Welcome, to the home page of Marko Štajgár

All my life I have been struggling with my addiction to soda and caffeine, and I always have been looking for a better alternative. Some time ago, I was staying overnight with my friend in his house, and I was introduced to the gongfu style of making tea, and I was mesmerized by the ritual. Since then, I embarked on my tea drinking journey and fell in love with the culture.

I have always loved artisan-made things like tachimori go board's, so exploring all of the different kinds of teaware was a great experience. When I was younger, I loved pokemon and gormiti, so when I stumbled uppon Tea pet's I at once knew that I had to start a collection, this really got me excited like a little child again. When I was done exploring, I chose a handmade tokomane clay Japanese-style teaware and a kyusu teapot. I may not be the most culturally appropriate tea drinker, but with my Japanese-style set, from the start I discovered that I have a taste mainly for sheng pu-erh and high-mountain oolongs.

<2024-08-04 Sun>

I have settled from the beginning till present day on a healthy diet composing of about 90% young to semi-aged sheng puer with almost all my drinking materials exclusively coming from Xishuangbanna, the remaining 10% is divided among I would say 4% liu bao, 4% wu-yi yancha, and the remaining 2% I am graciously keeping open minded to keep track of recent trends.

Favourite terroir's / vilages:

• Gedeng
• Mansong
• Pasha
• Bohetang
• Hesong
• Zhanglang
• Hekai
• Laobanzhang
• Weidong
• Mengnan

If I had to pick a favourite yancha, I would always go for tieluohan

As of teaware I can say that I have made myself a respectable and beautifull collection of artisan handmade cups by artists from around the world. I have the privilege of experiencing very high quality raw clay material made Dai and Jianshui pottery, with even somehow getting my hands on an really aged Zhuni clay yixing, a decorated Zini made in the 80's, and even a woodfired aged Zhong Cao Qing Yuan Zu. It had never occured to me how being surrounded by beautifull handmade art would change and shape my opinions on the world, people and culture.

Concluding my first year of tea drinking, tea had made my body stronger and healthier, my mind calmer, my enviroment less soulless and prettier.

<2024-07-06 Sat>

A beautiful poem, it may sound esoteric to a lot of people that haven't properly and mindfully experienced the feeling of the so-called “Cha Zui”.

The first cup caresses my dry lips and throat.

The second shatters the walls of my lonely sadness.

The third searches the dry rivulets of my soul to find the stories of five thousand scrolls.

With the fourth the pain of life’s grievances evaporates through my pores.

The fifth bowl purifies my flesh and bones.

The sixth cup calls me to the realms of the immortals.

The seventh bowl could not be drunk, only the breath of the cool wind raises in my sleeves.

As I make my way to Penglai.

Lu T'ung, Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907)

Drinking tea can be much deeper than simply enjoying the drink. I’m not going to tell you how to make it properly because there is no right or correct way to do that. One can only find his own way to experiencing the sensations Lu T’ung describes.

For me, making tea mindfully, or in the so-called gongfu cha way, is the base of the practice. When I want to make tea, I try to reason why, and interestingly, I often discover that it is because I want to stimulate my senses and think, not like in a I want to get some homework done kind of way, I simply want to drink some good tea, think and see what comes to my mind. Somehow I have assosiated tea making with the activity of simply thinking.

This almost magical plant can be in a lot of ways a life changer if you let it be a one. It is inherently good to think, and unfortunately in this day of age most people are eighter afraid or too lazy to try, if they were not, brainrot like TikTok and the great vast majority of modern media would not have the slightest chance to survive.

Making and experiencing tea creates the atmosphere, feeling, sensory experience and mood simply to be calm and think, and that is why it is important to me and what I love about it the most.

I could also talk about the deep worldview changing experience that one develops over time when being surrounded by beautifull handmade art and culture where no corporate logo is in sight on a lower than the quality of a wet dogshit soulless factory product, but it is best to discover that by yourself, and most importantly for yourself.

<2024-10-27 Sun>

These are my favourite sellers / teahouses that I recommend, respect, trust and in case of some of them even on a weekly basis.

• https://www.bannahouse.cz/
• https://www.nannuoshan.org/
• https://www.literarnacajovna.sk/
• https://essenceoftea.com/

<2025-07-06 Sun>