[This article was originally written in March 2024, and is updated every year with each year's theme and additional details.]

The Taiwanese 無我 (Wū Wǒ) tea ceremony has always been close to the heart of Discover Teas, ever since our founder Chris Farishon first attended a Wū Wǒ ceremony at the World Tea Expo over 10 years ago. It's become an indispensable expression of the mission of Discover Teas: Tea with love. In fact, one of my core memories about becoming part of Discover Teas was attending my first Wū Wǒ ceremony, months before I ever applied or was hired onto Discover Teas staff. The experience was so moving for me that it cemented my desire to join the Discover Teas family, and it's a tradition that has meant a lot for me to continue now that I am the business owner.

There are 2 reasons Discover Teas translated the Wū Wǒ ceremony into a virtual format: accessibility and safety. In continuing this, my goal is to be able to share this bonding experience with as many people as possible, while keeping the most vulnerable among us safe. The literal meaning of 無我 is "without myself," and the ceremony serves not only to bring our tea family together, but as a reminder to infuse this spirit of giving and sharing into our daily lives.

If you've never experienced an in-person or virtual Wū Wǒ ceremony before, here are the 7 principles of Wū Wǒ, as translated by the Northwest Wu Wo Tea Association:

1. Seating is determined by random drawing. There is no distinction by rank or social status.
2. Tea is served in one direction but received from the other. No reward is expected from those you have served.
3. Keep an open mind and reserve judgment in order to accept and appreciate different teas and brewing styles.
4. Check and review constantly while keeping a positive and tolerant attitude in order to brew the best tea you can.
5. Brewing is not restricted to any particular school or regional style.
6. Everyone follows the rules and prearranged schedule so no director is needed.
7. Silence is maintained while brewing to allow the cultivation of group rhythm and harmony and a spirit of cooperation and thoughtfulness toward others.

To develop Discover Teas' virtual version of the Wū Wǒ ceremony, I tried to keep to the principles of 無我 while making certain accommodations for accessibility:

• Of course, we have not yet reached the part where virtual steepers can pour tea for everyone, so for now, we will continue with preparing individual servings. If others are present with you and would like to have tea, please feel free to share with them!
• However, in 2025, I will be sending a gift package to all attendees which will include tea samples chosen by steepers, in the spirit of the tea sharing experience. While steepers are welcome to steep whatever tea they choose during the ceremony, due to logistical and liability restrictions, the tea samples in the package will all be from Discover Teas. The gift package will also include more goodies—see the event registration page for more details!
• I don’t consider myself a “director” in this, but in the virtual format, a facilitator is helpful to reduce confusion and increase peoples’ comfort with participating, whether as steepers or as observers.
• To add the spirit of sharing into the virtual ceremony, each steeper brings a tea that evokes that ceremony's theme, and we share these connections among us when introducing ourselves and our teas. This gives everyone different stories to savor while we sip our tea. With the in-person ceremony, the same tea can be steeped by different people and still taste different because their experiences and preferences touch the way the tea is made. In the same way, with this format everyone experiences the theme differently, and their takes on it can also change the way we interpret it ourselves.

So, what’s the theme for this year? Love is Action!

In these chaotic and distressing times, it can be hard to feel that we have any power to affect the world around us or to protect those we want to keep safe, even as it becomes more important than ever to stand by each other and the most vulnerable among us. So during this year's virtual Wū Wǒ ceremony, we will choose teas that remind us that "love" is an action word; that far from being passive, Love is a word that can empower us, together with our communities, to do incredible things.

Examples of tea you might choose for this would be tea that you reach for when you need encouragement, tea that you serve when bringing people together, tea that energizes you, and/or tea that you steep to create spaces of refreshment, recovery, and peace.

Interested in steeping or observing this year's event on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 at 4:00pm? Preregister here!