Course Review by Amy of Wandering Everywhere

This is a re-post of Amy @Wandering Everywhere 's overview of our online course (with tea sampler and journal bundle)! To see the original post, please see here.

HOW TO TASTE TEA LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

I was recently given the opportunity to attend Mona Jhunjhnuwala’s Taste Tea Like a Professional online course. Within this, I was taught all about the magical world of tea tasting, how to distinguish flavour profiles and lesser known taste palates, and how to mark it all down in a clear and concise way, worthy of a tea master.

Considering I’m certified by the International Tea Academy, you’d think I’d already had this sort of training. (Spoiler: I did not.)

THE COURSE

Taste Tea Like a Professional is hands down the most immersive tea course I have ever taken. Not only did it offer over 150 minutes of on-demand videos, but it also came with 20+ downloadable PDFs, quizzes and assignments to test yourself on all the knowledge you’ve gained, AND the option to add a tea sampler and tea journal.

Plus, it came with a pretty sick temporary tattoo.

In total, there are nine chapters in the course. The first gives a general course overview and introduces the student to the five main tea categories. Chapter 2, 3, and 4 go into detail about how to taste and evaluate teas, followed by chapters 5-9 which focus on specific tea categories and how exactly this knowledge can be incorporated.

At the end of the course, I was left with a much richer understanding of the world of tea and how exactly to use my senses to learn both from and about it. I have gotten better at determining whether a tea is good quality or whether I am being mugged, and now, I have an even better appreciation for the terroir, cultivar, and processes behind each and every tea leaf. Plus, I now know more tea descriptive words – and most importantly, how to pronounce them!

One of the things that I found most helpful (along with the clear and detailed visuals) was having things at the end of each lesson to save and print off. It truly a wonderful way to utterly engross a tea connoisseur – both old and new – in the world of tea.

Mona is a wonderful teacher, and her sheer level of passion, dedication, and skill is evident in the way which she runs the classes.

The course costs $149 USD, and there is the option to purchase the Starter Tea Sampler & Tea Tasting Journal. For the whole bundle, it only costs $185 – and believe me, that’s a steal!

THE TEAS

I will be completely honest and say that the beautiful A4 tea journal was one of my favourite things about the course. I’ve never taken a tea course where I was taught how to write a flavour profile in detail, with a lovely little notebook that spells it all out, step-by-step. Had I ever drawn a tea leaf before this course? No. Is it something I wish I was shown how to do earlier on? Yes yes yes.

Here are my notes on the Teawala tea sample, straight from my new tea journal:

 

HONG YU RUBY RED

WHITE PEONY

Tea type: White

Origin: Zhenghe, Fujian, China

Harvest: March 2021 (very fresh!)

Brew method: 1g, 150ml, 85°C, 20 sec

Dry leaf: The most beautiful white tea I’ve ever seen! Green-white, thick and curled leaves with tiny hairs. The aroma is floral, sweet, light, honey, melon.

Wet leaf: Very green, plump, soft leaves. 2 or 3 have small dark spots. The aroma is asparagus, sweet hay, herbaceous.

Liquid colour: Very pale and clear, light coming through clearly and showcasing the soft golden hues of the drink.

Flavour: So delicate! Fresh, damp grass, summer breeze, green bean, spinach, nectar.

Mouthfeel: Thick mouthfeel that is silky and clean.

Aftertaste: Sweet, soft.

Additional notes: There are several things that I learnt on this course that were honestly quite shocking! One of the most memorable was when Mona turned to the camera and went, ‘I like to eat the leaves to unravel their deeper flavours – it’s a little like eating kale crisps.’ Let me tell you that my mouth DROPPED – I had never come across the idea of eating dry tea leaves before!

Before I knew it, I popped a handful of White Peony leaves into my mouth… and it was delicious! There was a little astringency at the end, but not a lot – and meanwhile, all of the other flavours were intensified. Consider me converted to the ways of tea leaf eating!

MILK OOLONG

Tea type: Oolong

Origin: Shanlinxi, Taiwan

Harvest: November 2020

Brew method: 1.30g, 150ml, 95°C, 1 min

Dry leaf: Consistent sizing. Light and dark green balls which are big, round, and thick, typically with a stem poking out (Mona taught me that this is good – means it is hand-rolled!). Slight gold colouring at the end of the stem. Aroma is sweet malt, deep grass, nutty, popcorn, buttery, toffee, almond.

Wet leaf: Gradually unfurls into these big, beautiful leaves. How do they even fit in such small balls?! The aroma is very nutty with toasted rice and almost burnt caramel.

Liquid colour: A very pale green.

Flavour: Sweet, butter, slightly nutty, roasted pine nuts. The taste is less strong than the smell, quite delicate.

Mouthfeel: Full mouthfeel, buttery, velvety, clean.

Aftertaste: Slight algae aftertaste, vegetal, green, sweet.

Additional notes: Would easily drink this wonderful milk oolong everyday – although honestly, I drank a little too much after a full morning of tea tasting and ended up with a slight tea head high!

CEYLON HIGHLANDS

Tea type: Black

Origin: Amba Estate, Uva, Sri Lanka

Harvest: May 2020

Brew method: 1g, 150ml, 95°C, 3 min

Dry leaf: Cut black with bursts of red, quite fragile leaves that snap easily. The aroma is of toasted chestnut, malt, sweet wet earth, coffee cherry, and chocolate.

Wet leaf: All the leaves are a beautiful red colour, sizing looks relatively consistent, soft leather texture. Aroma is warm, bonfire chocolate, rich, dark toffee.

Liquid colour: A clear reddish-orange.

Flavour: Robust, bold, dark chocolate, malt, sweet wet earth.

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel, clean, rounded, smooth.

Aftertaste: Chocolate.

Additional notes: The nicest Ceylon tea I’ve ever had!

LEMONGRASS

Tea type: Tisane

Origin: Amba Estate, Uva, Sri Lanka

Harvest: December 2020

Brew method: 1g, 150ml, 95°C, 4 min

Dry leaf: Consistent shapes and sizing, rich grass colour, soft and thin. The aroma is vegetal, like wet grass and sweet soy sauce.

Wet leaf: Appearance is the same as dry leaf, only softer. Aroma is citrus, cut grass, lollipop sherbet, spearmint.

Liquid colour: A clear and vibrant pale yellow-green.

Flavour: Delicious sweet citrus, lemon sherbet, cut grass.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly full. Bright, clean, crisp.

Aftertaste: Herby, soft lemon, sweet clean hay.

Additional notes: I read a book earlier this year about a girl that opens up a lemon farm – and honestly, this tea smells exactly how I imagined the sweet, citrusy air on the farm! Talk about delicious.

HIGH MOUNTAIN

Tea type: Oolong

Origin: Alishan, Taiwan

Harvest: November 2020

Brew method: 1g, 150ml, 100°C, 2 min

Dry leaf: Some of the balls are quite large whether others are smaller – not as consistent as the previous oolong. Stems are on the outside, the leaves are beautifully rolled and a dark green colour with paler stems. Aroma is nutty, sweet, caramel, chestnut, toffee popcorn, buttery.

Wet leaf: Unfurls into big, beautiful leaves. Can see all the veins in the leaves when the light hits just right. Where the leaves have just unfurled, the texture is slightly rougher. Aroma is vegetal, like clean, sweet hay, dark grass, and toasted rice.

Liquid colour: Very pale yellow.

Flavour: Taste is less intense than the smell. Vegetal, wet grass, chestnut at back of throat. Clean roasted notes. Nutty!

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel, clean, smooth, silky.

Aftertaste: Dark vegetal, wet grass.

Additional notes: A beautiful oolong which only comes second to my new favourite… Teawala Milk Oolong!

—-

And so, have you guys ever had a tea and chocolate tasting, or want to give it a go? Let me know in the comments below!

BUT BEFORE YOU DO – WHY NOT SHARE THE LOVE AND PIN THIS POST?