Join us for the 2024 edition of Tea Drunk's bootcamp!

During the bootcamp (agenda below) participants will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of tea for a week-long intensive program.

From January 25th to January 29th, attendees will engage in 40 hours of tea learning, from 8 am to 5 pm daily.

The bootcamp offers a comprehensive curriculum that covers a range of topics, including hands-on tea tasting and brewing techniques, exploration of different tea types and their origins, and an in-depth understanding of terroir, cultivar, and tea craftsmanship.

The bootcamp is designed to provide a deep dive into the world of tea, with a focus on building knowledge and expertise. Participants will have the chance to delve into the nuances of tea, learning about the impact of terroir on flavor profiles, the significance of different cultivars, and the art of tea craftsmanship. Through interactive sessions and practical exercises, attendees will develop their skills in tea tasting and brewing, gaining a hands-on understanding of the intricacies of preparing and experiencing tea.

The Tea Drunk Bootcamp is open to tea enthusiasts of all levels, from beginners to experienced tea drinkers. Whether you're looking to expand your tea knowledge or refine your existing expertise, this bootcamp provides a unique opportunity to deepen your understanding and appreciation of tea. Don't miss out on this immersive tea experience - join us for an unforgettable week of tea education and exploration.

Date: January 25th-29th

Time: 8am-5pm daily (with 1 hour lunch break)

Location: 240 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018

Price: $2500

Includes class material, all the teas used in the bootcamp, original certificate upon completion. Lodging and meals are NOT included.

 Educational Tea Club members enjoy 20% off.

Thursday, January 25th

8:00 am: Tea 101

• Agenda
• History of Tea - from tea cultivation to tea culture
• What is and isn’t tea
• The Six Categories of Tea

9:00 am: Tea Fundamentals - Tasting Techniques

• What makes up a tea’s tasting profile
• How to have a analytical approach to tasting
• The aesthetic of taste: Complexity and Balance
• When do notes matter and when they don’t

10:00 am: Tea Fundamentals - The Hierarchy of Chinese Teas

• The culture of Tribute Tea
• The Ranking of Chinese Tea Terroir
• The 10 Famous Teas
• Then and Now: Culture vs. Marketing

11:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Green Tea Overview

• Sub-categories of Green Tea
• Green Tea Terroir
• Green Tea Cultivars
• Green Tea Processing
• Shapes of Green Tea
• Traditional vs. Commercial Teas

12:00 pm: Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Green Tea

2:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Yellow Tea Overview

• Sub-categories of Yellow Tea
• Yellow Tea Terroir
• Yellow Tea Cultivars
• Yellow Tea Processing

3:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Yellow Tea

4:00 pm: Brewing Workshop – Open Vessel Brewing

• Vessels
• Hi Water, Low Tea
• How to not kill your tea
• Farmer’s style

Friday, January 26th

8:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Processing Overview

• Flavor as a progress – a leaf’s journey
• Characteristic processing of each categories of tea
• Playing with Fire: Fast and Robust, Slow and Mellow

9:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Primary Processing vs. Fining

• What makes the tea, the tea?
• The three essentials of a rough tea
• Not all teas are fine tea

10:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – White Tea Overview

• White Tea Terroir
• Sub-category of White Tea
• White Tea Cultivars
• White Tea Processing
• White Tea Naming Convention

11:00 am: Guided Tasting: White Tea

12:00 pm: Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Techniques in Primary Processing

• Picking Standards: Setting the right path for processing
• Objectives of tea processing
• Humidity, Temperature, Time
• Jargons
• Common faults from mistakes in primary processing

2:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Red Tea Overview

• Red Tea Terroir
• Sub-Category of Red Tea
• Red Tea Cultivars
• Red Tea Processing
• Red Tea vs. Black Tea

3:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Red Tea

4:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Techniques in Fining

• Excellence in the detail
• Sort, sort and sort again
• Ti Xiang vs. Roasting
• The right roasting level
• Aroma vs. Body
• What does the tea want?
• Common faults from mistakes in fining
• How vintage impacts processing

Saturday, January 27th

8:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Wu Long Overview

• Wu Long Terroir
• Wu Long Processing
• Min Bei Wu Long
• Min Nan Wu Long
• Chao Shan Wu Long

9:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – From Cultivation to Cultivar

• Cultivation Methods
• Heirloom vs. Clone
• Popular Cultivars

10:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Min Bei Wu Long Overview (Yan Cha)

• Yan Cha Terroir
• Yan Cha Cultivars
• Yan Cha Processing
• Da Hong Pao
• Yan Cha competitions

11:00 am: Guided Tasting: Yan Cha

12:00 pm: Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Min Nan Wu Long Overview (Tie Guan Yin)

• Tie Guan Yin Terroir
• Tie Guan Yin Cultivars
• Tie Guan Yin Processing
• Sub-category of Tie Guan Yin
• Traditional vs. Roasted Tie Guan Yin
• Taiwanese Wu Long

2:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Tie Guan Yin

3:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals – Chao Shan Wu Long (Dan Cong)

• Dan Cong Terroir
• Dan Cong Processing
• Dan Cong Cultivar
• Dan Cong Naming Convention
• Dan Cong vs. Dan Zhu

4:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Dan Cong

Sunday, January 28th

8:00 am: Tea Truth and Myth – Part 1

• Aged Tea
• Imperial Tea
• The Origin of Tea
• The prestige of tea
• Folklore vs. History
• Cha Qi
• Picking Grades
• Harvesting Time
• Qing Ming

9:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Pu Er Overview

• Pu Er Terroir
• Pu Er Cultivar
• Pu Er Processing
• History of Pu Er
• Age of Tea Tree
• Pu Er Naming Convention
• The Pu Er Bubble

10:00 am: Guided Tasting: Pu Er Sheng Cha

11:00 am: Tea Fundamentals – Black Tea Overview

• Black Tea Terroir
• Black Tea Cultivars
• Black Tea Processing
• Milk Tea

12:00 pm: Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Guided Tasting – Black Tea

2:00 pm: Tea Truth and Myth – Part 2

• The tea ceremony
• The caffeine of tea
• The health benefits of tea
• The rinse brew
• The slurping
• Open Q&A

3:00 pm: Brewing Workshop – Gai Wan Part 1

• Flavor is limited stock
• Time, Temperature, Water to Tea Ratio
• Brewing Principles
• Dry Runs

4:00 pm: Brewing Workshop – Gai Wan Part 2

• Refining techniques
• It’s a mean to an end, it’s not the end
• Manipulating flavors

Monday, January 29th

8:00 am: Tea Evaluation Basics

• Dry leaves assessments
• Keyword: consistency
• How to tell apart flavored tea vs. “real” tea

9:00 am: Tea Evaluation Methods

• Cupping
• Picking on your tea
• Industrial tea grading
• Blending

10:00 am: Tea Evaluation Workshop

• Taste Hierarchy
• Quantity vs. Quality of Taste
• Know your tea – it’s all about communication

11:00 am: Blind Tasting Test

12:00 pm: Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Blind Tasting Test

2:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals: Terroir, Cultivar and Processing

• The potential and the fulfillment
• Is location everything
• What matters in tea and what doesn’t

3:00 pm: Tea Fundamentals: How to tell the quality of your tea

• Common faults in tea
• Why some teas are so expensive
• The possibility frontier of tea
• Why is a tea better and what do I care about

4:00 pm: Course recap and Q&A