T Ching is delighted to announce the winners of our 2019 Writers Contest!

All posts by T Ching regular or occasional contributors were considered and reviewed ( with the exception of those written by T Ching staff ). Where our original plan was to have our readers vote upon their favorites, this ended up not working out as we ( and our panel of experts ) experienced setback after setback ( COVID-19, wildfires, smoke, power outages, personal upheavals ). In short: 2020 has definitely been a year for the history books for us all. As a result, we ended up having our panel of experts choose the winners. It turns out that we have so many talented writers that they struggled with choosing just one for each category: As a result, we ended up with ties in a whopping 7 out of 12 categories! (Please note that posts by T Ching staff did not qualify for entry.)

Without further ado, here is the list of winners by category.

2019 Writers Contest Finalists

Art & Design

What My Tea Says To Me: Song of Teaby Jennifer R. Cook

Basics & Tips

How To Store Tea: Tips To Keep Tea Fresh For Yearsby Lucy Wyndham

One Simple Trick to Test Tea Qualityby Holly Helt

Beyond the Basics

Chanoyu, Temae, and Chadoguby Kei Nishida 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Sheng Pu’er Aging Explorationby John Bickel 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Community 

Value of Languageby Dan Robertson 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Cooking With Tea

Homemade Tea Gifts in Jars (Chai Spice “Kit”)by Paula Geerligs 

Teasing the Cocoa Notes Out of Teaby Robert Wemischner

Health & Well-Being

Are Herbal Teas Safe During Pregnancy?by Lucy Wyndham 

Good Grief!by Regena Rafelson 

History 

Postage Stampsby Ifang Hsieh 

Industry

Tea is the Life of the Partyby Elyse Petersen 

Spilling the Tea: Behind the Teaby Dharlene Marie Fahl 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Op-Ed 

Some Intermediate-Level Ideas About Teaby John Bickel 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Product Reviews

Tea Advent Calendarsby Ifang Hsieh 

Phongsaly Laos Sheng and Black Tea Reviewsby John Bickel 
Part 1 & Part 2 

Tea Places 

Sri Lankan Tea Danceby Ifang Hsieh 

Travel

Precious State: The Unusual and Obscure Teas of Guizhouby So Han Fan
Part 1 & Part 2 & Part 3

Following the Harvest, First Installment – Highlights of the Tea Tour of Japan 2019by Dan Robertson 
Part 1 & Part 2