Tea Technique Editorial Conversations
Tea with Max Falkowitz of Leafhopper
Episode Summary
In this special edition of Tea Technique, Jason sits down over pu'er tea with Max Falkowitz, author of the popular tea newsletter Leafhopper. What you hear isn’t just two tea obsessives chatting. It’s globalization in a teacup: how a wedding dowry in Yiwu becomes a late-night brew in Manhattan; how a single tree in Yunnan ends up distorted by Western marketing; how biodiversity in a Chinese forest collides with monocrop agriculture in Wuyi - and how the internet, for better or worse, refracts all of it through online forums. In other words, this isn’t just about tea. It’s about how we live, learn, and connect in a world where taste, trust, and truth are up for grabs. Read Max's article on this conversation: https://leafhopper.substack.com/p/tea-technique-jason-cohen
Episode Notes
Chapter Discussion Sections:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:54 Max's Journey in Tea
- 05:21 The Dowry Tea for the Conversation
- 07:11 Processing Experiments Effect on Taste in Tea
- 10:22 Aging and Storage of Tea
- 12:24 The Demand for Gushu and the Invisible Market
- 22:04 Appellation Identity and Yesheng debate
- 31:28 What is Deep Forest Tea
- 41:17 Wuyi under the Microscope
- 47:50 Learning to Taste and Preference Ladder
- 54:49 The Lonely Hermit Online Forum Problem
- 59:35 Building a Better Media Environment
- 01:08:01 The Role of Cultural Context in Tea Appreciation
- 01:21:06 The Evolution of Tea Production Techniques
- 01:28:05 Factory Tea vs. Boutique Tea
- 01:34:43 The No Patina Club
- 01:36:00 The End Game in Tea
- 01:40:31 Future Passion Project
- 01:52:46 Hot Takes on Tea Culture
- 02:02:25 Tea Drinking Habits and Writing
- 02:09:47 Conclusion and Farewell