Puer to DNA 2023
master class
3-day course about 3 worlds of Puer ageing with Oliver Schneider
The course is already full.
21. - 24. september 2023 | Střížovice u Jindřichova Hradce | for advanced, in English
The main theme of the course will be Puer tea storage and ageing, on which there is no universal agreement, so we have to collect information and form our own opinions. That's what our friend and supplier Olivier Schneider has been studying for many years, and he will come to share his personal experiences and treasures with us. Olivier stores tea in different places in Asia, researches the oldest teas on the planet and works together with collectors and experts in China, Taiwan and Thailand.
3 worlds of Puer
In 3 days we will take a look at tea ageing from the points of view of 3 places:
Hongkong, Taiwan and Yunnan, geographically, historically and taste-wise.
3 worlds, 3 tastes and 3 approaches to storage kept competing, each creating a part of the history, but together they made 100 years of Puer ageing history.
To understand ageing and storage only if we cannot side with either of these approaches, we must try to connect knowledge from all 3 worlds.
What awaits you
-
We will explore the history of Puer and the 3 places that influenced it
-
We will taste teas from the present and all the way back to the 1960s
-
We will learn how Puer matures naturally, which teas do mature and which don't and how they evolve in time
-
We will get into what Hongkong storage means, how it came about and how it can (in a good or a bad way) influence tea
-
We will look into old teas, which are not available today anymore
-
Everyone will get to press their own tea cake
-
Tastings throughout the course will be led together with Olivier by Tomáš and Jakub from Meetea
A detailed programme is in the making, the final version will be public by the end of August.
Olivier Schneider
We see Olivier as the biggest expert on Puer who speaks and publishes in English. He has been studying Puer for more than 15 years of his life in Yunnan, Hongkong, Taiwan and Malaysia. He also makes research expeditions to Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Thailand.
Olivier has lived for over 10 years in Yunnan, most of the time in tea-producing areas (Lincang, Xishuangbanna, where we met for the first time many years ago), he has also worked in Taiwan, where he collected and researched old teas and tea culture. For 15 years he is also ageing tea himself (in Yunnan, Taiwan and Thailand).
Olivier leads workshops and tea courses in more than 10 countries, published many articles, collaborated on a Puer documentary and at the moment is writing a book about many years of his research.
In the last 5 years, he has lived mainly in Thailand, where he just finished his tea studio and a small factory and started processing material from local old tea trees.
Extra perks
-
The course is only for 12 people, so it has a pleasant cosy and friendly atmosphere
-
You can keep tasting teas even outside of workshops – for the entire course you will have access to our rich tea arsenal and cutting-edge teaware
-
Every day early evening we will be available to you and together we can focus on anything else you might be interested in.
-
You can share experiences and meet new people
Place, accommodations, food
Střížovice by Jindřichův Hradec (map)
By car it's about 1 hour and 50 minutes both from Prague and Brno, we will try to organise carpooling with other participants.
In a South-Bohemian cottage with a beautiful garden and surroundings. Simple accommodations, shared kitchen, stylish tearoom – all in one place.
-
There are two comfortable bathrooms and restrooms available
-
You will have access to a fully equipped kitchen.
-
We can provide delicious vegetarian lunches by a great local cook, which you can order a week before the course.
Price and registration
9 400,- Kč with accommodation in a shared loft room.
or
8 800,- Kč for fans of summer romantics and privacy in your own tent (in our garden) or with your own accommodation.
Price includes accommodation, the full programme
and deluxe "all you can drink" teas
-
Within a week from registration, we expect a deposit payment of half of the price. You can pay the second half until 7.9.2023 or you can pay it all at once.
-
If you make a registration, however, you won't be able to attend for any reason let us know before 20.8.2023, only then can we refund you the full price of the course. If you cancel your registration after 20.8.2023 and will not find a replacement for yourselves, we cannot refund the price of the course.