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Jason Cohen

Jason Cohen

Master of Ceremonies here and on Tea Technique. Previously, Founder and Executive Director of the Tea Institute at Penn State (defunct).

http://teatechnique.org/

On Glory and Failure

Every village has its idiot, and yesterday – that was me. I traveled to the small Javanese Sultanate of Yogyakarta to spend a weekend away from Jakarta, after working on a new product there the week before. What was I expecting to find in a small Javanese Sultanate? No idea! A

On Travel and Fiends

I’ve been thinking a lot about friends recently. About who they are and how we became friends and why we stay friends. So I knew, when asked, that that I had to attend my friends wedding in Bangalore, India. The expense didn’t matter. The 33 hour plane ride

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Onggi Ceramics with Master Anshi Sung

You might remember Anshii Sung, the Onggi Master, from this Guest post way back in 2012… Anshi Sung makes his own clay, hand throws all of his pieces on a kick wheel, and wood fires them in a 250 year old climbing kiln built by the Jesuits. His work is

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Tea and art with Mogu Sunim, Seonamsa Temple

Did I mention that I love having tea with monks? Mogu Sunim is a professor of Buddhist Theology at Seonamsa temple, one of he most respected schools of Korean Buddhism and one of the few temples to send their students abroad to practice other forms of Buddhism in Sri Lanka,

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Back on the tea fields

It’s been a long 5 years years since I was in Korea. I missed the food, I missed the tea, and most of all – I missed the people. I could not have been happier to see my friends Mr Hong (Tea Master Hyoam), Brother Anthony, Anshi Sung (the Onggi

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Maeda Shodo, abbot of Zuihoin, Daitokuji Temple

I love meeting with monks; Some are kind, some are indifferent, some are focused on other things, and some are focused on you. Years of meditation and practiced insight given certain monks the ability to read people. It is disconcerting to be read so easily by anyone, least a monk

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Meeting with Mr Kanbayashi, the CEO of Kanbayashi-en Matcha Company

My work with Analytical Flavor Systems has created some amazing opportunities that I would never have expected to be part of – like meeting Mr Kanbayashi, the CEO of the 450 year old Kanbayashi-en Matcha Company. Introduced by the venerable Koike-sensei, we discussed collaborations and ways to bring matcha for a

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Extreme ChaXi on Fushimi Inari-taisha

Hiking 233 meters over 4 hours in 90 degree and 90% humidity to brew tea on the top of an ancient Shinto shrine? This is extreme ChaXi. The Fushimi shrine is made up of more than 30,000 tori gates, and the path up the mountain winds its way past

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: The best thing I ate

It may just have been this crab-back. The meat had been pulled from the rest of the crab, coated in miso-butter, and we cooked it until brown and caramelized on a small grill.

2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Tea with a friend

I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have great friends around the world. There are few greater joys than to see old friends in the excitement of travel. The joy is magnified when the friend is a fellow 茶人. This was just my experience visiting Tokyo and Emily Huang. Emily – this