How Should You See Tea Artists?

My previous article discussed tea ceremony, so I cannot skip the people who practice it: tea artists.
People often ask how I see the profession of tea artist, and I think it is worth stating my view clearly.

Tea artists, as I see them

Tea artists are one of the most beautiful sights in the tea industry, important contributors to popularizing tea, and for many people the key entrance into loving tea.

Most tea artists are women. Tea itself is quiet and introverted; a graceful woman combined with tea is a match made in heaven. Tea artist is one of the best professions for women - even if you are not in the tea industry, I suggest learning it, if only because it adds a great deal of poise.
Women more easily give people a sense of safety, and women are naturally warm. Even female customers prefer drinking tea with a female tea artist - let alone men. That is one reason shops run by women often do better.

Besides brewing, tea artists also interpret tea. Because of their professional training, they explain tea more properly and accurately than many others in the industry, brew it a little better, communicate with guests confidently and effortlessly, and better reveal the beauty of tea. Tea artists are true champions of tea.

Of course, the beauty of tea artists is also a big reason: many men who never paid tea any attention started drinking and liking tea through one or several female tea artists.
Beauty is not a sin - but beauty is an advantage. Confidence and self-discipline are the greatest beauty of a tea artist.

Should I join a tea artist training course?

This is another common question, and my answer is yes, it is worth it.
It is worth receiving tea artist training - which does not necessarily mean joining a paid class.
There are plenty of training videos and books; self-study is not hard. And the industry is full of tea artists, so there are observable "teachers" everywhere - learn attentively and it is not difficult. Of course, if you have money and time, joining a class is also a great choice: you will find a crowd of tea lovers, and lifelong learning and steady improvement are the basic demands of being a tea artist - companions matter especially.

In my article "What Is Tea?" I argue that tea is a medium connecting the world and a need for self-cultivation, and I suggest everyone drink tea and study tea-artist courses.
If you love tea, or work in the tea industry, you should study tea-artist courses all the more.

Can men be tea artists?

Of course!
More and more young men are entering the industry; many self-study or have taken tea-artist training, and many schools now offer such courses.
Tea is seen by many as a startup track well suited to young people - low investment, quick returns.
To be a boss you must understand tea and know how to brew it; tea artist is an excellent entry point.

A side remark

There is a saying that men brew tea best - rather like "most cooking is done by women, but the best chefs are men".
I cannot judge cooking, but when it comes to boasting about brewing, men certainly lead the pack.
Especially some "masters" from Hong Kong and Taiwan. From my observation they share these traits:

1. "Big fame"

"Big fame" - you see the quotes, so you know I am going to make trouble.
They are always legendary figures, always the operator behind some famous tea, with endless titles and enormous fame - that is their self-portrait. Stories about them fly everywhere, mostly manufactured by mutual flattery. Whether the stories are true or the fame is real does not matter; they must keep saying it, day after day, until they trick a batch of followers and sell a pile of tea.

2. "Masterful brewing"

The first person to brew tea this way, the founder of such-and-such method - they come to your shop to brew, bringing their own teaware. I have really met many of these people; in fact they are there to sell you tea. If they did not boast, how would you get interested, and how would they sell you tea?
They bring their own teaware because they have calculated strictly: leaf amount and when to pour are easy to control, the tea tastes better, and it sells better.
Their "masterful brewing" is also a shield: if the tea does not taste good at home, they can deflect it and make you look for faults in yourself.
And they always have more excuses waiting - the weather, the water, the vessel, even your mood while brewing.

3. "Plenty of aged tea"

"This tea - I have the most of it."
"This tea - except for one cake owned by, say, Elon Musk, everything else is mine."
In truth these are just talking points to sell you tea.
Is having exclusive stock so impressive?
Ten years from now, the tea I make myself - plenty of twenty-year-old teas that sat in a warehouse unsold for years - could I claim that I am the only one in the world holding them?

Have you noticed how some aged teas, of which only a few cakes existed decades ago, are still being sold after decades - and they still have a few cakes left, forever unsold?
Once I drank tea with a "master". He opened his sample chest: this cake was worth hundreds of thousands, that one over a million, some several million. I roughly calculated that the aged-tea samples in his chest were worth tens of millions. By his own account, if he sold all his tea, his cash could surpass Elon Musk's - he might become the richest man on earth.

Are you impressed yet?