how a restaurant builds a tea programme, week by week
A Chinese-tea programme does not start with a list of names and prices. It starts with taste memory, repeated across a team, until the sous chef and the somm can both tell you why a Mí Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香) dancong lands differently on the palate after a Sichuan dish. This twelve-week cohort, led by Senior Tea Expert Mei Yang, is designed for small restaurant groups — maximum eight kitchens per cycle — so that every live session is a conversation, not a broadcast.
We begin where all tea education begins: the leaf. Over the first three weeks, participants receive a calibrated kit of twelve Chinese teas — Bái Mǔ Dān (白牡丹) white tea, Lóng Jǐng (龙井) green, Tí Guān Yīn (铁观音) oolong — and learn to assess body, aroma, and aftertaste without the scaffolding of a tasting wheel. Mei Yang, drawing on her deep experience with dancong and lapsang styles from Guangdong, teaches the team to articulate what they taste in language that works on the floor, not in a lab. The only homework: brew the same tea differently and compare notes.
By week four, the lens widens. We move deeper into oxidation and fermentation. A session on Zhèng Shān Xiǎo Zhǒng (正山小种) becomes a lesson in pine-smoke tradition and menu storytelling. A week later, the rare yellow tea Jūn Shān Yín Zhēn (君山银针) shows the quiet power of the ‘yellowing’ step. Throughout, we trace how each tea’s processing shapes its cost, its shelf life, and its place on a menu — whether as a welcome pour, a tasting flight, or a dessert pairing.
The heart of the cohort is menu design. Participants bring their current or imagined tea list to an intensive workshop in week eight, using live feedback from Mei Yang and the wider group. We map out seasonal rotations, pricing architecture, and service protocols. All the while, the cohort draws on the broader Teamotea ecosystem: teas for tasting and eventual ordering are sourced through shop.thetea.app, where cohort members receive priority access; ongoing conversation and troubleshooting continues in a private circle on tea.community.
By week twelve, each restaurant has a complete programme: teas selected, costed, and written into a menu; a lead tea trainer on staff who has completed the integrated tea.school certification path; and a shared supply chain that can flex with the seasons. The final session is a mock service — each team presents their menu and pours for the group, receiving detailed notes from Mei Yang on every leaf, every vessel, every cup.
Week by week
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Week 1 — Bái Mǔ Dān (白牡丹). foundations of tasting: body, aroma, and finish — understanding terroir in Fuding white tea
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Week 2 — Lóng Jǐng (龙井). pan-firing and the pursuit of chestnut sweetness in West Lake first flush green tea
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Week 3 — Tí Guān Yīn (铁观音). oxidation control and the floral complexity of Anxi oolong; traditional vs modern processing
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Week 4 — Zhèng Shān Xiǎo Zhǒng (正山小种). smoke depth, pine origins, and the historical narrative of the original black tea from Wuyi
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Week 5 — Jūn Shān Yín Zhēn (君山银针). the rare ‘yellowing’ step and the mellow, sweet character of Hunan’s Junshan Island tea
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Week 6 — Shēng Pǔ’ěr (生普洱). young raw pu-erh from Menghai: tasting bitterness, tracking transformation, and ageing potential
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Week 7 — Shú Pǔ’ěr (熟普洱). wo dui fermentation and the deep, earthy comfort of ripe Yunnan pu-erh in restaurant settings
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Week 8 — Mí Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香). honey-orchid fragrance and single-bush mastery — Phoenix Mountain dancong with Mei Yang
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Week 9 — Shòu Méi (寿眉). evolution of aged white tea: dried fruit, herbs, and medicinal depth across vintages
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Week 10 — Diān Hóng (滇红). golden buds and cocoa sweetness from Yunnan — a versatile black tea for every menu
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Week 11 — Mò Lì Lóng Zhū (茉莉龙珠). artisan scenting cycles; temperature curves and the quiet craft of jasmine pearls
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Week 12 — Lǎo Bái Chá (老白茶). curating a seasonal tea menu: from blind tasting to costing and final service presentation
What’s included
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twelve live online sessions with Senior Tea Expert Mei Yang (90 minutes each, recorded)
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curated box of 12 signature Chinese teas (60 g per tea) for the whole restaurant team to taste
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private circle on tea.community for ongoing peer discussion and cohort support
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digital workbook with tasting grids, costing templates, menu layout guides, and supplier contacts
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one-year tea.school membership for the restaurant’s lead tea trainer, including certification path
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priority wholesale sourcing through shop.thetea.app with 10% discount on first order
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two tickets to a tea.travel day trip during the cohort (dates announced in session)
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certificate of completion issued by Teamotea for the restaurant’s tea programme