TEA WITH conway liao

Hello, hello. Reporting live from the terrifying smokiness that is NYC right now to talk about .. other stuff. Last weekend in California, I saw a lynx (really a bobcat, but a bobcat is a type of lynx and I kind of think it's a nicer word, and one that isn't associated with construction equipment) which was the highlight of a trip that also included pot bellied pig, alpaca, bunny, and hawk interactions. What a world we live in! There were also many FLOWER sightings, and in the spirit of roses blooming, from LA to NYC and everywhere in between, Masha is doing a little rose season giveaway. ENTER HERE.

For the next TEA WITH, we hear from Conway Liao, co-founder (with his sister!) of Dumbo-based design store Hudson Wilder. For Hudson Wilder, Conway designs elegant glassware, curates modern home goods, and throws great parties.

Interview and Conway's photos from his tea travels below.

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. 

Here is a link to Conway's favorite Masha Tea, WILD JUNIPER.

Wishing you cool animal sightings, clean air, and time for tea.

Masha