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Illuminating The Heart Of Tea

A Retreat for Tea Ritual Culture 

October 18-22, 2026  |  Mount Hood, Oregon

WHAT TO EXPECT

A 5 day immersion into the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest where we explore the nature of Tea Ritual Culture through the lens of folk-style Chinese Gongfu tea. 

Connection with Nature

Immerse in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, allowing tea and the natural world to become pathways into deeper presence, observation, and relationship with place.

Recontextualization of Tea Culture

Explore tea beyond the everyday beverage, entering into its rich cultural context and discovering how reverence, relationship, and respect can transform the way we experience it.

In-depth Educational Journey into the History & Ecology of Tea

Follow tea from leaf to cup through an experiential exploration of its history, cultivation, processing, regional traditions, and the centuries of knowledge that have shaped tea culture as we know it today.

Hands-On Personal Practice Development

Move from learning into practice through daily Gongfu tea sessions, guided exploration, and hands-on experience designed to help you develop a tea practice that feels informed, embodied, and uniquely your own.

WHERE YOU WILL STAY

MEET YOUR GUIDES

Steve Odell

Enthea Teahouse RabbitsMoon Tea

Steve Odell’s expertise in tea ritual culture stems from a cultivation of Chinese gong fu tea as a primary practice over the last 20 years. Since 2011, he has traveled to China and studied with living tea communities, building family-style relationships with tea producers directly sourcing exclusively hand-made, small batch tea bringing it back to the US to share.

In 2016, Steve expanded his vision further opening a new community tea gathering space in Portland, OR called Enthea Teahouse. He has sought to continue building bridges between Gongfu tea culture in China, in the PNW and abroad to contribute to deepening a meaningful understanding of tea practice itself.

Through Enthea, a word meaning “illumination through tea” in Latin, he seeks to recontextualize tea’s potential as a transpersonal experience beyond the conventional beverage that it is often dismissed as by offering intimate shared experiences of high quality tea brewed with care in a flourishing gongfu tea community setting.

Jessica Marshall

The Art of BeatuTEA

Jessica Marshall is a tea artist, experiential designer, and founder of The Way of BeauTea, whose work explores tea as a medium for presence, beauty, and human connection. For the past five years, she has served tea at Lake Atitlán and around the world, creating immersive tea spaces for festivals, retreats, private ceremonies, public gatherings, and community events.

At Lake Atitlán, Jessica has served tea at renowned gathering spaces including Eagle’s Nest and Gaia Dance Temple. Beyond Guatemala, she has co-created traveling tea temples and pop-up lounges throughout Oregon, Austin, San Diego, Colorado, Asheville, Tulum, and beyond. Her specialty is transforming unexpected and highly stimulating environments into intimate spaces of beauty, ritual, and belonging, inviting people to slow down and connect more deeply with themselves, one another, and the plants being shared.

Through The Way of BeauTea, Jessica explores the art of the tea lounge, weaving together her backgrounds in visual art, design, ceremony, hospitality, and event production to create experiences rooted in plant relationship, presence, and the simple magic of gathering around tea.

ITENERARY

Day One

Arrive In The Space

Guests arrive & make their way to Enthea Teahouse, where we begin our journey to our cabin nestled in the lush forest of Mount Hood.

Our first day will be focused on settling into the space and beginning to form a foundation of togetherness with each other and with nature.


Meet at Enthea

1:00 – 2:00pm


Check-In at Cabin

4:00 – 5:00pm


Orientation

5:00 - 6:00pm


Dinner

6:00 - 7:30pm


Social Tea Space

7:30 - 9:30pm


茶席 (Chá Xí)

Setting The Stage

Day Two

On our first full day, we set the structural stage for the tea practice. Exploring each tool from both a historical, ritualistic and personal lens.

Opening into the conceptual world of the physical manifestation of tea on the stage of life.


Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30am


Qi gong + Silent Tea Meditation

9:30 – 10:30am


Lecture

10:30 - 1:00pm


Lunch

1:00 - 2:00pm


Break

2:00 - 2:30pm


Solo Tea + Journaling

2:30 - 3:30pm


Integration Circle

3:30 - 4:30pm


Break

4:30 - 6:00pm


Dinner

6:00 - 7:30pm


Tea Journey w/ Steve

7:30 - 9:30pm


茶气 (Chá Qì)

Tea & Chi

Day Three

On our second full day, we explore the spectrum of tea and it’s many different faces through an experiential, spiritual and anthropological lens.

Diving deeper under the surface to seek out deeper communion with tea itself as both our muse and our teacher.


Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30am


Qi gong + Silent Tea Meditation

9:30 – 10:30am


Lecture

10:30 - 1:00pm


Lunch

1:00 - 2:00pm


Break

2:00 - 2:30pm


Field Trip 

2:30 - 6:00pm


Dinner

6:00 - 7:30pm


SpeakTeasy

7:30 - 9:30pm


茶艺 (Chá Yì)

The Art of Tea

Day Four

On our last full day, we dive deeper into the history and culture of tea itself.

Taking the creative lead, we will imagine and craft the nuances of our own personal practice through our deepened relationship with tea. Preparing to share it together in a casual social setting.


Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30am


Qi gong + Silent Tea Meditation

9:30 – 10:30am


Lecture

10:30 - 1:00pm


Lunch

1:00 - 2:00pm


Break

2:00 - 2:30pm


Design Your Own Tea Altar Playshop

2:30 - 5:30pm


Break

5:30 - 6:00pm


Dinner

6:00 - 7:30pm


Collaborative Group Practice

7:30 - 9:30pm


Day Five

Goodbyes

Guests wake up and get ready to leave back to Portland. Landing back at Enthea, we take a moment to reflect on everything we learned and explore the teaware with the opportunity to select treasures to take back home for our own practice.


Breakfast

8:30. - 9:30am


Pack to Leave

9:30 - 10:30am


Goodbye

10:30 - 11:00am


CHOOSE YOUR PACKAGE

Illuminating The Heart Of Tea (Single Room - 1 Guest)
$2,800.00

A 5 day immersion into the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest where we explore the nature of Tea Ritual Culture through the lens of Chinese GongFu style tea. 

This room is for a single guest who wants a private room for themselves.

Illuminating The Heart Of Tea (Shared Room - 2 Guests)
$3,200.00

A 5 day immersion into the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest where we explore the nature of Tea Ritual Culture through the lens of Chinese GongFu style tea. 

This room features discounted pricing for 2 guests who will be sharing the room. Please include both names of the guests in your form.

JOIN THE RETREAT

October 17-22, 2026  |  Mount Hood, Oregon