I’m really excited to be doing a new kind of spotlight! While in the past I’ve done spotlights on small businesses and retailers, I want to now share a creator spotlight in honor of Pride month on Cody AKA The Oolong Drunk AKA our favorite tea show host!

Learn more about Cody below and please check these links to his website and some of the pieces he’s written!

Recent Posts:

White Tea Matcha

A Begginer’s Guide to Gongfu

Can you introduce yourself and The Oolong Drunk?

My name is Cody and I’m known as The Oolong Drunk!! At the time of this interview, I’ve been blogging about tea for almost 7 years. I started out writing out reviews, but now I’m a regular contributor to World Tea News, as well as hosting my own tea-talk show called Blissfully Tea Drunk With…!

Recent World Tea News Articles:

Pride Month: Exploring LGBTQ Sustainability in the Tea Industry

Long Leaf Tea Co

6 Tea Businesses to watch in 2022

When did your tea journey begin?

It began in 2015, when I was first recommended to buy tea at a store in Texas called Central Market… It was a recommended to me as an alternative to quitting sodas. That day toward, i’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of the world of tea!!

What does your daily tea ritual look like?

I usually just drink tea while watching HBO while in my pajamas, or underwear, on the couch. I usually cuddle one (or both) of my cats. If I see the lighting hit the kitchen just right, then I’ll move my tea session by the kitchen window to snap a photo of what i was drinking to post on Instagram.

Is there a specific tea(s) that you're loving right now?

Right now, it’s white tea! Specially, Chinese white tea!! However, I’ve also been obsessing over black tea or puerh tea. Gah. There’s no such thing as too much!

What sparked the idea for the Blissfully Tea Drunk With series?

The day that Instagram launched an update to their ‘LIVE’ function to add more than one person to a LIVE, I knew I had to try it out! So I messaged my friend Nicole Wilson (Tea For Me Please) and Jenn (Barefoot Tea Lady) to test it out with me! Usually, when watching Instagram-LIVES, I thought the discussions can usually get boring. So while doing these LIVES, I wanted to make it fun and interesting for the audience so the audience would be engaged.

I think some of it also came from the idea that everyone was isolated from Covid… The 2020 Election has made everyone in society hateful, and the sense of community was practically gone. At the time, Black Lives Matters marches were flooding the media, and everything was horribly depressing. Making the talk-show was my way to connect the tea community while having as much fun as possible. To entertain, and to be a distraction form the world around us. I’ve tried to make it fun. I don’t know. I sometimes get the random message from a viewer that it helps them and helps them feel connected and it’s fun… Those people, that’s who I keep doing it for.

What are your future plans for the series?

Right now, Instragram’s last few updates have made their LIVE platform unstable. It’s ruined two of my episodes. I’m moving forward, the next season will be recorded on zoom and uploaded the same-week. It’ll be LIVE in the sense that it’ll all be one-take and won’t be rehearsed. No retakes. But it’ll be uploaded later, so it’ll be syndicated in a sense. This will also allow for larger reach of guests and panelists as well… Fingers crossed it goes well!

What does Pride mean to you?

I came out as gay at 19, and have had a wave of struggles since then. I wrote a book about an experience I faced when being discriminated against after coming out. That experience led to my suicide attempt…. Pride is a reminder that some people are supportive, and some people actually care. It’s a reminder that the gay struggle isn’t for nothing. And pride is a motivator for me to keep working on getting my book published!!

How can the tea community celebrate pride with you and support the LGBTQIA+ community all year round?

I think the tea community is very much supportive all year around. The tea community is very open and accepting of all people of all backgrounds — including queer backgrounds (in my experience at least). I think if people in tea stay compassionate through-out the year, and not just in June, then it would show a much stronger message. I’m very lucky to be apart of this community. I wouldn’t trade it for anything…

I am finally back with another small business spotlight that I’ve had done for a while but things just got away from me. It can sometimes be difficult when I’m focusing so much on the shop (yay, growth!) to keep up with the blog but I’m trying!

Today’s spotlight is Us Two Tea, who specializes in taiwanese tea! I connected with Us Two Tea back in the fall of 2020 and I wanted to feature them in my holiday guide but had reached my budget for that specific project. I was excited that this time, when I made a purchase that a portion of the proceeds went towards a donation to a family who had been affected by the increase in hate crimes towards Asian Americans!

Us Two Tea has oolong, black, jasmine and baozhong tea in their shop. Most of their teas are loose leaf in a sachet but they also have a gift set that has 50g of both osmanthus oolong and jasmine tea which is what I purchased. I really enjoyed the box and presentation, truly a perfect gift set. The quality of tea is good and while I enjoyed both, I preferred the osmanthus oolong.

Above, you can see the beautiful packaging which would be great to gift to someone! Below, a close up of the teas. The rolled tea is the osmanthus oolong and you can see the osmanthus mixed in. The tea on the right is the jasmine.

I also wanted to give you an opportunity to get to know the founder of this business too so I asked Maggie some questions. Get to know her !

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself! Maybe a couple of fun facts?

I went to an art school in San Francisco to study graphic design. I was previously working as the lead designer at Meural, a digital canvas that allows people to hang thousands of paintings on their walls. My design and rebranding work there was a major factor in the company’s acquisition by Netgear for $22,000,000. After the acquisition, I started Us Two Tea.

Fun facts: I do tarot reading for fun on the side!

2) When did you start drinking tea or when did your passion for tea start?

I’ve been drinking tea my whole life. Tea is a way of life in China, and we consume it every day. It was a ritual for my grandpa and I to drink tea together every weekend after our family dinner. I remember he would always ask me the same question, “How’s school?”, and I would always answer, “Good!”. That was our conversation. But I looked forward to it every weekend because I knew that was his way of saying “I love you”. People say food can transport you back to your childhood. For me, tea is more than a drink, it is also a loving memory.

3) What inspired you to start Us Two Tea?

Tea is at the heart of Asian culture and it has always been a part of my life. Yet the tea brands we know and love are not Asian. I couldn’t help but wonder why. I have lived in the US for 10 years now and I have realized that we cannot just wonder. It is our generation’s responsibility to claim our culture and create a brand that represents us.

I hope this brand encourages our next generation to be more confident about our culture and stay true and authentic to who they are - to be proud of being Asian American. I hope it inspires them to pursue their dreams and gives them the confidence to do what they love. We can dare to defy expectations and stand out, not just fit in.

4) What does your personal tea ritual look like?

I usually drink Baozhong(my favorite) tea in the afternoon especially when I am feeling tired or restless. It really has a magical power to help me unwind. Lately, I’ve been having mood swings and my body has been feeling more tired than ever. I am not sure if it’s due to the seasonal change in New York or the collective energy of what’s happening in the U.S, but I just want to shut down, especially on the weekend, and have some alone time to read, cook, do a face mask, and watch some Netflix.

5) What is your current favorite tea?

Baozhong & Osmanthus Oolong tea

6) What do you see in the future for Us Two Tea?

We are building the "Blue Bottle" of tea brand. A one-stop-shop for all Asian tea in the future!

Creator Spotlight: The Oolong Drunk

Small Business Spotlight: Us Two Tea