About
The Tea Room
Cha is Tea sits on Darling Street in Balmain — a quiet room with gaiwans on the table, a kettle on the boil, and as much time as it takes to get through a good leaf.
Max
Max runs Cha is Tea. He grew up around Chinese tea, has spent years drinking and sourcing it, and started Cha is Tea to share what's worth drinking — and to brew it the way it's meant to be brewed, rather than the way it's usually served outside of China.
Sourcing
The teas on the shelf come from working producers in Wuyi Mountain and Yunnan: Wuyi Star for the rock oolongs, Mengku Rongshi for an aged Yunnan white-tea cake, Fengqing Fengning for a Yunnan moonlight white. Small range, picked because it's worth drinking and worth coming back to.
Every tea on the table has been tasted across a few sessions before it ends up there. The aim is a range that holds up at home, at a workshop, and over a long afternoon.
Book a session →How a Tea Reaches the Table
From garden to gaiwan
Grown
In Wuyi or Yunnan gardens
Processed
By the producer to traditional spec
Tasted
By Max before it joins the range
Poured
At a session in Balmain
Every tea on the shelf has been brewed at the table at least a few times before it joins the range — gaiwan, multiple infusions, the way it's drunk where it comes from. If a tea doesn't hold up across a session, it doesn't make it.
When a tea sells out, it's because the producer's batch is finished — not because we're cycling through stock. That sometimes means a tea is on the table for a year, and sometimes for a season.
A tea joins the table when it's drinkable — and stays as long as it keeps pouring well.
Why Brew This Way
Chinese tea is built around small pots, hot water, and many short infusions. The leaf opens slowly across a session and changes with each pour. It's slower than a teabag, and that's the point: the tea is the reason to stop, sit, and pay attention for a while.