I won't lie, I got some really good insight into the world of a few types of tea (oolong, green, & pu-erh), but the women doing the hosting / presentation revealed a few too many things that was distracting. I'll get into that after.
For the most part, she was extremely professional with the presentation of the tea experience (even with the slurping part). I was surprised at how easy it is to brew and drink loose leaf tea. I always thought you needed crazy filters and special teapots. The truth is you just need a little patience and maybe two teapots if you wish to not brew the leaves in a separate container than the container that heated the water. Her filtration system was just using the pots top to allow enough space for the water (now tea) to flow through. This is a big deal to me because honestly I was one of those people who looked at drinking loose leaf tea as too complex and requiring too many utensils. She showed me I was wrong and I hope I can pass that information/instruction in my designs for Awaken. I mentioned after my first visit to grocery stores that possibly loose leaf tea was not a hit at stores like Big Y or Stop&Shop because consumers might not be educated enough and possibly intimidated (just like I was).
I never have been able to experience tea in the way that she allowed us to. I don't think I have ever smelled the aroma of tea before I drink it as if it was wine. Of course I have smelled good tea before, but never to actually appreciate it. I've more or less just happen to smell a good tea, but never to this extent. Nor have I ever swished my tea and so that "it hits all parts of my mouth," like I was instructed to. I felt like I was at a wine tasting, but for tea...(do they have those?) She also made me realize how much I am missing out prior to this experience of the exhale that inevitably follows me swallowing my sip. The after taste of those teas were just as good as the initial taste I had when I was swishing in my mouth; if not better. I felt like I had snorted a bouquet of roses. This really surprised me due to the fact that she said she brewed the teas lightly. The color of the water was so pale, but it packed a good punch.
I wasn't exactly moved by the tea sets; I suppose I don't give the cups much thought. I will say though that the ceramic teapot that looked like wood had me fooled (as well as Natacha). I figured she was going to say that the wood was used from centuries old trees that cost thousands of dollars, but no it was just ceramic material... I'm so used to drinking tea out of a mug, so drinking out of those dinky little glass cups made me realize the delicacy of Chinese tea.
Now my complaints:
Why have I been fooled to think that blossoming tea is so appealing when it was just created to sell to us dumb Americans. The women flat out said that Chinese do not drink that tea...It was just created to sell for profit..That really surprised me. She also made numerous comments about the prices people are paying for other kinds of teas or tea experiences. I'm pretty sure the numbers were in the thousands to sit at a nice tea bar and enjoy premium tea. God better have hand picked those leaves and autographed it in silver Sharpie in order for me to consider paying that amount... Maybe she was confusing thousands of dollars for hundred of dollars, but I was taken aback by the numbers she was throwing around for tea...
I thought I asked a good question after the presentation about what kind of material loose leaf tea should not go in, but the language barrier killed the answer. She didn't really understand what I was saying and I didn't take the time to ask the question in a simpler way. Maybe that's my fault then. She was just so darn cute that I couldn't really get mad at her for not answering properly, but I blame the language difference on that and some of her presentation. I will say that if someone who was better with English gave that presentation, a lot more knowledge might have been gained from the experience, but I won't complain! She did an amazing job and gave me enough insight to know not to allow air and light to ruin my package design. She even let me slurp and not feel immature; I can't go wrong with that.
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