YouTube + Tea: 8 of Our Favorite Channels to Watch With a Mug

These days, we don't get too many opportunities to relax with a cup of tea in the morning. But, when we do — and, oh it's a glorious time — we love to sit back and enjoy our tea while watching YouTube. Something about these channels and their amazing creators really enhances the tea-drinking experience, so we wanted to share them with you!

1. Kirsten Dirksen

Kristen Dirksen of Faircompanies.com has been at it for almost 20 years, traveling the world to meet with homeowners and give viewers an intimate look at their unique dwellings. These homes shed light on simple living, self-sufficiency, tiny homes, building with native materials, DIY, and more. We love to sit back and watch these videos while we dream about what our future country home would look like!

2. Never Too Small

If you're enjoying your morning tea not from an epic country home somewhere in Spain, but your tiny apartment in a city where rent prices are ridiculous, then you'll love Never Too Small. Watch how these incredible architects, designers, and ordinary apartment dwellers have converted insanely small places into practical and intentional sanctuaries. Who knows; you might get some ideas for your space as the tea kicks in, spurring your mental clarity and focus!

3. Li Ziqi

This show — despite being the subject of some controversy — showcases Li Ziqi's life in rural China after moving back to her hometown to take care of her grandmother. She demonstrates how to source ingredients from the natural surroundings around her grandmother's home, making many native dishes that celebrate the region's cuisine and aspects of Chinese culture.

3. Sam and Victor

On a cool and cozy Sunday morning, we love watching Sam and Victor with a warm cup of tea. (And, we've come to love their channel so much that we usually have it running in the background most days!) It feels like they've become good friends even though we've never met.

The couple focuses on a mix of lifestyle, shopping, food, and travel content, from their day-to-day lives exploring their home in Hong Kong to their travels abroad, where they showcase their love of coffee, vinyl records, vintage clothing, and new restaurants (which, they are always honest critics about).

Each show includes incredible visuals, b-rolls, and editing techniques that are "aesthetic". Though they talk little in their videos (the casual music making it an easy watch), we feel we know them well.

5. CNBC Make It

If you haven't seen this show yet, start brewing a cup of tea and get your TV set up! Each episode talks about individuals, couples, or families that have set out to make their money work for them.

Whether it was growing their side hustle, living with their parents, moving to another country, investing in real estate, or just plain, old working any type of job, hopefully you can get some inspiration from these Millennials. Not going to lie, though; while some stories are super relatable, others may not be as much. Either way, these are short episodes that are fun to watch while drinking your daily (or, twice daily) tea.

6. Seoul Walker (Or, any city walking tour)

When we're getting lost in a warm cup of tea daydreaming of being in other cities, we turn on walking tours. Pick any city and you should have no problem finding awesome content of people leading you on a walk through their homes or favorite destinations. A personal favorite is Seoul Walker, as we used to live there. Whether we're paying close attention or have this on in the background, Seoul Walker transports you to the neon streets of this metropolis as you sip away!

7. NHK World Japan

NHK World Japan produces a lot of awesome shows that we love to watch. From their own segments to Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus hosted by Peter Barakan, we discovered this channel a few years back and instantly loved it. Since our first trip to Fukuoka, Japan in 2013, we’ve always been in love with the food, architecture, culture, and especially the tea. In fact, we actually brought home several kilos of green tea from Japan!

Japanology has dozens and dozens of episodes, each focusing on a specific aspect of Japanese culture. Whether it’s vending machines, bento boxes, trains, electronics, or even cats, watching while sipping some tea will make you feel like you’re actually there. Highly recommend watching the whole series; you'll never run out of content!

8. Mark Wiens

Okay, so if you're drinking tea to curb your appetite, then you should have no problem watching one of Mark Wien's episodes. As you can tell, we love relaxing with food shows as much as any other, especially if there is a travel component involved. Mark Wien's travels all over the world trying different cuisines and dishes, usually with an emphasis on spicy food. Might be a little intense first thing in the morning, but we love it!

Have you seen any of these channels before? What YouTube channels do you like to watch while drinking a cup of tea? Let us know in the comments below so we can check them out!