Tea Drunk is a Certified Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise in New York City and is known for being the most prestigious Chinese tea house in the North America. Founder and Tea Expert Shunan Teng travels to the historic tea mountains of China each spring to commission some of the rarest tea in the world to showcase their top terroir, superb craftsmanship, and true-to-origin varietals.
Shunan commissions and sources teas in the most conservative fashion to bring discerning connoisseurs the utmost traditional essence of historical teas. Teas that are meticulously curated like Gua Pian Green Tea (Melon Seed Tea) from Lu An. Lu An is one of the oldest tea-making regions in China with over 1000 years of tea-making history. This historically famous style of tea goes through a unique La Da Huo processing step that gives the tea a pleasantly toasty flavor that compliments its grassy umami taste, buttery mouthfeel and bold sugary undertone. We feel this flavor profile and mouthfeel rivals that of the hip Japanese Matcha. Gua Pian is being highlighted as the next trend in tea, with whole loose leaves, there is a lower extraction rate of caffeine, allowing your body to get all of the benefits of the complex compounds found in green tea (such as l-theanine and catechins) with a more body friendly level of caffeine.
Although many different flowers and herbs can be dried, steeped in hot water, and called “tea,” actual tea leaves come from the plant camellia sinensis. From just this one plant alone, humans discovered that through manipulation of heat, moisture, and physical disturbance of the tea leaves, this one plant can yield almost endless variations in taste and aroma. It’s a fragile ancient art form and through education and access, Tea Drunk aims to cultivate awareness in preserving it for years to come.
You can also increase your level of tea savvy straight from the source with Tea Drunk. Experience teas such as Gua Pian right from the comfort of your home (or wherever you may be) with Tea Drunk’s Educational Tea Club. Their twice monthly expert led Zoom sessions allow you to travel deep into your cup and senses in a welcoming community of tea lovers. They have two tiers of sessions, a Sampler and a Reserve, with the Reserve specializing in the highest tier of rare teas. Each box is hand curated based on concepts such as vintage, location, or theme to help you develop your palate in comparative tastings. The tea club grants you unparalleled access to transparency and high-quality education while having a blast exploring teas with others virtually.
Shunan, is an avid educator on tea and has spoken at many prestigious institutions including: Yale University; Christie’s; Van Cleef & Arpels; World Tea Expo; and Stony Brook University. She has collaborated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to execute a temporary Chinese tea house in the museum and is the educator for TED Ed lesson – The History of Tea.
It’s truly an experience that goes well beyond any other tea subscription service on the market. You are able to deepen your personal tea knowledge alongside other like-minded individuals and grow together in community while connecting with this ancient art form of traditional tea processing. It’s an act people have been doing for tens of thousands of years, and today we get to do the same thing with people all over the world. With Tea Drunk, tea is not just a beverage; it’s an experience meant to be savored and shared.
