TEA WITH interview series
TEA WITH is an interview series exploring creative individual's relationships with tea.
Below, find archived interviews from our newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter (bottom right HERE) to read the most current TEA WITH interviews.
---
TEA WITH Conway Liao, Founder of Dumbo-based design studio, Hudson Wilder. Conway has worked with Solange Knowles in designing glassware for Saint Heron.
|
How do you make tea?
It varies. Mostly in a borosilicate tea pot.
I always serve it in a glass cup that I designed : The Lotta
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What ceramicists do you love and/or what tea cups do you gravitate towards?
I'll always have an affinity towards Asian ceramics. There's a refined and deep culture that reaches back nearly 10,000 years ago. Jane Yang D'Haene and Esther Yang two of my favourite New York based ceramicists.
When do you typically drink tea?
Drinking tea is a ritual I enjoy throughout the day. If I catalogued by tea habits and broke them down by time of day, I would say afternoons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have a favorite Masha Tea? Or a favorite tea in general?
My favourite tea is Tieguanyin (“Iron Goddess of Mercy”), specifically from the Maokong region in Taipei. My parent's home in Taipei, overlooks the mountains where this tea is grown and visiting the tea farms is only a short drive up. It's a multidimensional tea. The tasting profile is layered and sophisticated, revealing itself and evolving over the course of tea session. It can be served hot or in the summer, cold steeped overnight. My favourite Masha Tea is the Wild Juniper. It's a special tea that unique - I've never had it anywhere else.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Currently reading or listening to anything during tea time?
Music on repeat: Brian Eno/Fred Again – Secret Life. The whole album on repeat.
Does tea have a place in your work?
We serve it at Hudson Wilder.
Last thoughts on tea memories/ sensory experiences?
Visiting my first tea plantation and experience the whole process from picking to roasting and fermenting, to drinking. There's a unique ritualistic way to consume the type of Oolong Tea: You first pour the tea into a tall cylindrical cup called the "Scent Cup" before using that cup to pour the contents into a wider drinking cup to sip. The scent cup is used purely to experience the delicate fragrance of the tea. This was in Taitung, along the eastern seaboard of Taiwan in Summer of 1996.
|
|
|
|
|
---
TEA WITH Alexis Badiyi, Stylist + Photographer
|
When do you typically drink tea?
In the afternoon or evening. If I’m away, I love ordering it after dinner or with my room service.
What ceramicists do you love and/or what tea cups do you gravitate towards?
I have a few armless ceramic mugs from Mexico City I sourced a few years back that are a favorite of mine for steeped tea. For larger pours I have a set of small bowls from a trip to Japan that I still treasure.
Do you have a favorite Masha Tea?
Holy Basil and Rosy
Currently reading or listening to anything during tea time?
If I am drinking it in the morning, I have it in bed while I meditate. If it is an evening tea, I am enjoying it on my roof and listening to all of the late day bird songs.
 Does tea have a place in your work?
For my longer days tea is either a comforting wind down or a gentle boost to finish out the day.
How do you make tea?
Loose tea steeped in a long teapot for endless cups or to chill for later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last thoughts on tea memories/ sensory experiences?
Making tea for my * grandmother - she sips it with toast and jam and sometimes will add jam to her tea if it isn't sweet enough. I've had a sip and can report back that it is delicious, albeit a bit too sweet for me.
Reading tea leaves with my family, making up stories of futures to come.
Sourcing tea in new countries is one of my favorites. My credenza has treasured jars of special teas that I have been savoring over the years.
The first time I saw flowering tea bloom
|
|
|
|
---
TEA WITH Alice Waese (artist and jewelry designer)
|
|
|
|
|
When do you typically drink tea?
Late morning, early evening, all day.
What ceramicists do you love and/or what tea cups do you gravitate towards?
I have two tea cups that I love, both are gifts from my boyfriend, one an oversized light mauve colored mug by BDDW. The other is a beautiful small white Astier de Villatte, all glossy glazed and white and perfect in its imperfections. I’m slightly afraid to use this one. I also have some antique cups I bought when I lived in England, they’re floral and have cracks that have been repaired with staples. Such a nice contrast.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have a favorite Masha Tea?
At the moment I love Earth, I also love the Mint and Holy Basil. I happily went through a massive bag of 4th when my baby was born which was a beautiful daily ritual.
Currently reading or listening to anything during tea time?Currently listening the chaos of a toddler or the silence of her napping.
Does tea have a place in your work?
Sitting down with tea and looking at stones or starting a new water color always go well together.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How do you make tea?
Leaves spooned into little loose tea sachets. Cup or pot, boiling water.
Last thoughts on tea memories/ sensory experiences?
Making someone tea feels nice.
Moving to England and discovering builders tea.
Breaking a very special teapot in Shanghai.
Clotted cream at the Hackney flower market.
My sister as a teenager, always drinking two different cups of tea at the same time
for more on Alice, visit
alicewaese.com or her instagram :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cart
