Zhou Xiang
Director, Green & Black Tea
Zhou Xiang serves as director of green and black tea at Teamotea, a role that places him at the intersection of Hunan’s storied tea heritage and the scientific rigor of contemporary tea evaluation. Born in Yiyang, Hunan, Zhou began his formal training in 2003 at the Hunan Agricultural University’s Tea Science Department, where he studied under Professor Liu Zhonghua, a leading authority on tea processing and quality control. His academic work focused on the volatile aroma compounds of Hunan green teas, research that contributed to the revision of GB/T 14456-2017, the national standard for green tea ratified in 2017. After graduation, Zhou spent over a decade as a senior tea appraiser at the Hunan Tea Industry Association, conducting sensory panels and chemical analyses for the province’s flagship teas — *Jūnshān Yínzhēn* (君山银针), *Lóngjǐng* (龙井)-style green teas from the Dongting region, and traditional black teas processed with slow oxidation techniques. His tastings helped refine the geographic indication protocols for *Jūnshān Yínzhēn*, reinforcing its status as one of China’s most protected yellow teas. Zhou joined Teamotea in 2019, attracted by the company’s mission to digitize tea provenance without sacrificing craft. He oversees quality benchmarks for all *lǜ chá* (绿茶), *hóng chá* (红茶), and *huáng chá* (黄茶) offerings, ensuring that every tea listed on the company’s consumer platform at thetea.app meets grading standards consistent with national and international specification. He also designs the tea academy’s core modules on green and black tea evaluation, hosted at tea.school. His sessions guide senior proctors through leaf grading, infusion colourimetry, and mouthfeel profiling using standardized cupping sets. Zhou Xiang’s work bridges the provincial and the global. He maintains close relationships with family-operated gardens in Hunan’s Anhua and Ningxiang counties, sources that appear in Teamotea’s limited-release selections. As the company expands its presence in specialty retail through shop.thetea.app and shop.puerh.app, his rigorously vetted catalogue remains a trust signal for new markets.
Specialties
- *lǜ chá* (绿茶)
- *hóng chá* (红茶)
- *huáng chá* (黄茶)
- *Húnán chá* (湖南茶)
- *Lóngjǐng* (龙井)
- *Jūnshān Yínzhēn* (君山银针)
Zhou Xiang serves as director of green and black tea at Teamotea, a role that places him at the intersection of Hunan’s storied tea heritage and the scientific rigor of contemporary tea evaluation. Born in Yiyang, Hunan, Zhou began his formal training in 2003 at the Hunan Agricultural University’s Tea Science Department, where he studied under Professor Liu Zhonghua, a leading authority on tea processing and quality control. His academic work focused on the volatile aroma compounds of Hunan green teas, research that contributed to the revision of GB/T 14456-2017, the national standard for green tea ratified in 2017.
After graduation, Zhou spent over a decade as a senior tea appraiser at the Hunan Tea Industry Association, conducting sensory panels and chemical analyses for the province’s flagship teas — Jūnshān Yínzhēn (君山银针), Lóngjǐng (龙井)-style green teas from the Dongting region, and traditional black teas processed with slow oxidation techniques. His tastings helped refine the geographic indication protocols for Jūnshān Yínzhēn, reinforcing its status as one of China’s most protected yellow teas.
Zhou joined Teamotea in 2019, attracted by the company’s mission to digitize tea provenance without sacrificing craft. He oversees quality benchmarks for all lǜ chá (绿茶), hóng chá (红茶), and huáng chá (黄茶) offerings, ensuring that every tea listed on the company’s consumer platform at thetea.app meets grading standards consistent with national and international specification. He also designs the tea academy’s core modules on green and black tea evaluation, hosted at tea.school. His sessions guide senior proctors through leaf grading, infusion colourimetry, and mouthfeel profiling using standardized cupping sets.
Zhou Xiang’s work bridges the provincial and the global. He maintains close relationships with family-operated gardens in Hunan’s Anhua and Ningxiang counties, sources that appear in Teamotea’s limited-release selections. As the company expands its presence in specialty retail through shop.thetea.app and shop.puerh.app, his rigorously vetted catalogue remains a trust signal for new markets.