatever little they think to know about the subject...

Thus a thread to weed out the average and put forward the few who are - notable. People like MarhalN and his blog have put 100 of people on the right path, inspired and enriched with knowledge with their articles.

Everyone has feelings und thoughts, but not everyone has deep expertise in what they are writing about. And in our times of information overflow, concentrating on the essential has become a great challenge.
thetealetter
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 6:22 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:27 am

We definitely agree on the definition of notable in that sense! MarshalN and others like him being great examples of people we can rely on to give us the best information possible. These are the people I use to cross-reference and sanity check many of my own posts before going live.

By the way, I don't recall if the Hojo Tea blog was included in this thread somewhere but they're another great example of exhaustive tea knowledge. The site design is horrifying but the depth of knowledge and information is astounding. :D
User avatar
Manttea
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 12:44 am
Location: North America

Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:12 pm

thetealetter wrote:
Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:27 am
We definitely agree on the definition of notable in that sense! MarshalN and others like him being great examples of people we can rely on to give us the best information possible. These are the people I use to cross-reference and sanity check many of my own posts before going live.

By the way, I don't recall if the Hojo Tea blog was included in this thread somewhere but they're another great example of exhaustive tea knowledge. The site design is horrifying but the depth of knowledge and information is astounding. :D
Glad I'm not the only one that thinks so about his website :D
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:36 am

Definitely one to add to the list!
But he (or she?) seems to make some controversial statements on clay, which a lot of other experts can agree on. Most notable some red clay from Japan that performs as well and better as Yixing clay...
User avatar
pedant
Admin
Posts: 1516
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 4:35 am
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Sat Apr 14, 2018 2:06 am

Bok wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:36 am
Definitely one to add to the list!
But he (or she?) seems to make some controversial statements on clay, which a lot of other experts can agree on. Most notable some red clay from Japan that performs as well and better as Yixing clay...
he (akira hojo) for sure has a lot of interesting and controversial info. clay, puerh storage, etc
Post Reply