The best weekly reflections for living a life of Tea

1. Tea Practice

This week in seasonal ritual

The Alchemy of Fire and Water

In Tea, everything begins with water. How we heat it shapes the entire session—its energy, flavor, and feel. At the heart of this ritual is a meeting of elements: fire and water, yang and yin, movement and stillness. This elemental alchemy is subtle, but profound. It’s how we bring the leaves—and ourselves—back to life.

To preserve the vitality of your water, heat it quickly from room temperature and use it immediately. Water that’s been heated slowly or kept warm too long tends to lose its clarity and liveliness. That’s why we avoid induction methods and recommend exogenous heat sources instead—methods that maintain the integrity of the water’s structure and energy.

Here’s how we rank heating methods, from most resonant to most workable:

• Japanese white charcoal – cleanest and most energetically refined

• Coconut husk charcoal – accessible, clean-burning, and effective

• Infrared burner – better than gas, and easier to manage than charcoal

• Gas flame – useful but more forceful

• Electric kettle – use only when other methods aren’t possible

(And if you're using charcoal indoors, always crack a window for ventilation.)

Just as essential as your heat source is the water itself. We recommend fresh spring water—smooth, slightly sweet, and full of life. Water holds memory, and you’ll feel the difference when you use water that’s vibrant and unprocessed.

This week, take a moment to notice how you’re bringing your water to life. This isn’t just preparation—it’s part of the practice. Fire and water, energy and receptivity—this elemental dance is what invites Tea to open.

2. Five Element Insight

Seasonal alignment through the lens of Fire

Balancing Fire with Hydration

Summer is the season of Fire—an element of warmth, connection, outward expression, and light. It’s the time of year when energy naturally moves upward and outward, and we often feel more social, creative, and expansive.

But when Fire burns too hot, we can feel overstimulated, scattered, or drained. Taoist medicine teaches that seasonal balance comes from countering excess with what nourishes and replenishes. In the heat of summer, that means Water—literally and energetically.

Drink clean, room-temperature water throughout the day. Eat water-rich fruits and vegetables like cucumber, melon, and bitter greens. Most importantly, let your Tea practice reflect this balancing gesture. Choose teas that cool the system and calm the spirit—white, green, or aged Liu Bao.

Tea, when practiced with awareness, can become a daily ritual of rebalancing. A way to meet the heat of the season not with resistance, but with nourishment. This week, notice the quality of Fire in your life. Let Tea be the water that softens it.

3. What We’re Drinking

This week’s favorite from the tea table

Jade Dragon

Bright, grassy, and full of clean energy, Jade Dragon has become our daily summer companion. This early spring Long Jing (Dragonwell) green tea is harvested just before the Qingming rains, when the leaves are still tender and full of life. The farmers pan-roast it by hand in small batches—a technique that dates back centuries and lends the leaves their signature chestnut aroma.

The tea is grown in a biodiverse, chemical-free garden in the heart of Zhejiang province. Each cup carries a soft sweetness—almost like steamed edamame with a hint of wildflower nectar. Its buttery, mineral-rich texture coats the mouth, while the cooling chi travels down the spine.

There’s a reason green tea is favored in summer across Asia—it doesn’t just refresh, it harmonizes. Jade Dragon is a beautiful reminder of how Tea can mirror the season without overwhelming the system. Drinking it, we find ourselves a little more awake. A little more attuned.

4. Current Inspirations

Creative works that pair well with Tea

Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

By Shitou Xiqian (700–790), translated by Dan Leighton & Kaz Tanahashi

I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.
When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in – covered by weeds.

 

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.
Places worldly people live, he doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn’t love.

 

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.
A Great Vehicle bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can’t help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

 

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
Not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed.
A shining window below the green pines —
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can’t compare with it.

 

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn’t understand at all.
Living here he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

 

Turn around the light to shine within, then just return.
The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers, be familiar with their instruction,
Bind grasses to build a hut, and don’t give up.

 

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.
Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
Are only to free you from obstructions.
If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don’t separate from this skin bag here and now.

In the stillness of summer, we return again and again to this poem. It reminds us that simplicity isn’t lack—it’s spaciousness. And that Tea, like a grass hut, holds everything we need.

5. Community of Creators

Friends walking the path of Tea

Elena Brower – Mother, Mentor, Friend

Elena Brower is a longtime collaborator and beloved presence in the Living Tea community. A mother, artist, poet, bestselling author, and host of the Practice You podcast, Elena’s work lives at the intersection of devotion and discipline—rooted in contemplative practice, creativity, and service.

She’s currently a candidate for Buddhist Chaplaincy and volunteers in hospice and penitentiary settings. Whether through writing, ritual, or tea, Elena reminds us to return to what matters.

We’re honored to be co-hosting a retreat with her this November—Hold Nothing at ChoZen Retreat Center in Florida.

→ Explore her work at elenabrower.com.
→ Learn more about our upcoming retreat here.