Class schedule and topics

Please click on pictures to see details.

July 9th: How to brew tea

Saturday tea class

Yesterday was a riot at the class! One of the attendee's exact words were "It's so fun, I can't stand it!" A bundle of joy! Even my neighbor came to find out what's all the noise about. "Were you guys having a party and taking shots?" Yes, in deed, tea shots!

A group of Kaiser hospital/medical group professionals, Long Beach memorial hospital professionals, yoga teacher and a few tea fanatics came for the class of "How to brew tea". The scheduled class was intended for 1.5 hours, it turned out to be 4.5 hours of fun. Because of the extended hours, a few participants had to leave "early" for other engagements. The rest of us were drinking tons of tea, each person took time to brew the exact same tea, by 5:30 pm, they were all floating on tea.


It was a very engaging group of learners, many questions were asked. Although mostly novice tea drinkers, the display of quest for knowledge of tea was quite touching, definitely encouraging for my own quest of knowledge and spreading it. They are the water floats my boat.

Gaiwan's got a nick name now every one: Guywand! I told you this group are riots!

Special thanks to Will and Louise, members of LATA and my dear friends for coming to lend a helping hand which made this event smooth sailing.

More tea classes on How to brew tea

I taught quite a few tea classes since I open the store, topics ranging from Introduction of Chinese Tea, How to brew tea Gong Fu style, The world of oolong (Wu Long) tea, and Jason taught The world of Pu-erh tea.

The following class on this Saturday is "How to brew Tea" which generated a lot of interest. Due to large demand on learn how to brew a cup of tea, 2 more sessions are added to accommodate the demand. Same time, same location, same topic on different dates.


April 12th - Open


My initial focus is on teaching the art of Chinese tea when I open the shop, which ultimately I want my students to embrace and fully benefit from it both mentally and physically. However through my 9 months of observation, most people are not used to drinking loose leaf teas in any way, big cups, big pots, microwaved water with tea bags, timing, temperature, etc., you name it. It's important to help beginners to find the way to make a DECENT cup of tea, when GOOD takes up too much time. It's a process of discovery in the big world of tea. Also when using a mug which is a familiar item, beginners are more prone to adopt. You can definitely improve the taste of tea even in a mug when it's done right. Hence I created a series of classes from beginning level to advance level.

"How to brew tea" is aimed to improve the flavor by using what most people already have (mugs and pots), and introduce the Gong Fu Cha (Kung Fu tea) method. Compare the out comes side by side to show how tea can be enhanced by different methods of brewing.

Learn How to Brew Tea - Class at Tea Habitat

World of Pu-erh class

It's my honor to have Jason teach "The world of Pu-erh" class at my store on Saturday afternoon. Not only Jason well prepared the material, he also shared some of his finest collection of pu-erh teas, including 70's Guang Yun Gong, and 50's loose pu-erh. They were the high light of the post class drinking marathon. Needless to say, the class was eventually end up as a drinking spree, it's the magic of tea. Jason of course is a perfect teacoholic drinking buddy, 1 he has the passion and knowledge, 2 he has GOOD tea, and 3 he can drink and drink and drink more tea than any one I know of. It was a wonderful event ended with the right amount of tea drunk! A couple of times I was over drunk.

We went through many many teas, due to my lack of expressive description capability, I will skip the tasting notes.

Here are some pictures of the class. We did video taped the speech, Jason will make that available to the public soon.

Jason - speaker of the class.


Attendees studying various types/shapes of pu-erh teas.


Mushroom green pu and orange rind shu pu provided by Jason.


70's Guang Yun Gong! This tea makes me salivate just thinking about it.


Wet leaves of 70's Guang Yun Gong (left) and 50's loose pu (right).


Wet leaves of 2006 green (left) and late 90's green, see color difference for reference of aging.

Pu-erh Class agenda

The World of Pu’er Tea

Part one - 1.5 hours

1. History

a. Pre-Communist China:

1. Medicinal beginnings & Tribal tea

2. Tea horse road

3. Old Brands

b. Communist China:

1. Government factories

2. The Cultural Revolution & Recovery

c. The Modern Market:

4. Factory privatization

5. Hong Kong returns to China

6. Tea investment: Pu’er as commodity

2. Why Pu’er?
1. Terroir and connoisseurship

i.Flavor range

ii. Mouthfeel and texture

2. Appreciation of Pu’er: The Pu’er Mythology

i. Qi and the Dao of Pu

ii. Health claims: what the studies do and don’t say

3. Origination
1. Location: tea mountains and production regions

i. Xishuangbanna

ii. Simao

iii. Lincang

iv. Dehong & other border areas

v. Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Guandong, Guizhou, Guangxi

2. Raising and processing: what results in pu’er?

i. Varietals

ii. Environment: the ideal growing environment

1. High elevation

2. “Natural” tea:

a. No bush cloning

b. Freedom from cultivation/pruning

c. Organic tea?

iii. Processing

1. Making Maocha: Plucking, [moisture reduction], sha qing, [striping/rolling], drying

2. Factors in compression

a. Stone mold, machine pressed, and levels of compression

b. Shapes and sizes

c. Fruit rind compression

3. Wrapping and packing

4. Production errors: “green tea pu’er” and “oolong pu’er”

4. Subcategories
1. Major categories:

i. Sheng vs. Shu

ii. Young vs. Aged

iii. Compressed vs. Loose

2. Minor distinctions:

i. Season

ii. Leaf grade and “recipe”

iii. Storage: very wet vs. wet vs. dry vs. very dry

iv. Plantation vs. Wild Arbor vs. Ancient Tree tea

v. Factory vs. Private Producer

vi. Single Estate vs. Blend

vii. Shu tea: grade and fermentation

3. Experimental and novel varieties

i. Yin zhen “Silver Bud” tea

ii. Zi ya “purple bud” tea

iii. True ye sheng “wild” tea

5. How to choose a pu’er: Taste and Trust issues
1. Purchasing by goal: aging, drinking
2. Purchasing by philosophy: a survey of divergent opinions on “age-ability”
3. Liars and cheats: fakes and the “tea master” syndrome
4. Information starvation

6. Aging pu’er – storage methods and ideal conditions
1. “Traditional” Storage (Pre-1993)
2. “Dry” Storage (Post-1993)
3. Where: containers and locations
4. Humidity

7. How to brew: Various methods and idiosyncrasies
1. Western brewing
2. Gongfu brewing

i. Water: mineral content, heating methods & temperatures

ii. Teaware: Timing and Ratios

1. Gaiwan

2. Yixing: matching a pot to sheng, shu, and aged pu’er

iii. Survey of various approaches

Include: definition of terms, map of Yunnan

Part two - 1.5 hours

Tea selections will be featured after Jason's speach:

2 young sheng (1 maocha & one cake)
2 young shu (1 cake & 1 tangerine)
2 aged (wet & dry)

Courtesy of Jason, his private stash of rare and old finds might be within reach! If you weren't drunk by the end of the class, the pu fest will continue after class. :D

Pu-erh Class

For those who lives in southern California, this is one opportunity you would not want to miss. I'm very excited and happy to announce the very first class of Pu-erh tea in LA if not the first in America!!!! Outline of class will be announced soon (once Jason comes back to town).

Topic: The world of Pu-erh
Speaker: Jason Fasi
Date: Jan 5th, 2008 (Saturday)
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: Tea Habitat
Free of charge

Address: 21B Peninsula Center, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 (Across from TJmaxx)
Call 310-921-5282 or email tea@teahabitat.com for reservation.

Limited seating only (20), reserve your seats early!