UNUSUAL JAPANESE TEAS WITH ASAKO STEWARD

Wednesday 23rd October 2019
6.30-8.30pm

25 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NZ

Join Asako Steward and other Japanese tea lovers to learn about and taste a range of teas made in Japan that you’ve probably never heard of before – Japanese black tea, roasted Kyoto tea, panned green tea and some fermented varieties that are not readily available on the market here in the West.

This is a unique opportunity to learn about and taste rare and exciting Japanese teas that are mostly unknown outside of Japan.

So join us for a fantastic evening of Japanese tea learning!

Teas introduced will include:

• Batabata cha (post fermented dark tea)
• Kyo bancha (Roasted tea from Kyoto)
• Kamairi cha (Panned Green Tea)
• Black Tea (Wakoucha)
• Higashiyama Cha (Cha-gusa-ba method green tea)

About Asako: Asako has been running independent courses about tea in the UK and Japan for the past 20 years. She is a Qualified Senior Tea Instructor with the Japan Tea Association (for black tea) and a Nihon-cha instructor (certified by the Nihoncha Instructor Association in Japan to help promote education and consumption of Japanese green tea). She was appointed Japan Tea Ambassador to the UK in 2017 and established Tea Academy Japan in 2018.

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OOLONG TEA TASTING – THE BLACK DRAGON

Wednesday 13th November
6.30pm-8.30pm

25 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NZ

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT - email for waiting list

Join Juyan Webster (The Chinese Tea Company and UKTA tutor for Chinese tea classes) for this exciting opportunity to learn about and taste the most exciting category of tea - Oolong.

What tea lover doesn’t absolutely love oolong? Who is not fascinated by the particular varietal or cultivar of Camellia sinensis that is bred, cultivated and processed to bring out the plant’s amazing floral character; the big, thick leaves that develop unbelievable layers of flavour, aroma and nutrients that are brought out by the incredible skill of the tea maker through a meticulous regime of withering, pan-firing and slow charcoal roasting, etc.

Different styles of oolong tea can vary widely in flavour. They can be sweet and fruity with a honey aroma, woody and thick with roasted aromas, or green and fresh with complex aromas, all depending on the cultivation and style of production.

Juyan travels to various parts of China every spring to select teas for her business and will share her knowledge and experience of the regions she has visited over the years in order to buy the best from the different provinces. For this tasting event, she has selected one tea to represent each of the producing regions to show just how different each oolong can be.

We will taste the following teas:

• TIE GUAN YIN: a lightly oxidized oolong; from Anxi county, south-east of Fujian province.
• BAI YAI STRANGE ORCHID: a heavily roasted and aged oolong; from Zhangzhou, south-east of Fujian province
• WU YI ROCK TEA – Da Hong Pao: a medium oxidized tea that is heavily roasted over charcoal heat; from Wu Yi Mountain, north-west of Fujian province.
• PHOENIX DAN CONG – Duck Sh*t Aroma: a medium oxidized tea that is lightly roasted over charcoal heat; from Phoenix Mountain, north-east of Guangdong province.
• ALISHAN HIGH MOUNTAIN: a lightly oxidized oolong from Alishan, Taiwan.

Tickets sell fast so book now to secure your place at this very special event in our calendar of Academy Extras.

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TEA AND CHOCOLATE PAIRING

Tuesday 26th November
6.30 - 8.30pm

25 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NZ

Join us for an unmissable interactive tea and chocolate tasting tutored by the founders of Marulin teas and Fifth Dimension Chocolates. In this tasting experience, you will enjoy six unique Taiwanese teas with six amazing chocolates. During the session, you will learn how some of the teas and chocolates are made, how to differentiate good quality products, and the interesting stories behind the flavours.

Included in the ticket price is a complimentary Marulin teacup.

After the event you will be able to purchase the teas and chocolates - perfect for unique and delicious Christmas presents! Don't miss this fantastic taste experience!

We will taste the following teas and suggest their chocolate pairings:

• Alishan Handpicked Milk Oolong (Great Taste 2**)
• Uncle Lin’s Four Seasons Oolong version 3 (Spring 2018) (Great Taste 1*)
• Dark Roasted Dong Ding Oolong (Great Taste 1*)
• Honey Black Tea - Handpicked
• Sun Moon Lake ‘Apple Brandy’ Black Tea
• Hakka Tea with Green Tea

About Marulin: Marulin is an award-winning independent London-based tea company that sources artisanal teas from their family farms and friends in Taiwan. With four generations of tea farmers, producers, and masters in their family, Marulin’s heritage is rooted in making fine, unique oolong teas in small batches. Marulin’s team includes trained Tea Sommeliers from the UK Tea Academy. The company’s founder, Chau-Jean Lin, is the tutor for UK Tea Academy Taiwanese tea Masterclass.

About Fifth Dimension Chocolates: Fifth Dimension Chocolates is an internationally-renowned British chocolatier specialising in luxury handmade chocolates and caramel sauces. The aim is to create a sensory experience in fine chocolates, by combining classic and unusual flavours with chocolate using premium, fine flavour single-origin cocoa.

This London-based company has won over 50 awards since it was founded in 2013 by Russell Pullan and Albert Chau - both are self-taught when it comes to chocolate-making and flavour development, and both are certified chocolate tasters from the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting.

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THE UKTA EVOLVES

Three years ago, we established the UK Tea Academy to spread an appreciation of tea and raise service standards in F&B with professional tea training. We have tutored more than 500 students from all over the world through our certification programme and have developed a full programme of events around tea in our Academy Extras. This year we have developed a new brand identity, a new website and secured a permanent home. We have international reach through our Licenced Trainers in Scotland, Italy, Japan and S Korea, with more joining soon. And later this year we will launch an introductory Online Foundation course. We hold regular events, tastings, talks and workshops at our London Tea Studio (see Academy Extras) and will be introducing new courses and Masterclasses.

We believe The UK Tea Academy is already one of the foremost tea training centres in the world and, thanks to the dedication of our tutors, brewing team and volunteers, we are proud of the success of our students and look forward to sending out into the world many more certified Tea Champions and Sommeliers to share the love and respect for this fabulous leaf.

OUR NEW HOME

UK Tea Academy is thrilled to have moved into its own studio classroom at 25 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NZ.

Our new room is in a reclaimed building owned and managed by Sustainable Workspaces, a company that reclaims and refurbishes disused or decommissioned buildings and converts then into sustainably-run private offices, workshops, meeting rooms and event spaces.

UK TEA BREWERS CHAMPIONSHIP

We are delighted to announce the launch of The UK Tea Brewer's Championship
in partnership with The Beverage Standards Association.

We need all you skilled and enthusiastic professionals to sign up and show the UK your fabulous, innovative ways with tea!

FIRST PRIZE: The grand winner of the UK Tea Brewer's Championship will win free Tea Champion and Tea Sommelier courses with the UKTA (or other UKTA courses to the value of £1000 if these courses have been completed).

Runners up will win a selection of fine Limited Edition teas from top tea companies.

ENTER NOW

The competition is:

• a professional platform to showcase the talent of anyone working in the tea service industry (i.e. working in: Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés, Tea Houses, Tea Rooms, Coffee Shops, Tea/Coffee companies) who want to show off their craft and flair in producing a range of tea beverages to a professional standard. If you are dedicated tea enthusiast not working in the F&B sector - no problem! We want to see your skills too.
• a way to improve the standards of tea served in the Out of Home (OOH) market throughout the UK, Europe and Asia

ENTRY CRITERIA: The competition is open to anyone working in the tea serving industry (i.e. working in: Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés, Tea Houses, Tea Rooms, Coffee Shops, Tea/Coffee companies) and dedicated amateur tea brewers.

COMPETITION OUTLINE

1. Classic Brewing Skills session: Candidates will be asked to prepare the perfect cup of tea in each category of teas (green, white, black, yellow etc.) using the classic methods and classic standards (water capacity, quantity of tea, different temperatures, etc).
2. Description and tasting notes comparison vs actual taste of the competitor’s chosen teas for the preparation of the classic teas per each category.
3. Description and tasting notes comparison vs actual taste of the competitor’s signature drink chosen tea (prepared in a classic way and with no added ingredients)
4. Signature Drink session: competitors will showcase a Signature Tea Based Drink of their choice/invention; this can be prepared using any chosen brewing/extraction methods and can contain different ingredients including spirits, syrups, veg and fruits, and it can be a cold or hot drink.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Only loose teas shall be used during the competition (infusions shall not be used for the preparation of the signature drinks unless they contain pure teas in them).
2. The Candidates will have to bring their chosen teas to prepare their signature drink; they will need to be able to explain the reasons behind their choice and the tasting profile of their teas while doing the brewing.
3. The signature drink shall be the same throughout the competition and shall be tasting consistently also throughout the competition.

In the inaugural year – 2019/20 the elimination process will be

• Heat one at the BSA PopUp Show on Thursday 20th June 2019
• Heat two at Caffe Culture held on the 28th & 29th October 2019 (on day 1 & 2)
• Semi-final and Finals will be held at the London Tea Show, which which will take place in March 2020 at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

ENTER THE UK TEA BREWERS CHAMPIONSHIP