The Path Behind satotea
Hi, I’m Shao, the co-founder of satotea — a person who drinks tea with presence.
The name “satotea” comes from the Japanese word “satori” (悟), meaning awakening. In Chinese, it can be translated as “tea of insight” — tea that brings realization to those who drink it. This name is the distillation of my life experience and a prayer — a wish that tea might guide people back to their inner being, starting from the senses, to meet themselves again.
A Turning Point: From Numbness to Awakening
At the age of thirty, I left Taiwan for Berlin. Outwardly, it seemed like I had everything — a stable life, material comfort, and success in the eyes of others. But inwardly, I felt a kind of emptiness that was almost frightening. It was a time when no matter what I ate, did, or who I was with, I couldn’t feel anything. There was a hole inside me, hollow and inexplicable — and that state lasted for almost a year.
Until one day, a cup of tea from Taiwan entered my life.
The moment the tea went down my throat, it was like lightning struck my heart. The long-empty space within suddenly cracked open — and a deep inner stirring arose. A long-lost clarity and awakening returned. That very day, I went home, bought tea utensils, and began making tea — just to hold onto that fleeting moment of realness and feeling.
Daily Tea Meditation in Berlin: Tea Became a Mirror
During those years in Berlin, despite receiving care and company I went through cultural challenges. With the language barrier being one of them, and with a deep knowing that external abundance could not fill the void within, I began sitting with myself every day through tea. After making tea, I would ask myself questions like: Why am I here in this world? What kind of life do I truly want to live?
Brewing tea became a ritual of being with myself.
Through each cup, I revisited and reflected on my life. In the stillness, I naturally began to close my eyes and meditate, diving into the inner ocean to meet myself once again. That was the beginning of my journey with tea — and also the beginning of a dialogue with life itself.
Discovering Natural Tea as a Living Medicine
In the beginning, I drank conventional tea — most of what’s sold in the market, grown with fertilizers and pesticides. Sometimes my throat would feel irritated or my stomach would tighten. I thought maybe I just didn’t know how to brew it well. But as my meditation deepened and my awareness grew more sensitive, I started to notice that certain teas would give me headaches or make my body feel uncomfortable. I assumed this was a “normal reaction” to tea.
It wasn’t until three years later that I tasted a truly wild-farmed tea — and the experience changed everything. The clarity that flowed through my whole body, as if every pore had awakened, and even a sense of resonance with nature — only then did I realize how full of life tea could be.
From that moment on, I began exploring wild-farmed teas. After going through a deep physical and emotional detox and transformation, I confirmed what I had sensed: that natural tea carries the energy of real nature — like ancient, wild medicinal herbs. It doesn’t just nourish the body — it can also heal the heart. It is a deep, peaceful support.
Returning to Taiwan and settling down in Taitung
During my final year in Berlin, I transformed my living room into a small tea space, where I would brew tea, meditate and invite friends over for shared experiences. Later, when I returned to Taiwan, I spent eight months riding a motorbike around the island, traveling for three to four days at a time, searching for the land where I truly wanted to settle.
Eventually, I found my home in Taitung. In the white space between the mountains and the sea, I found room to breathe, a lifestyle in rhythm with nature. Here, I settled down and established satotea — a physical tea space focused on sharing and extending the practice of meditative tea.
satotea: A Door Inward
When people have a chance to step out of the noise of daily life into a quiet space, and allow the peaceful frequencies of nature to enter their body through tea, they can begin to sit with themselves again — to settle into the present moment. I hope to offer such a space — a corner where you can simply be yourself. A place with no pretending, no roles — just you and tea, meeting each other honestly. satotea meditation tea space is like a door turn inward. It opens a moment of possibility for those who are ready to shift perspectives and long for change and inner peace.
Sometimes, the answer isn’t complicated. It may simply be:
Sit down.
Brew a cup of tea.
And see — where are you, right now?
The Present Path of satotea
After years of exploring the path of tea, satotea now focuses on the following offerings:
- Gongfu tea meditation sessions
- Tea meditation retreats
- Deep dive workshops around tea, brewing techniques and meditation tools
- Online and in-person sales of naturally- and wild-farmed teas (retail and wholesale)
- Online and in-person tea brewing classes
I hope my work will be understood not only as one-time experiences, but as a full method of tea meditation — so that people can carry this practice into their own lives, and live with peace, joy, and honesty.
