Zhou Xiang

Zhou Xiang grew up among the stone terraces of Junshan Island, where the mist off Dongting Lake feeds the tea gardens that produce Jūnshān Yínzhēn (君山银针). By twelve he was cupping with his aunt, a factory taster at the old Hunan Tea Corporation, learning to read the pale yellow liquor of a well-made huáng chá (黄茶). That foundation — part family, part terroir — shaped a career that now spans eighteen harvest cycles, from the first flushes of Lóngjǐng (龙井) in Zhejiang to the malty hēi chá (黑茶) of Anhua.

At tea.energy, Zhou Xiang’s work is rooted in the link between sensory focus and mental clarity. He runs the online *Focus session — guided gongfu while you work, a recurring 90-minute block where participants steep quietly alongside him, using tea as a concentration anchor. The format draws directly from his own practice: during long afternoons of remote work, a tiny gaiwan of Mí Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香) single-bud Dan Cong kept him out of the 3 p.m. haze. That experience became the thread The 3pm slump — what we actually reach for, his most-cited contribution to the tea.energy community.

He teaches seminars for tea.school on Hunan’s tea history, from the tribute Jūnshān Yínzhēn sent to emperors to the modern revival of hóng chá in the Wuling mountains. His personal collection, featured on teamotea.com, includes small-batch lots from forgotten cooperatives he’s visited by motorbike. When he isn’t leading a session or writing tasting notes, Zhou Xiang can be found experimenting with lǜ chá (绿茶) cold extractions — he insists a 12-hour fridge steep of premium Lóngjǐng* holds more clarity than any espresso. That’s the kind of quiet biohacking tea.energy was built for.