Before we begin to make our own blends, we will first journey through the history of tea. In this module we provide you with a snapshot of tea history, following its journey through China, Japan, Europe, and Britain. We also examine the popularity of tea, its historical medicinal uses, English tea service, the tea merchant trade, the appearance of tea connoisseurs, and tea as it is enjoyed today.

This module is designed to impart the skills necessary to evaluate both individual and combined ingredients. This includes any ingredients you may be utilising for one of your blends, or the definition of aromas and flavours found within a mystery blend. We achieve this through the training of the senses, including sight, smell, and taste.

In this module you will undergo your first sensory training exercises with the aid of the Tea Flavour Wheel, which will help you to identify the different aromas and flavours found in tea.

Explore the chemical composition of tea, including tannins, vitamins, minerals, catechins, and caffeine. This important unit will provide you with the knowledge to speak confidently about the contents of your brew.

Explore the human sense of taste (gustatory) and smell (olfactory). Here we will provide you with an introduction to the Tea Flavour Wheel and how to use it, so that you can evaluate teas throughout the course.

Take a trip through tea plantations all over the world and discover the different conditions under which tea is plucked. We also take a close-up look at plucking methods and what producers look for in a desirable leaf.

Learn the steps of processing and producing tea, from the time the leaf is freshly plucked to the point where it is packed and ready for shipment.

You will discover artisan processing techniques from all around the world, as well as how they differ from country to country, and factory to factory. You will also become familiar with the different ways tea is processed depending on which tea type is being made.

An introduction to one of the tea world’s most difficult skills – grading. Watch professional tea graders in action and learn the characteristics of different tea grades through hands-on activity.

Explore the many different tea producing countries and taste teas from all over the world. In particular, this module will give you a first-hand look at which countries produce and consume the most tea.

Throughout the course, you will gain the opportunity to learn about different tea cultures all over the globe, while broadening your understanding of practices, processing methods, and ways of life in the tea industry.

Learn to brew artisan tea to perfection and enjoy an ideal cup every time, whether it be for yourself or a customer. As a tea professional, brewing will be one of your most important skills. We teach this skill via hands-on training with brewing methods from a variety of cultures.

We provide all the theory necessary to narrow brewing down to a science and an art.

Learn to cup teas the professional way and evaluate your teas accurately and consistently.

Proper cupping is a core learning objective of the Certified Tea Mastery Course and is crucial in situations where you are buying tea, especially on behalf of a business.

An introduction to modern blended teas, and blending as a science and an art. We explore a wide variety of blended teas and herbal tisanes, and how this is conducted both at an individual and a factory level.

Please note that physically blending tea is a large topic of study and not a focus of this course. If you are interested in tea blending, we recommend following your Certified Tea Mastery training with our Certified Tea Blending course.

Take a look at the interesting topic of tea flavouring, in which natural or artificial flavours are added to teas and blends. Learn to identify a flavoured tea from a natural blend, and learn about flavoured teas in different markets.

Learn about two unique but popular tea-based brews from Asia – Chai and Teh Tarik. Here we introduce you to the various spices used in Chai and the interesting brewing methods involved in making a cup of Teh Tarik.

An introduction to crucial business skills specific to the artisan tea industry. Here you are armed with the knowledge necessary to begin your tea business, and think critically about your business plans in the future.