Tea Soup
This podcast explores tea culture, life in modern China, and Chinese tea. Hosted by Derek from One River Tea, it delves into the traditions and contemporary aspects of tea. Listeners can expect discussions on tea varieties, brewing methods, and the cultural significance of tea in China.
Episodes
Episode 47 - Jingmai Mountain
Welcome back to another episode of Tea Soup! First episode of 2026, and we are hitting the ground running. In this episode we briefly recap 2025, and talk about our spring tea trip out to the Jingmai Mountain. One of the new six famous tea mountains, Jingmai boasts the largest cultivated ancient tea garden on the planet! We talk about our experiences on the mountain, the culture, the tea, and of
Episode 46 - Zhangping Shuixian
Another episode with both Alex and Derek of the One River Tea Cooperative. We sat down while in Anhui searching for Qimen Hongcha to talk about a summer trip Alex and Xiaoyan took to Zhangping, home of China’s only pressed oolong, the Zhangping Shuixian.We als briefly talk about our experiences in Qimen County, just west of Huangshan, and the curious people and teas we haw encountered. We finish t
Episode 45 - Spring Sourcing (Longjing, Dancong) 2025
In this episode we reflect on the wild spring tea tour we just finished in 2025. We visited the Jingmai mountains in Yunnan, Anji in Zhejiang, Hangzhou’s West Lake for Dragonwell, Chaozhou’s Wudong Mountain for the dancong, Yiwu, Huazhu Liangzi, Laobanzhang, Laoman’e, Menghai, and Bada for the puer. It has been a wild ride and we have so much to say, but first let’s just talk about seeing some ol
Episode 44 - Indian Teas (Darjeeling)
This is a very special episode that takes a look into a region famous for tea production for over a hundred years, Darjeeling. Alex took a recent three week tour of some old tea estates and some interesting cooperatives out on the border between India and Nepal. They toured many estates all around Darjeeling, from the Calcutta to the Nepali boarder. Alex recounts his meeting with the father of Moo
Episode 43 - Dragon Year Review Pt. 2
This episode is all about the tea (and teaware) sought and found and loved in 2024, the year of the Dragon. Derek gives his hot takes on Jingdezhen, the Mecca of Chinese porcelain, and Yixing, the birthplace of Chinese teapots. We talk about the spring tea rush, living out of a backpack for 30 days, and go all through the land of mountains and rivers of southern China seeking true tea culture. As
Episode 42 - Dragon Year Review Pt. 1
This episode is our second annual year in review episode. We talk about the year of the dragon, but keep it rather personal, this part one is all about the stories behind the tea, the discoveries and growth we’re experienced this year with One River Tea, Tao Teaware, and our very new Empty Cup Tea Space. Stay tuned for the more tea-centric part 2 soon to come. And as always, brew happy.
Episode 41 - Sourcing Lapsang Souchong
In this episode, Derek from One River Tea talks about how he found the Lapsang Souchong we source from the Zhang family up in the Masu Village of Tongmuguan. We start out musing a bit on craftsmanship, of products created with intentionality and soul as we wander up to the Tongmu mountain pass between Fujian and Jiangxi. While this area is restricted to non-residents (including Chinese people from
Episode 40 - A History of Lapsang Souchong
In this episode we dig into the history of the world’s first Black Tea: Lapsang Souchong. In another solo episode, Derek not only gets back into the ancient history of Chinese teas, but also talks about the six different kinds of teas and the strange space occupied by puer. We share the origin myth of Lapsang Souchong, aka Zhongshan Xiaozhong, and explain its significance in the explosion of tea d
Episode 39 - Sourcing Junshan Silver Needle
In this episode, Alex joins the podcast to talk about the time spent sourcing the most famous yellow tea in all of China: Junshan Silver Needle. We get deep into the history of yellow tea and the sorry state of the modern market. Derek muses on the differences between Japanese and Chinese teas and reflects on his recent time in Japan. The Junshan Silver Needle and other finds from this trip are a
Episode 38 - Making Hefeng White Tea
In this episode, Derek is joined by Alex, also a founding member of the One River Tea Cooperative. We talk about our adventures in making white tea, the attempts, the mistakes, the failures, the victories, and the eventual brown shoumei tea cake we pressed and gave away earlier this year. Alex shares some interesting first-hand experiences of brewing tea in the traditional way: with a tea jar. An
Episode 37 - Sourcing Puer (Dong Guo Village)
In this final episode of sourcing puer in Spring of 2024, we talk about the Dong Guo Village. A lesser known village with a large amount of Gushu trees in Yunnan’s Mengku region just South East of the Big Snow Mountain. We discuss different philosophies of making tea and fall deep into tangents on Daoism, Sun Wukong: Black Myth, deep Yunnan culture, and even a bit of food anthropology. As always,
Episode 36 - Sourcing Pu’er (Xiao Hu Sai)
In this episode, we leave the tombs of the Wang Family and wander through their wild gardens of tea trees on the Kua mountain. We talk about the skinny chickens, the knock off Adibas shoes, the connection between the land and the teas. We finally get out to Xiao Hu Sai, home of the largest garden of ancient tea trees in Mengku and we talk about why we love these teas and how we designed the new te
Episode 35 - Qingming Festival
In this episode, Derek talks about the Qingming Festival, he maps out some of the spring tea harvest times in China, but really focuses on late March and early April. He talks about the modern rituals undertaken for the Tomb Sweeping Festival from East to West in mainland China, and frames all of this within his most recent Spring 2024 tea trip. There is a brief review on how to make Fuding White
Episode 34 - A History of Modern Sichuan & Sourcing Jasmine Tea
In this episode of Tea Soup, Derek is joined by another One River Tea Worker/Owner, Alex Witherspoon. Together we recount our recent travels into Sichuan searching for jasmine tea. We talk a lot about Alex’s project in Hefeng, where One River Tea hosts WWOOFers, farming volunteers from all over the world. We talk about the incredibly bloody history of the 19th and 20th century Sichuan, and of cou
Episode 33 - Sourcing Yellow Tea
Welcome! Today, Derek and Alex talk about their journey to the top of Golden Chicken Mountain, one of the cheeriest tea prodcuers east of Luan (Liuan?), and the holisitic state of the yellow tea market in China. Is it fermented or oxidized? What is dry and wet yellowing? What even is yellow tea? We share our journey to answer these questions and grow from skeptics to yellow-pilled enjoyers. Come h
Episode 32 - Sourcing Dragonwell (2024)
In this episode, we talk about West Lake Dragonwell, we just got back from Hangzhou a few days ago with some incredible insights into the making of longjing. We share tips on how to buy the right longjing on the mountain; talk about the risks of drinking same-day tea, get into the TCM of green teas both freshly made and moderately aged. We bring back some old favorite characters Tang Xiaojun and T
Episode 31 - Sourcing Pu’er (Mengsong)
2024 Spring Tea has just started being picked, and the prospects are looking good! We spend the first part of this episode talking about green tea and what it’s like living through the Mingqian hype here in China. We get onto the topic of this episode, sourcing Puer in Menghai, and we say goodbye to the cast of characters we met in Lincang and we share a new set of faces we meet down in Menghai. W
Episode 30 - Sourcing Pu’er (Big Snow Mt.)
In this episode of Tea Soup, Derek talks about the 10 million train trips per day during China’s Spring Festival, the curious mythology surrounding the Dai Minority Water Splashing Festival, and his pilgrimage to the world’s oldest tea tree (2,700 years old!). He mentions Joseph Campbell’s book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces: The Cosmogonic Cycle”, Mercia Eliade’s Book “The Sacred and the Profane
Episode 29 - Pressing Pu’er (Xigui)
In this episode Derek talks about pressed tea. Why is compressed tea so popular these days, what unique virtues does it possess, and what does it take to press tea into these 100, 200, or 375 gram disks that are so common to see in teashops all around the mainland. We muse on the creative process of running a business and circle back to the existential dilemma of sourcing ‘good tea’. We also talk
Episode 28 - Sourcing Pu’er (Bangdong)
Still on the tea trail, Derek recounts and ranks all the most difficult to access teas, as he travels through Yunnan in the grip of a deep drought. He makes his way to the Bangdong Village, drinks the raw tea just made yesterday and compares old bush, with gushu, and single tree productions with Puer blends. Eating tea with the pickers, he makes his way out to Mengjie’s ancestral home in the mount
Episode 27 - Sourcing Pu’er (Xigui)
In this episode of Tea Soup, Derek continues talking about his Spring Tea Sourcing trip in April of 2023. Starting at the peak of Wudong Mountain in Chaozhou, he talks about the wholly hand-made teapots he sources from his ceramics Master Kemin’s apprentices in Chaozhou (only available on taoteaware.com). He talks about getting into Lincang in Yunnan with zero puer tea connections, and in a mere 5
Episode 26 - A Year of Tea (2023)
In this episode Derek tries to tackle 2023, what teas were we into, what teas did we source, where did we go and more. It ends up mainly being about the stories untold, the life behind the tea and a few trips with liminal connections to tea itself. We talk about tea friends in our city, the sourcing trips that revolved around the history of tea episodes, the birth of the Tea Soup Podcast in Januar
Episode 25 - A History of Pu’er (pt. 2)
Welcome back to the second episode of the history of Puer Tea. In this episode, we cover the past 300 years of this teas development, from the Qing Dynasry tribute tea gardens to the State Owned Enterprises of the Maoist era. We share the logic behind the secret recipes and talk about suspicions, paranoia, and knockoffs in the world of Puerh tea. Remember to check out onerivertea.com for all out s
Episode 24 - A History of Pu’er (pt. 1)
In this episode, Derek takes on a new type of tea: Pu’er (often romanized as Pu’erh). We give an in depth overview of the geographical make up of China’s Yunnan province, talking about its incredible biodiversity and myriad climate zones. We talk about different origin myths about puer and the naming conventions, and even get into the historical relevance of these myths and what truths we can glea
Episode 23 - Tasting Dancong Oolong
In this episode of Tea Soup, Derek goes deep into how to decipher, select, and appreciate dancong oolong teas. We talk about the cultivars, the prices to expect, the characteristics of old and young bushes, and much more. Derek spills the tea on his tasting methods when selecting teas for the onerivertea.com website, and gives some tips into buying the teas you want, descending high and low qualit
Episode 22 - Drinking Dancong Oolong in Chaozhou
In this episode Derek talks about his time living in Chaozhou. How do they drink Dancong oolong tea in the city of its origin. How do the Chaozhou people drink Chaozhou Gongfu tea. We discuss tips on how to get your session more authentic, what kind of water to use, what kind of teaware to use, and talk a lot about how tea is viewed in this city of tea.
Episode 21 - The Making of Dancong Oolong
In this episode, Derek walks through the rather long and complicated process of making Dancong Oolong teas. Derek talks a bit about Chinese terms related to tea production and we have even created a little cheat sheet for you on our website here (https://onerivertea.com/pages/dancong-oolong-glossary-of-terms) don’t worry, we won’t test you on this yet! We talk about the people we have made tea wit
Episode 20 - Sourcing Wudong Dancong Oolong
Join Derek in this episode as we travel out to the heart and soul of Dancong Oolong production, that’s the Wudong Mountain. Meet our new phenomenal maker Wen Zitong, a young prodigy making some of the best teas we have ever had. We talk at the start about production times for making dancong oolong, the history of the land and the farms out in the phoenix mountain range, and talk a bit about anothe
Episode 19 - Cooperative Kerfuffles in Hefeng, Hubei
This is the second part of a conversation between the Oner River Tea Cooperative’s Co-founders Alex Witherspoon and Derek Poskin about our plot of land in Hefeng, Hubei. We talk about the Loushuiyuan cooperative we work with out there, as well as all the villagers on the mountain top we cooperative with. Get ready for some difficult talk about the sustainability of organic farming in these rural h
Episode 18 - A History of Cooperatives in Central China
In this very special episode of Tea Soup, we do something we’ve never done before, a two-person conversation between One River Tea Worker-Owners Derek Poskin and Alex Witherspoon. Alex is calling in from a mountain top in Hubei province (the Mayintai in Hefeng County to be precise), while Derek is sitting comfortably at home in Jiangsu, Yangzhou. In this episode, we talk about the origin of the On
Episode 17 - Sourcing Phoenix Dancong Oolong
In this episode Derek talks about the tea makers he has met in the Phoenix Village outside of Chaozhou, Guangdong. Recounting how he met each of these initial makers this serves as a peak into the lives of these tea farmers, tea makers, and dentists (you’ll see). Derek talks a bit about Chinese-American history, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, and recommends
Episode 16 - A History of Chaozhou & Gongfu Tea
In this episode, Derek takes on the daunting task of giving a brief history of Tea in Chaozhou, Guangdong, as well as discussing the evolution of Chaozhou Gongfucha in the area and in China at large. After living in Chaozhou for all of 2021, Derek has a lot of deep insights on life and tea culture in this Mecca of Chinese tea. Derek also mentions his new project with his friend Dart, Tao Teaware,
Episode 15 - The Making of Dragonwell
In this episode, Derek not only outlines the 9 main steps of making Dragonwell green tea, from raw leaf to dry tea, he also dives into a deeper understanding of Chinese names. He mentioned the history of the west lake, the myth of the Running Tiger Spring, almost loses his drone over the tea fields, and recalls ancient poems from 1300 years ago.
Episode 14 - Sourcing Dragonwell
In this episode, Derek travels out to the West Lake area of Zhejiang Province’s major city Hangzhou. Here, for the past 1000 years, longjing, or Dragonwell Green Tea, has been being grown, processed, and drank. Meet four masters out here, Tang Xiaojun (唐小军) who makes immaculate Lion’s Peak Dragonwell, Tang Hejun (唐鹤君) who makes a very natural Baihefeng Dragonwell, Zhang Hailiang (张海良) who makes a
Episode 13 - The Making of Biluochun
In this episode we hike through the Dongting Mountain south east of Lake Tai right by the modern city of Suzhou. We are seeking the ancestral home of the Biluochun green tea, and find its heirloom bushes mixed in this slightly acidic soil with a plethora of fruit trees and other vegetation. We talk through the processing of this curled and fluffy tea, which is entirely made in a wok, which in the
Episode 12 - Meeting Master Yinwei
In this episode, we talk about what it means to have a traditional tea master in modern China. We explain the differences between, a teacher and a master, as well as the relationship between an apprentice and the master. We mention more Chinese philosophies and reference a scene from the lovely little book The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. While we have just finished the first week of a five week
Episode 11 - A History of Dragonwell
In this episode Derek discusses the origins of West Lake Dragonwell Green Tea, or Xihu Longjing. We go all the way back to the Jin Dynasty, the monk Xie Lingyun from the Tiantai mountains bringing the first seeds to the West Lake area. We talk about the 18 imperial tea trees. And we even cover the modern Republican Era of this region in the mid 1900s, wherein we hit an interesting tangent on the
Episode 10 - Sourcing Biluochun
In this episode we talk about how we sourced our traditional Biluochun from Xishan Island in lake tai outside of Suzhou. We hit some excellent tangents on the socio-economic environment of this Jiangsu region, we revisit our musing on the four kinds of luck, we finally bring up Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and we sit you all down for a serious lesson on modern Chinese history. We are so excit
Episode 9 - A History of Biluochun
In this episode, we talk about three different origin myths surrounding the creation of Biluochun, a tender curled green tea produces outside the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu province. We take a trip from Fujian up through Zhejiang and into Jiangsu, stopping by Shaoxing and Hangzhou. There is also a shout out to Dylan from the Sweetest Dew and Sohan from West China tea in here, so listen closely for
Episode 8 - Fuding White Tea Types
In this episode, we break down the different kinds and picking grades of Fuding White Tea. We also cover the very important Chinese agricultural calendar, introduce all 24 two-week Solar Terms and talk about how they are used by farmers all over the land of Mountains and Rivers to know when to plant grain, harvest tea, and expect snow. We cover the four picking grades of silver needle, the three g
Episode 7 - How We Talk About Tea
What do you know about tea? What is there left for you to learn? In this episode we talk about how we can share information and learn from each other. The tea community in the western world is largely virtual for many reasons (tea lovers seem few and far between, Covid imposed isolation, etc), thus a lot of conversations happen virtually. We want to look at how we talk about tea online, how we a
Episode 6 - Fuding Tea Rules
In this long-anticipated episode Derek unpacks the 2022 Fuding government regulations regarding the growing, making, and selling of Fuding White Tea. We cover regulated harvest dates, annual yield maximums, the freezing of agricultural tea farming land, and much more. A few fun tangents are the power of official seals in China, the one social media app to rule them all in mainland China, and the b
Episode 5 - Fuding Tea Villages Pt. 3 (Diantou + Guangyang)
In this episode, Derek, Alex, and Xiaoyan of the One River Tea Cooperative stumble upon a huge conspiracy regarding aged white tea in Fuding’s wholesale market. We hike through a mountainous village turned yellow with ripe rice to a producer’s dilapidated childhood home. We talk about the nature of truth and value and wonder if a podcast like this can survive in the post-truth world we are ever ma
Episode 4 - Fuding Tea Villages Pt. 2 (Bailin + Taimushan)
In this episode of tea soup, we talk about Bailin and Taimushan through the lens of a tea trip we led in 2021. Enjoy the extra stories about our tea makers Zhang and Jinzhi as well as Derek’s introduction to the story behind the Chinese zodiac.
Episode 3 - Fuding Tea Villages Pt. 1 (Diantou + Panxi)
In this episode, we begin our three-part deep dive into the major production villages around Fuding responsible for growing most of Fuding White Tea. In this episode, we visit Diantou and Panxi. Join Derek as he recounts his initial impressions of Fuding, talks about his methods for sourcing good teas, confesses a few embarrassing moments, visits a white tea factory, stares the stories of the incr
Episode 2 - A History of Fuding White Tea
In this episode, we take a look back at the origin myths of White tea, as well as the historical precedent of Fuding being the birthplace of all Chinese White Tea. Join Derek as he talk about his time on Taimushan, the farmers burning their bushes, the taste of a brew made from dry tea leaves harvested from a single branch of gushu tea tree in Menghai, and much more!
Episode 1 - A Brief History of Tea in China
In this Episode, Derek from One River Tea talks about tea from its prehistoric roots in China all the way to the dry loose leaf tea we know of today. Did you know tea used to be powdered, mixed with salt and onion and drunk as a thick soup? Did you know that many people in Medieval China thought tea was unhealthy? What do you know about the true origin of tea (what does anyone know really)? Join D
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