Nieuwe masterclasses in Nederland!

Door Eastern Leaves uit China zullen op vrijdag 7 februari en zaterdag 8 februari drie masterclasses worden gegeven bij ITC. Deze bijzondere samenwerking geeft de mogelijkheid om de aroma’s te ruiken en proeven uit Fujian maar vooral uit Yunnan, ook wel historisch de oorsprong van de thee genoemd. En de vrijdagavond misschien wel een onverwacht onderwerp op de agenda!

Eastern Leaves gerund door het echtpaar Vivian en Lorenzo, biedt naast de verkoop en productie van thee en teaware ook theereizen en -trainingen aan. Hun standplaats is in China, maar ze hebben zelf ook een plek in Europa: een theeshop in Milaan.

Deze masterclasses zullen in het Engels worden gegeven en kan per sessie door maximaal 12 personen worden bijgewoond. Daarnaast zullen ze ook thee en yixing teaware beschikbaar hebben om te kopen. Dus wees er dus snel bij!

Incense

Vrijdag 7 februari, 18.30-21.30 uur

Living our tea forest, and a life in tea, we are in daily touch with fragrances that spontaneously enrich our time; for over two thousands years Chinese culture has elaborated this relationship with fragrance into incense, as a starting point to communicate and dialogue with nature, and extending our understanding of the universe, space, and time.

In more than 2,000 years, Chinese fragrance culture has constantly evolved, finding refined way to extract the best essence from long-lasting fragrant spices changing from burning of herbs and wood to resins, elaborated burners, heating methods and fumigations.

We will begin a journey that begins in the Spring and Autumn periods, continues for the great Han and accompany the heights of Tang and Song dynasties, when over 1.000 years ago people were paying the utmost attention to the elegance of life – and daily life was inseparable from incense.

We will talk about Buddhism, where the “Nasal view” pursues a real and aesthetic standard: the tangible and intangible nature of incense and its smoke is consistent with the Buddhist theory of “emptiness is color, color is emptiness”, and contributed so much to its growth and inclusiveness in people’s daily life.

Chinese incense culture focuses on the transmission of thought and feelings, and together we will experience it: we will practice directly the art of incense, using original material and fragrances from China, sharing this mesmerising part of Chinese culture and matching it with tea, as it has been done for centuries.

We are going to have 6 natural incense Agarwood + 5 element incense. And to pair with incense, we will taste three teas from Yunnan:

1. White tea Ancient tree 2024;
2. One thousand year old ancient tree Hongcha 2024;
3. Ancient tree Shupu from LaoMan’e

Rock tea – Yancha

Zaterdag 8 februari, 9:00 – 12:00 uur

Rarely there has been such a direct connection between nature and geography, and the flavours and culture that originates from there as in the case of Chinese rock teas: we talk of “Rock Rhyme” to describe these amazing teas, and their most intimate nature that takes about the rocks they originate from.

During this workshop, we will journey north Fujian, in the Wuyi region. We will explore its geography and geology, between gorges, rivers, and countless micro-valleys with their proper micro-climate and soil, that generate such a great variety flavors.

We will understand together how the tea culture, in its constant evolution, have explored dozens of cultivars, with their own history and narrative, and we will brew the most significant ones:

1. Jinmudan
2. Huangguanyin
3. Meizhan
4. Huangye Shuixian (abandoned land Shuixian)
5. Dahongpao

All the teas represents the best of the 2024 production by our Peng Bao, that grows his teas right under the Yingzui 鹰嘴 peak, named after its resemblance to an eagle’s beak, and they absorb the unique mineral flavor that gained rock teas their appreciation and popularity.

Six mountains of Pu’er tea from the west of Mekong river

Zaterdag 8 februari, 14.00-17.00 uur

In Pu’er culture there are two group of mountains, classified according to their appearance in the Imperial chronicles: the Six Ancient mountains, whose tea first reached the Imperial court, and the Six New Mountains, that due to their wilder geographical location, further isolated by the course of the great Mekong river, reached the northern and eastern side of the Empire later.

Interestingly, the Pu’er tea originated in these New Six Mountains that surround Menghai valley: they gift us with the richest teas from lush forests and environments, rich in flavours and Qi, with a great potential for ageing generation after generation.

Here we remember some of the most famous locations, that every Pu’er tea drinker has heard; and many of them have had a recent rediscovery, isolated in their peaks and basins, protected through the centuries but the culture of the ethnic groups that has kept alive the tea culture in their daily life.

During this workshop we will explore their history and evolution, until present times, tasting together the following teas:

1. Bada mountain 巴达
2. Bulang mountain 布朗
3. Jingmai mountain 景迈
4. Nannuo mountain 南糯
5. Mengsong mountain 勐宋
6. Nanqiao mountain 南峤

The teas we present are all important leaves for the whole Pu’er landscape, and it is rare to have such an horizontal selection that goes deeper into the complexity of this charming, and still wild areas.

Let op! Je schrijft je apart in voor iedere masterclass. Wil je meer dan 1 masterclass bijwonen dan kan je bij de opmerkingen van de eerste masterclass aangeven welke masterclass je nog meer wilt volgen. Dan regelen wij de andere inschrijving(en).

Voor iedere masterclass geldt een minimum van 6 deelnemers.