MEET OUR TEAM
VINCENT LIU
Founder and President
Vincent is a junior majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Economics. In 2016, he started his tea journey by taking lessons in his hometown Chengdu from a 1st level National Tea Art Master, Mr. Feng Zhou, and became a certified Tea Art Specialist. In 2017, he founded Duke CommuniTEA, hoping to promote tea culture and to bring people together through tea. He enjoys a variety of tea, especially oolong.
ZOE TANG
Executive Vice President
Zoe Tang is a senior double majoring in Public Policy and Psychology from Atlanta, Georgia. She loves CommuniTEA because she believes that it provides a much-needed space for students to relax and that it has a unique ability to bring together diverse students from our community (simple through a love of tea!). She is excited to help expand CommuniTEA's programming this year as the EVP, and her favorite tea is black tea.
MAX BARTLETT
VP of Tea Culture
Max is a senior at Duke University majoring in Computer Science with minors in Arabic and Religion. He began to appreciate tea after spending time in Jordan in the summer of 2017, and he has since had the most attendance among all general members in TeaGather. He loves drinking and learning more about tea, as well as connecting with others through tea at TeaGather. His current favorite tea is raw pu-erh tea.
MICHELLE YIN
VP of Publicity
I am a junior at Duke University majoring in Math with a minor in Chemistry and planning to pursue a career in medicine. I was first exposed to the tea culture when I spent my early childhood in China with my grandparents. My grandfather used to religiously drink oolong tea every morning; he used to offer me a glass to share but I would always furl my nose at the bitter tasting liquid. After moving back to the United States during my adolescence, I started missing these moments I shared with my extended family. Duke CommuniTEA has been my reconnection to the cultural heritage I have been missing. As VP of Publicity, I am super excited to share my passion for tea with others in the Duke community.
MIA THOMPSON
Tea Education Chair
Mia is a mechanical engineering major, class of 2023! She's from Queens in NYC, and likes to read and watch horror movies. Her favorite tea is Alishan, a type of Taiwanese oolong tea. She grew up drinking tea with her grandmother; Mia was always kind of mediocre at speaking Chinese, and her grandmother was bad at speaking English, so tea drinking was how they bonded and spent time together.
ANNA JESTIN
Treasurer
Anna Jestin is a senior from from Paris, France, majoring in International Comparative Studies with a focus on China and east Asia, a Markets and Management certificate, and a minor in religious studies. Anna is a big foodie and a huge tea drinker. Her favorites include green Jasmin, gunpowder tea, unsweetened matcha, and rooibos (red tea). In high school and after freshman year, Anna interned at a French artisanal tea company, and studied abroad in China, where she participated in tea ceremonies. “the best tea I had in China was probably in Xi’An, where I had a black litchi tea, which was very strong and sweet”. Catch her anywhere on campus, she’s usually drinking tea!
JACK SMOOT
Community Engagement Chair
Jack is a freshman from NYC and Dubai and is studying Arabic and social sciences. He enjoys drinking oolong tea and learning about the Middle East, international politics, art, history, and architecture. After a dive into coffee and a period of going caffeine-free, Jack discovered CommuniTEA last fall. He’s now helping organize new programming so that more students can relax with friends around tea.
ANNA JIANG
Boba Committee Chair
Anna Jiang is a sophomore from Moraga, CA majoring in economics and public policy with a minor in history. Ever since she was a kid, she remembers making tea with her grandparents and cousins while visiting in China, but didn’t start religiously drinking it until high school. Anna absolutely loves drinking tea and boba, especially jasmine and black tea, and is excited to share that love with the Duke community through planning boba kitchen events!
QINTIAN ZHANG
Outreach Chair
Qintian is a sophomore majoring in Statistics. She is raised in China, nurtured in Singapore and growing in the U.S. She’s from the hometown of Dragon Well tea, where the spring is said to taste sweet. Her most recent hobby is hosting ad-hoc tea tasting with friends in her room. Her favorite tea (as for now) is Tie Guan Yin, a type of Oolong tea.