Last month Čaj Chai teahouse began a series of tea cuppings with a different approach than those we usually hold at our workshops and tastings. The first two parts of this series were dedicated towards The Tones and Textures of Green and The Tones and Textures of Red. In these cuppings we instructed the participants in how to use a cupping set and in what were the key areas one had to pay attention to when cupping. We gave each participant their own cupping set, a tea aroma and flavor wheel, and a blank sheet of paper similar to the ones you can find in our book: “The Tea Cupper’s Notebook”.
In the cupping dedicated towards the color green, the idea was to show how green really isn’t limited to green tea, there are many green oolongs, white teas, puerh teas, yellow teas and even green himalaya teas (often mistakingly called black tea).
In the cupping dedicated towards the color red, the approach was identical, and the participants discovered how red was not just limited to red tea, but also very well represented by fermented dark teas, oolong tea, shu puerh, roasted green teas, himalayan black teas and chinese hong cha.
In both cuppings we covered a large spectrum to really bring home the diversity of tea and to expand our definitions and bring to light many popular misconceptions.
On Saturday, May 7th at 10:30 we will be holding the final part in this series. This will be a Blind Tea Tasting! Participants are in for a fun and very surprising cupping experience. Things get very interesting when we don’t know what we are drinking and when we can’t see the tea leaves or the color of the tea. This cupping is definitely a great experience for both beginners and more experienced tea drinkers. As of today there are still a few open spots so sign up at our teahouse!