Teatime With Jesse

On this week's audio-only Teatime with Jesse, we have Rachel from Crazy Laugh Comedy and Shawn from Chinese Comedy at Silicon Valley.

Rachel, Shawn, and I sip on some pretty decent Moganshan green tea and talk about the differing comedy landscapes in China vs. America. We talk about getting started in comedy, how bad ChatGPT is at writing jokes, and how not ALL comedians have to be depressed.

0:30 Meet Rachel (Crazy Laugh Comedy) and Shawn (City Comedy)

0:47 Moganshan Green tea is decent

01:25 Seeing the growth of China’s comedy scene in the US

01:41 How to get started in comedy in America

3:27 Doing comedy online isn’t that fun

4:32 Standup provides a voice for you

5:10 You need a creative outlet

6:17 Be yourself, everyone else is taken

7:29 American vs. Chinese political infighting

8:58 No serious problems are easy to solve

9:19 Businessmen fail all the time

11:40 Finding a sense of community in New York

12:21 Finding community in Silicon Valley

13:00 Tech advertisements are pretty niche

14:08 Coming back to America after living in China for 10 years  

16:00 Doing jokes as an American who was a foreigner in China

16:25 No one is looking for a white guy who speaks Chinese

18:00 Rachel quit her job

24:10 Comedy is expansive

26:00 Bilingual translators and bilingual comedy

26:32 Translating with ChatGPT

26:54 ChatGPT can’t tell jokes

27:40 You still need human taste

29:45 Putting together comedy shows in China

30:41 Using online content to drive offline growth

31:07 Using online exposure to attract attention to comedy clubs

31:35 How do comedians come together at comedy clubs

32:55 Comedians aren’t all depressed 

33:08 You don’t have to suffer to be a comedian, but you might have to be anxious

35:48 LGBTQIA+ comedy in China

37:24 Being outside of the mainstream

#foreignerinchina #bilingualcomedy #teatimewithjesse #jessesteahouse #chineselanguagelearning #mandarinlanguagelearning

Another artist on the pooood! This is an exciting one with painter, designer, and creative technologist, Simon Zhu.

In this Teatime with Jesse, we delve into different art styles from ancient Chinese landscape painting, Western oil painting, and even AI-generated digital images. Simon and I chat about how technology influences creativity, art, and the democratization of media. Oh, and we might have some mercy coming!

Try the Tibetan Dark Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/tibetan-dark-tea

Get the Taiwan Oolong Sampler Box: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesse-in-taiwan-mystery-tea-drop

Join Jesse's Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

#aiart #artificialintelligence #chinesepainting #chineseteaculture #tibetandarktea #tibetantea #tibetanart #looseleaftea #gongfucha #gongfutea #kungfutea

0:35 Meet Simon

01:00 We’re designing a tea set and merchandise

01:50 Jesse’s tea set is legit

02:22 Lots of influencers, not enough tea people

03:00 Learning from Tibetan art practice

03:40: Tibetan black tea

04:07 Tibetan tea is salty

04:34 Tibetan tea smells creamy

05:10 Yak butter tea

05:30 Where do I get yak butter in Southern California

06:00 Black tea, dark tea, etc

07:00 Tibetan tea would be so good with milk

07:44 Growing up with Buddhism and being drawn to the art form

09:13 The history of trade between the US and China

12:00 What is a thangka

13:16 Thangkas are scrolls, rolled-up paintings

15:50 Learning different styles of painting

16:28 Localizing art

17:40 Traditional art and modern digital art

21:06 Understanding art and designing a product

22:07 Western art vs. Chinese art

22:42 Impressionism

23:00 Expressing feelings in art

25:00 Jesse got started during COVID

28:30 Chinese painting styles

29:08 Song dynasty landscape paintings

30:34 There’s a reason for everything

31:25 Designing landscapes from a technical standpoint

35:00 Fine art vs. performance art vs. design

36:50 As an artist you have to sell something

37:31 AI and Artists

38:18 There is always a human element in the art process

39:30 Does AI technology enhance artistry

40:17 Fear of AI is valid

41:39 The importance of transparency when we’re using technology

43:12 The Internet is always hungry

44:00 Misinformation around AI

45:23 What is art

46:30 Traditional art will make a comeback

46:44 The democratization of art

47:44 Chalets in Yunnan

48:13 Yunnan is like Switzerland

49:10 Jesse’s tea tours

49:30 Mushrooms from Yunnan

52:00 Qing dynasty trends

53:08 Hair volume

53:33 Are tea trees bushy

56:04 Scale and perspective in Chinese art

57:03 Han Chinese roofs

58:10 The illusion of passing through space and time

59:00 We want the tea set out by Christmas

59:32 Jesse is not a fashion designer

1:00:28 What kind of merch should we have

1:01:50 Should we make a tea journal

1:06:00 Lightning round

1:04:46 Is there a tea god

1:07:08 Realism and subjective ideas in art

1:07:48 Don’t be replaced by AI

1:08:10 Gifting Simon a tea pet

1:09:10 Join Jesse’s tea club to try new tea

Hellooooo tea friends! I love when we can bring tea experts on the pod! This Teatime with Jesse was filmed live on Dong Ding Mountain when I was in Taiwan!

I learned a lot while I was there! And I brought back Charcoal Roasted Oolong Tea’s made by Jayme’s family. :) This episode is so fun, watch as Jayme and I talk about the differences in Western vs. Taiwanese tea culture. Jayme also delves into the process of charcoal roasting tea, learning from a tea master, and selling tea to Michelin restaurants.

Order the Taiwan Oolong Sampler: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesse-in-taiwan-mystery-tea-drop

Join Jesse's Tea Club:

https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service

0:15 Meet Jayme, our tea provider

0:34 Having a tea expert on the podcast

1:20 Intercultural tea business

1:43 Charcoal roasted Oolong tea

1:56 Artisanal teamaking

2:29 How tea is roasted at different levels

3:43 Oolong in Taiwan is famous

4:28 Shake out the fragrance

5:04 There is no “best tea” only tea that fits you the best

6:00 Born into a tea family

6:39 Grandma was a city girl

6:55 Marrying into a tea mountain family

7:38 Tea is water

8:06 The tea has a nutty, creamy smell

9:54 Good tea has a sweet after taste

10:28 Slow roasting tea vs. fast roasted tea

11:39 Rebelling against the tea family

12:15 Curiosity around herbal tea blends

13:08 Don’t get fooled by scented oils in your tea

13:43 Milky oolong is natural, from Jin Xuan

14:45 Taiwanese oolong is pretty good actually

15:30 How to describe tea to westerners

16:00 Describing tea to producers vs. consumers

17:16 Comparing tea to BMW cars

18:17 Don’t disrespect your tea master

20:28 Tea descriptions need to be accessible

21:27 Taste notes are so personal, don’t give too much guidance at the tea table

22:34 Ignore my taste notes if you want

23:05 Steep times and temperatures

24:40 The better tea you get, the harder it is to mess up

27:29 Tea is art

28:39 Mass produced grocery store tea vs. artisanal tea

30:00 Seven teas from the same mountain

30:38 Selling Taiwanese teas to Michelin restaurants

31:57 Contextualizing the story behind the tea

32:42 Tea farmers put a lot of effort behind the tea

33:23 Tea farmers are artists

33:52 Pairing tea with Michelin food

36:23 Dark charcoal roasted tea

38:00 Charcoal roasting gives brown sugar notes to tea

38:37 Light vs. charcoal roasted tea

39:47 It smells like coffee

41:50 We don’t have to copy the local market

47:18 The base of the tea

47:55 Sometimes you can be stubborn

50:30 Longan wood

51:22 Getting into the tea roasting process

52:00 Let the fire settle

52:40 Speed of burning

55:10 Different types of tea farmers

56:25 Tea production has multiple departments

1:02:45 Different temperatures for roasting

1:06:16 Tea culture in Taiwan

1:07:00 Describing the Taiwan Oolong sampler box

1:09:00 Advice for people new to Oolong

Tea friends, welcome back to Teatime with Jesse! On this episode, we have Nick Touma ( @nicktguy ) that guy on Youtube that makes candy art.

If you ever wondered what it takes to get to over 1 million subscribers on Youtube, well, for this guy it was lots of trial and error, plus over 70lbs of candy! We talk about what it takes to be a content creator, getting started, understanding your audience, and walking a mile in candy shoes. Content creating is really a whole journey. Anyway, of course we have some tea!

Try Three Treasures Chen Pi (Mandarin Peel) White Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/three-treasures-chen-pi-mandarin-peel-white-tea

Pre-order our Oolong Sampler Box: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesse-in-taiwan-mystery-tea-drop

Join Jesse's Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service

4:00 Big puff (Tea pet)

6:07 NickTGuy’s Youtube Journey

7:27 Growing up and changing interests

08:26 Setting intentions with Youtube

9:38 TikTok vs. Youtube

10:58 TikTok as a slot machine

11:53 The start of NickTGuy candy art

13:23 The journey of the tea flavor

11:26 The Starburst ball

14:08 “That thing took over my life forsure”

13:14 Steeps and tea journey

15:29 Phone addiction

21:48 Context and content, 23:34 Shift in content

29:48 Can’t pour from empty cup

35:06 Sister Ai’s red tea cake

44:00 Starting out as a content creator

44:30 The hidden cost of time investment

48:32 The barrier of entry to create

50:24 Creativity is sharing your perspective

53:13 Be yourself

55:00 The channel is the movie

55:16 Series content

55:35 Using charmander to defrost someone

57:28 Art’s value is deemed by the limitations

59:44 Bringing people into your world

1:01:39 What’s art vs. commodity?

1:05:43 If you wanted to you would

1:07:29 The moment you sell too hard, you lose the audience

1:08:21 Taking a break from content

1:09:25 Output vs. quality

1:13:03 Lightning round

1:13:24 Passion and work

1:13:42 Stop caring about other people’s opinions

1:14:04 Dream project made of candy

1:14:52 What’s it like meeting Mr. Beast

1:17:43 Anything for the shot

#contentcreation #youtubejourney #jessesteahouse #teatimewithjesse #looseleaftea #gongfucha #kungfutea #chinesetea #chineseteaculture

This week, we have a special audio-only podcast, sourced from a Livestream I had with West China Tea's So-Han Fan.

So-Han owns a teahouse in Austin, Texas, so we're constantly talking about the tea and tea business. In this episode, we delve into the behind-the-scenes of running a tea company, working with tea farmers, knowing the language of the manufacturers, and drinking quality tea. The last of which, has more to do with understanding the experience of tea making and drinking tea than it has to do with specific parameters. And insect poop tea. We talk about that too.

Join Jesse’s Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

2:48 Smoke and roasted teas

7:06 Trying for the sake of technique

18:21 Stereotypes against Chinese businesses

20:48 Colorism and Perceptions of the Asian Community

22:10 Suspicion and misinformation regarding manufacturing in China

23:05 Assessing food quality of the loose-leaf tea at West China Teahouse

25:21 Tea manufacturing vs. Tea curation

25:35 Calling in the experts

32:52 Comedy and tea

36:08 The age of tea

#chinesetea #gongfucha #gongfucha #looseleaftea #culturalexchange #foreignerinchina

Hello tea friends! On this Teatime with Jesse, I hang out with Hasani Arnold at the Beijing Tea Market.

Hasani Arnold is a content creator and Global Strategy Insight Manager. In this episode, we cover a lot! Hasani talks about growing up in New York and the cultural differences between the ethnic enclaves. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities of learning a foreign language and how policies have shaped public infrastructure in the China vs. US. Join us while we sip on some Ancient Tree White Tea and Qimen Red Tea.

Try Duidui's Laobanzhang "Sakura Sea" Ancient Tree White Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/laobanzhang-sakura-sea-ancient-tree-white-tea

Try Qimen Red Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-teahouse-qimen-red-tea

Join Jesse’s Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

00:00:29 Meet Hasani Arnold

00:00:50 Duidui’s White tea

00:01:33 Hasani’s Journey from New York, USA to Beijing, China

00:02:42 Bilingual subtitling on social media

00:03:13 The Chinese community in Flushing, Queens

00:05:00 Disparate cultures in NYC

00:06:50 Cultural differences at school vs. local neighborhoods in NYC

00:07:29 Sensationalism in the media

00:08:30 Chinese populations in American school

00:09:29 Hasani’s first time abroad in Korea

00:10:38 Feeling safe in Asia

00:11:07 A foreigner experience in China

00:11:38 Shanghai is Hasani’s favorite city

00:13:44 Freedom of expression in New York

00:15:00 New yorkers breaking out of their shell

00:15:15 People in Los Angeles are fashionable

00:15:54 Pushing the envelope in Shanghai

00:16:25 Stop caring about what other people think

00:16:50 Improv and “failing big”

00:17:30 Changing lives through improv

00:18:00 It’s hard to fight in the tea room

00:19:00 Coffee and tea

00:19:16 Hasani’s favorite tea: darjeeling white tea

00:19:44 Chinese approach to coffee and tea

00:21:33 Flattening tea

00:22:09 Public infrastructure in China vs. America

00:22:34 Accessibility in China

00:24:23 Tea farmers are successful businesspeople

00:27:25 Access to chargers and batteries

00:28:38 Portable charging stations in China

00:31:00 Perceptions of the self and community in China vs. America

00:32:44 Communism and collectivism

00:33:16 Wealth and individualism

00:36:15 Racism in China vs. America

00:36:40 Racism and public services in America

00:37:12 The nature of democracy

00:39:15 Policies and public parks

00:41:45 Society and balance

00:42:15 Extremism and balance

00:42:33 The goals of China’s government

00:43:00 The Cultural Revolution in China

00:44:58 Bureaucracy and policy 

00:46:06 China’s stability and yearly innovation

00:46:46 Understanding someone else’s opinion

00:47:29 Acrimony in American 

00:48:28 Breaking the timeline

00:49:48 Having all the information

00:50:30 Getting into content creation

00:51:07 Racial phenotypes

00:53:00 Types of ignorance

00:53:09 Hair in the Black community

00:55:38 Race in China vs. America

00:57:00 Qimen red tea

00:54:14 The obligation of education

01:02:05 Learning involves messing up

01:02:34 Intent vs. impact

01:03:03 The role of patience in understanding different perspectives

01:04:00 There’s always something you don’t know

01:05:00 Productive conversations

01:06:18 Absurdist memes

01:07:38 Donghua Jinlong industrial grade glycine and Tiktok

01:10:30 Outsourcing marketing for advertising

01:11:57 Make content!! Be yourself, just do it

01:13:59 Media and the relationship between Asian American and Black American communities

01:23:00 Dating abroad

01:23:58 Addressing cultural stereotypes

01:25:00 Connecting through language

01:26:30 Lightning round

01:27:20 Incorporating fashion in content creation

01:28:43 Resources to learn Chinese

#looseleaftea #gongfucha #contentreator #languageimmersian #shanghaiculture #beijingculture #beijingteamarket #jessesteahouse #teatimewithjesse

John Flower took this farmhouse from Yunnan, China, and rebuilt it in West Virginia!

Hi tea friends, we're in West Virginia for this Teatime with Jesse episode. I share some green tea with John Flower, Co-Founder of China Folk House and Director of the Sidwell Friends School Chinese Studies Program. We explore how a farmhouse saved from a dam in Yunnan became a center for community and cultural exchange in West Virginia. John's China Folk House Retreat project offers unique insights into traditional agriculture, architecture, and crafts from rural China.

Check out our 2024 Spring Green Tea Collection: https://jessesteahouse.com/collections/green-teas-and-more-summer-2023-drop

Join Jesse's Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

Make sure to hit the notification bell for more episodes :)

#teatimewithjesse #jessesteahouse #chinafolkhouse #chineselanguagelearning #mandarinlanguage #greentea #agedtea #agedpuer #looseleaftea #experientiallearning #ruralchina

We’re in Tennessee for a special episode of Teatime with Jesse with polyglot and historian Dr. Felege Yirga.

Jesse and Felege reminisce about their iconic game nights while sipping Pu'er and Jasmine tea. Dive into the fascinating world of ancient cultures as we explore the Late Antique/Early Medieval periods of the Near East and Red Sea regions. Felege discusses how cultural shifts impact the recording of history, while Jesse draws some parallels between stand-up comedy and teaching history.

Check out our 2024 Spring Green Tea Collection: https://jessesteahouse.com/collections/green-teas-and-more-summer-2023-drop

Join our Jesse’s Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

Make sure to hit the notification bell for more episodes :)

Hi tea friends, we missed you here on Teatime with Jesse. In this episode, I share Ancient Tree Green Tea with Michael Cherney, a self-taught photographer who's called China home for over 30 years. His works, inspired by China's rich art history and landscape tradition, are in collections worldwide including the Met's Asian Art Department. Cherney captures fleeting moments in places steeped in cultural memory.

Check out our 2024 Spring Green Tea Collection: https://jessesteahouse.com/collections/green-teas-and-more-summer-2023-drop

Join our Jesse’s Tea Club: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

Make sure to hit the notification bell for more episodes :) #landscapephotography #theartofteamaking #ancienttreetea #greentea #ancientchineseart #foreignerinchina #mandarinlanguage

On this Tea Time with Jesse, Jesse is joined by Teacup Media founder, business consultant, and podcast host Laszlo Montgomery.

Laszlo Montgomery spent 25 years growing US market shares for Chinese consumer product manufacturers. During that time, he worked abroad, learning about China's history and the value of intercultural connections. In this episode, Laszlo shares how he chooses research topics for the China History podcast and his motivations for starting Teacup Media.

Check out the China History Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCim2V_PqtJ6_W2fDESGzJHA

🍵 Featured Tea: Yangchun Snow Jasmine Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/yangchun-snow-jasmine-green-tea

2024 Spring Green Tea preorder: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/2024-spring-green-tea-sampler

Want Jesse's curated tea club boxes to show up, once per season? Join the tea subscription club! https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777

Don’t miss out on future episodes! Subscribe and hit the notification bell for more Teatime with Jesse. 🔔

0:00:27 Meet Laszlo

0:02:50 Laszlo’s everyday tea

0:03:32 Ancient tree tea

0:05:18 Starting the Chinese history podcast

0:07:48 How to prioritize topics on a history podcast

0:09:20 The Chinese exclusion act 0:10:34

Chinese immigration to the US

0:20:29 Living in Hong Kong during the Handover

0:27:38 The history of China-US trade relations

0:29:00 Nixon and The Cultural Revolution

0:41:18 Working with the London Science Museum to display palace artifacts from Beijing

0:51:44 The importance of understanding history in the present

0:53:30 Independent podcast research vs. museum curation

1:10:00 Tea pets and the Zodiac

#chinesehistory #chinahistorypodcast #jessesteahouse #teatimewithjesse #chinatrade #gongfutea #chinesetea #teahistory #foreignerinchina #mandarinlanguage