New takes on Chinese tea culture from a roaming all-female teahouse

Wenhui Zhang of roaming teahouse Thé Jinjin vigorously whisks matcha while greeting customers pulling in for a pit stop at her pop-up hosted by Île Flottante. People record themselves tasting drinks of matcha marbling in oat milk.

The all-female pop-up teahouse collective brings a twist on East and Southeast Asian flavours with their specialized menu, mostly consisting of matcha. The teahouse collaborates with Asian chefs, DJs, and ceramists to encourage community efforts. For Zhang, Jinjin is a passion project to bring Chinese tea culture to Montreal’s culinary scene.

Matcha isn’t just the main character of Jinjin’s menu; Zhang incorporates ingredients like oolong into the hojicha oolong peach iced latte. The oolong syrup’s warm, spicy, and floral notes complement hojicha’s nuttiness while enhancing the sweetness of muddled Ontario peaches. 

“I get to develop recipes, and I get to sell things that I personally would love to drink and see other people also enjoying [them]... I meet a lot of new friends,” Wenhui says.

A brewing passion

Growing up in Nanjing, China, Zhang’s parents owned a teahouse in their neighbourhood that welcomed family members and community members over a cup of tea. The atmosphere of her parents’ teahouse motivated Wenhui to create Jinjin.

“I wanted a concept where friends could come in and [it can be open] to the public, and I could share my drinks with everyone,” she says. 

In 2016, Wenhui moved to Montreal to pursue studies in food science at McGill. She worked as a line cook and barista in restaurants and cafes in the city. Experiences with racism, sexual harassment, and misogyny in the kitchen however drained Zhang, both mentally and physically.

Despite her experiences, she doesn’t want to smear—or leave—the entire culinary industry. After four years of working in restaurants and cafes, Zhang challenged herself with a new business venture dedicated to her first love: tea.

Gathering forces

In January 2025, Wenhui teamed up with fellow chef and friend Elizabeth “Liz” Kent to nurture Jinjin. 

Kent develops treats that complement the flavour profile of the drinks while incorporating locally-sourced ingredients. Although Kent works at Pâtisserie Mélilot, she drops by whenever she can to help Zhang set up and whip up a few drinks.

For Kent, belonging to an Asian-owned female collective helps her connect with her Chinese heritage by creating recipes influenced by Chinese cuisine. She says working with women like Zhang changes the vibe of the kitchen compared to the fast-paced kitchen environment Liz was used to, calling it “Big Yin Energy.”

“That's female energy. Like, quieter and calmer,” Kent says.

“Even though nowadays there are more and more females in the culinary space, it's still a super-male-dominated space,” Zhang adds. “From my past working experience, even when you're a woman, most of the time we're more capable than the male chefs, but you wouldn't get the same amount of acknowledgement.”

Since Jinjin’s first successful pop-up at Café FAME in May 2025, Wenhui has bigger plans for her teahouse and its potential for Chinese tea culture to sprout in Montreal.

“[I]f I were to have a physical location, I would do it in Chinatown. And I also [want to create a] beginner-friendly tea brand for people to feel less intimidated by tea,” Wenhui says.

“There are, like, 500 names all in Chinese pinyin (romanized Chinese transcription) for people to choose from. I know how intimidating that can be, but I want to create something that's accessible to people, but still good and well-selected.”

The real deal

Back in Île Flottante’s kitchen, Natasha Tang of the ghost bakery SO:yA Bakehouse meticulously garnishes her vegan desserts with white flowers. The growing line outside includes both new and returning customers to sample Jinjin’s new releases while relishing Tang’s vegan desserts.

Customers like McGill student Tonia Yue are among them, who discovered Jinjin through social media. 

Yue and her friend try the Île Flottante—an iced matcha latte with mélilot-infused crème anglaise, honey meringue, and freshly torched rosemary—paired with a purple sweet potato mooncake, strawberry shiso sablé with hojicha sponge and miso cream, and black sesame chiffon cake with red bean paste and warabi mochi.

“I'm new [to] Montreal… I arrived 10 months ago [from Hong Kong], and definitely not long enough for me to explore all the good places here,” Yue explains.

“I was not expecting matcha to be authentic here.”

For Wenhui, the pop-ups are the start of her culinary ventures. “I want to blend traditional brewing with modern techniques using my culinary and food science background, so people can experience tea in ways that feel both authentic and creative,” she says.

“She’s fucking motivated. She wants [Jinjin] to happen,” Kent says. “I'm motivated to get stuff out and be creative, so I think we're a good team that is hopefully going to see more of us, and it'll be better and better.”