Tea the Gathering

a little announcement. i wrote this is one sitting and decided to post it so pls bear with me much more i want to say but this will do for now ❤️

drinking tea with friends - haven’t held regular tea sessions in awhile, but time has been so well spent enjoying tea with friends, enjoying friends brews, enjoying tea. love these late nights, hot afternoons, rainy mornings, where time seems to go on forever and boom, hours later we’re tea drunk. im loving this little life ❤️

AN ODE TO THE WOMEN WHO RAISED US did a little special themed Mother’s Day session on @seeksophiesg over the weekend. it was lovely seeing so many different kinds of families step through our door to celebrate the special day. mums bringing their mums for a new experience, sons doing something thoughtful for their mothers, full families gathered. we had flowers arranged by the lovely @studio.wilt which added a touch of colour and elegance to the room. lit a keyaki incense to ground the session with soft, woody notes (keyaki is a Japanese zelkova tree used to signify quiet strength, how apt!) coming down to curating the menu, i had a think about how tea could add significance to Mother’s Day. not just as a nice family activity, but as something that brought meaning. we ended up curating a flight of 5 teas, each of different character, and origin, reflecting a particular trait of motherhood. I often think motherhood is scary, it demands of women so many things. to be a mother is to be many things as once, and to do so many things at once. in our own little way, we are paying tribute and honoring that. this was the menu we landed on: Boldness. | a burst of flavour Dahongpao paired with a duck smoked over kyobancha and lingonberry jam Tenderness | a gentle, earthy Vietnamese wild white tea paired with raw scallops sprinkled with fennel seed and Steadfastness | the ever reliable, ever grounding sencha paired with a baked niangao Fortitude | a Winter Wenshan Pouchong, plucked in the depths of winter paired with tamago tofu with fresh diced mango Warmth | a simple warm hug with our Bug bitten Hehuanshan Red Tea paired with an “wu ren” shortbread cookie above all, it was lovely seeing so many different kinds of families and their dynamics, the way each of us show love to our mums are truly so different. we had a lot of fun curating this menu, and celebrating all these wonderful mothers. to all the mothers out there, you’re amazing.

TAIWAN 2025/2026 a long overdue trip summary from our Taiwan trip at the end of December last year. we went to taiwan mainly to sleep. like have an offensive amount of rest. wake up at 4pm for our first meal kind of rest. but along the way, so many opportunities popped up and this trip ended up being so much more fruitful than any sourcing trip I could’ve planned. that in itself taught me so much about serendipity, uncertainty, and going with the flow sometimes. some highlights: 1. attended a dancong class far beyond our level. most attendees were tea farmers or people pretty deep in the industry. their ability to look at the dry and wet leaf and discern how the tea was processed, where it might have been lacking, was amazing. also did you know there’s 高山韵 in dancongs too? phoenix mountain area where dancongs are grown isn’t a high altitude area so no one is too bothered about finding high mountain tea. yet, there is indeed a difference between dancongs grown at 400-500m and those >1000m. first time ive tasted this difference! 2. stumbled into an old shop with a passionate (albeit hard sell) lady who was eager to demonstrate the importance of materials in our tea vessels, not just the brewing vessel. did a comparison between 3 different cup materials, and also 3 different gongbeis. I bought 1 gongbei and I still swear by it till this day 3. checked out @tu.astea which had the most bombass tea cocktails. their flavour combinations were not predictable, run of the mill stuff at all. my cold brew dahongpao was inspired by my time here!!! 4. visited the famed (?) @nikkohill.tea — they’ve done a few tea ceremonies here in Singapore. the aesthetics of the place was 10/10 but personally felt it was overpriced, tea was okay. 5. while looking for my favourite farmers shop in Yilan, i stumbled into another tea merchants shop. Despite him knowing I wasn’t going to buy anything from him, he still sat down with me and passed some words of wisdom as someone who’s tried many things in the tea industry. (1/2)

Is it just me, or has the home-based business hype gone down? 🤔 Anyway, here’s one that we found pretty interesting, it’s a tea omakase concept inside a HDB called @teathegathering . The entire session goes on for around 2 hours, and for $68, you’ll get 5 specially handpicked Asian teas. I’m more of a coffee guy, so I always thought of tea as just.. tea. 😅 but the teas I had here were so interesting, like one that literally tasted like seaweed soup. If you guys are interested, you can drop them a message on their IG! 📍Tea The Gathering, Bishan, Singapore #teathegathering #sgfoodies #sghomebusiness #sgcafe

April is a big month for us – we’re turning another page and, as we always do, we’re pulling the whole crew in for a celebration at Asian Civilisation Museum (@acm_sg ) The Asian Civilisations Museum isn’t just a building this weekend; it’s a senses‑hug and its called Crossing Cultures: Weekend of Curiosities. USE YOUR 5 SENSES 👄👂🏼👁️✋🏼👅 WELCOME TO THE SANCTUARY BY SANTAI Design and paint your own vintage-style sign with weathered charm, sip slow-brewed teas in quiet conversation or with a tarot reading, craft a diorama boat filled with personal treasures, create your own plushie friend, get your very own fortune keychain, carve and print your own linocut stamp, and create soft, sun-kissed lumen prints using plants and photo paper. 11 & 12  April ⏰ 2 pm – 8 pm (ENTRY IS FREE) 📍 Asian Civilisations Museum (River Room, Level 2) – 1 Empress Place Lead Cast: @oldworld_charm ⭐️ @tofuhouse.films ⭐️ @wl.artcraft ⭐️ @studio.wilt ⭐️ @hellopigu ⭐️ @crankipatisserie ⭐️ @teathegathering ⭐️ @boujee.botanicals Frequencies by: @itch_sg 🎵 @naidams 🎵 @vinceshi_ 🎵 @nezsenja 🎵 @z4idj 🎵 @vinylheavy 🎵 @mountntrash 🎵 @kinleonn Pay as you wish, Donation basis for some... signs ups required for studio wilt & tofu house 🏠 Come and lie down and listen to music. Snack on delicious pastries & hummus. Drink Jamu & Tea. A perfect Santai weekend if you ask me 🪽 Come explore the museum and spend time with the Santai crew. ❤️

our Taiwanese tea sessions have come to an end! through this month, we’ve brewed a mix of the following teas: Taiwanese Shan cha (mountain tea), Wenshan pouchong, oriental beauty, dong ding, jingxuan, ruby 18 white tea, hongyu red tea and red oolong. and i always feel a sense of achievement when i hear guests leave with new favourite taiwanese teas they’ve just discovered!! there are so many more wonderful and perhaps lesser known taiwanese teas that I’d love to share, but that’ll be for another occasion hopefully. also showcasing some of our food pairings this season: • tamago tofu with basil and corn cream • water chestnut jelly with red dates and water chestnut chunks • baked niangao with cranberry, sesame, walnut and pumpkin seeds • fried mochi with brown sugar, ginger and sesame filling • vietnamese snacks platter consisting of pomelo skin, candied ginger, lotus seeds and nougats more R&D on the way — what kind of sessions would yall like to see next?

march: fresh flowers and new teaware luv!!!

OPEN TEAHOUSE As we approach the month of April, I’ve been thinking hard about what our themed tea session for the month should be. But it’s been a busy month and to be honest, inspiration and motivation has been running low for awhile. None of my ideas seemed to stick. With some thought, this is one of those times I want to stay true to what i set out at the start of the year — to keep things gentle and light, instead of forcing creativity and making it a monthly churn. I love hosting tea sessions and connecting with you guys over the table — about tea, life, and so much more. But we’re going to do things slightly differently this month. To create space to rest and for creativity to bloom once again. OPEN TEAHOUSE 4-5 April & 18-19 April 11AM-6PM Blk 249 Bishan St 22 (full address provided upon confirmation of booking) Reserve a seat in advance We’ll be opening our place and operating as a teahouse on the weekends. No fixed tea sessions or slots. Just come in, enjoy some good tea and seasonal snacks served over the counter. Bring a book, journal, come with your friends, anything goes. All teas are served gongfu style, through multiple steeps. You may choose to brew them yourself as a restful practice (pots, gaiwans, brewing instructions are provided), or I can help you brew them as well. The tea menu consists of a mix of teas we’ve served over the past year (and some of my favourites!). To keep the space cozy and to ensure service isn’t (too) slow, we will only be seating a maximum of 12 people at any one point of time. Please DM me or book through our website to reserve a seat. We can’t wait to host you in our space, and to spend April at a slightly slower pace.

If you want to try a new experience, learn something new or love tea, this one’s for you. 🤍 The private tea tasting experience at @teathegathering was so warm and comfortable. Cheryl made my family and family-friends feel so at home while we got to try brews and snacks we wouldn’t be able to usually. 😍 She shared so much on the teas we were having and their origins. It was inspiring and touching to experience such passion. Big kudos to Cheryl for leaving her corporate job pursue this passion — she sourced teas on her own (we had teas from Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam), learned from masters, and birthed Tea The Gathering. 100% you will definitely be in good hands here. 🙌🏻 Most of the snacks were also home-made by Elijah’s mum - my favourite was the baked Niangao. Amazing work indeed by all. All four of us had different backgrounds and understanding of tea, but all of us went away with an amazing new experience added to the books and newfound/elevated appreciation for this art. My Japanese friend’s mum was amazed by the Gyokuro even and also got to experience a private session in a Singapore home! So it really doesn’t matter whether or not you appreciate tea, but if you are looking for a new experience to bond over, this is definitely what you should try next. ⭐️ for tea appreciators, you’ll definitely get to learn even more from this 😎 📍 @teathegathering 🍃

Meet Cheryl: Creating What She Actually Cares About Cheryl recently adopted two dogs—a Singapore special and a Korean Jindo. For better or worse, they've become her life. Tea the Gathering (@teathegathering ) started in May 2024 because she was itching to create something and do something that occupied all her faculties. After six years in the corporate world, she felt kind of dead inside. Despite her working life being quite fun, she really wanted to do something she actually cared about and loved. Currently reading: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. She read it during a tough time while going through mental health issues. "I never expected myself to cry reading a book but this book spoke to me so much—of the tragedies life can bring us, the raw struggle often not pictured in trying to heal, and the complexity yet resilience of the human spirit. It's a feel good book but equal parts authentic and inspiring. I highly encourage anyone struggling to read the book. I felt less alone after reading it." Cheryl joins us this Saturday, 21 March 2026 📅 Every Saturday 📍 Botanic Gardens (Tanglin Gate) – Bamboo Grove (near Swan Lake) 🕒 5pm – 6.30pm #agoodread #teathegathering #rest #digitaldetox #bookclubsofinstagram

Introducing my 四大名壶 My favourite pots at the moment. I typically use gaiwans for tea sessions just because they’re much more convenient. but then I forget the beauty of aging a pot beautifully, and how it changes your tea. searching for teapots that are pretty yet functional and are made of good material for brewing is an art. thank u @gleamingcaffeine and @inner.teahouse for supplying my favourite pots of the season. my goal is to brew with them with intention, and care for them so they age well.