By Kendrick Brown
Students come to St. Mary’s Hall every Wednesday to enjoy tea, tea-making and tea culture at Tea Club.
The Tea Club was originally formed in the Language House by Chinese majors who developed an appreciation for China and other countries in the region’s history of tea-making.
The club’s mission statement, according to TerpLink, is to “exist as a space for enjoyers of tea to share their interests with others, and provide resources for those interested to learn more about tea.”
Janet Sun, a sophomore biochemistry major and president of the club, described a casual meeting of the club as people coming in to drink tea prepared by members of the club trained as brewers, while simply enjoying each other’s company for an hour.
The club is designed as a place where anyone can come in and simply enjoy the environment and the people without any real requirements or expectations, unless someone wants to become part of the e-board or a brewer.
Becoming a brewer is a fairly simple process, as you can simply ask to become one, and the club members will teach you the traditional Chinese tea-making process using a lidded bowl called a gaiwan.
“For casual meetings, we make tea the Chinese way, with a very simple tool called a gaiwan,” Sun said. “You put the leaves in there, you put the water in there, you put the cap on the lid, and you wait, depending on how deeply you want it.”
At the Feb. 25 meeting, the president brewed two types of tea for guests.
The first was a Japanese tea called Hosen Sencha made by Ippodo Tea, which was left over from the Kyoto Cafe event they hosted with the Japanese American Student Association on Feb. 20.
The second was a Chinese tea from Yunnan Sourcing named Menghai Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake, made in 2014 to commemorate the Year of the Horse.
The club’s activities don’t stop at drinking tea, as it also provides games for guests to play as they converse, with Uno being the game played during that meeting.
When asked what they like about the tea club, sophomore family health major and frequent visitor Emily Kim-Vance talked about the environment.
“It’s like a small enough club that you feel like you know most people, but it’s also big enough that you have opportunities to talk to different people and sort of go outside your comfort zone,” Kim-Vance said.
Similar sentiments were shared by the club treasurer and senior accounting major Alek Efflund when asked what he would tell people to get them to join the club.
“We’re great to meet new people,” Efflund said. “There’s a lot of teas you’ll be able to try here, especially teas that are made by the international students, that you really can’t get anywhere else in the U.S. So it’s a great opportunity to try authentic Chinese tea, authentic Indian tea.”
Featured Image: A Tea Club member making tea during the Feb. 25, 2026, meeting. Photo by Kendrick Brown.