East West Crossings – A State College Tea Shop and Cafe

“Three Sundays” – Tea Cultures and Tastings

Joy Mitra of East West Crossings, member of the Specialty Tea Institute, will present a sequence of 3 workshops at 2:00 p.m. on three Sunday afternoons, February 10th, 17th and 24th

These workshop/classes can be taken independently, but there is greater benefit to taking them as a 3-course sequence.

Reservations are strongly recommended, because class size is strictly limited.  Cost is $12 per session (if enrolling separately), or $30 for the 3-course sequence and includes teas and tea dainties. The workshops will provide an overview of specialty teas and will include tea tastings.

Workshop/Class One –An Introduction to the World of Specialty Tea and Tea Cultures
Focus:  Black teas from India and Sri Lanka
 Loose-leaf, specialty tea is the fastest growing beverage industry in the U.S.  We will discuss where and how tea is grown and the basic types of processing approaches. 
The focus of this class will be on black teas grown in India and Sri Lanka. 
These teas are the hearty teas that many in the West are familiar with as “English” tea or “Irish” tea.  People often drink black teas with cream and sugar, but some of the finer grades, like the champagne teas of Darjeeling, taste best taken “straight up.”
We will taste 3 different black teas grown in different regions with different properties and grades. 
The session will end with a brief guided meditation about tea and its cultural journey from east to west.

Workshop/Class Two – The 5 Basic types of Tea
Focus:  Oolong teas from Taiwan and China and Flavored Teas
In workshop two we will review the 5 basic kinds of tea, and how processing and brewing results in different types of tea. 
We will focus our discussion and tastings of oolong and flavored teas. 
Taiwan and China are the countries that are most famous for growing and processing oolong teas.    Flavored teas have been developed to a high art by Chinese makers of hand-made teas, tea vendors such as Mariage Freres in Paris and by many Western developers of fragrant flavored teas.
We will end with a tea meditation and tea pouring exercise to honor these ancient tea traditions.

Workshop/Class Three – Health Benefits of Tea
Focus:  Green teas from China and Japan
This class will focus on the essential components of tea and the health benefits associated with drinking tea, focusing on the green teas of China and Japan.  We will discuss how climate and environment affect the flavor and quality of the tea and review the growing body of research that has developed to document the positive health benefits of tea drinking.
We will discuss some of the premises of tea cultures and tea ceremonies, including the historical role that tea has played in social interactions in these countries. 
The class will taste 3 varieties of green teas and physically examine the leaves and the differences in the taste and quality of these different samples. 
The class will end with a brief meditation on the peacefulness and contentment associated with tea drinking in many parts of the world.

Registering for Classes:

Please call, fax or email to register. For printable version of registration form, click here

East West Crossings
201A Elmwood Street,
State College, PA 16801
814-234-8810; 814-234-8840 (fax) or info@eastwestcrossings.com
www.eastwestcrossings.com