International Tea Workshop
Puer ~ To the Roots
2025
4 days Puer Tea Masterclass, that takes us to the history of all tea
October 15 - 19, 2025 | Střížovice near Jindřichův Hradec, CZ
For tea lovers and professionals | in English
Puer Tea, with its ageing ability, is never never-ending chapter to discover and get inspired by. Its natural power gives us unique sensations of time, space and body feeling. It is considered to be one of the oldest forms of tea; however, it is constantly evolving, and just in the last 80 years, it has brought us several new forms of tea and opened new universes to discover.
It is essential for studying and understanding all tea, taking us deep into the history. It is still made from old trees planted from seeds generations ago by ancestors of mountain tribes, the first humans, who discovered this wonderful medicine tree in deep jungles. Leaves are still processed mainly by hand, very simply, to express the unique terroir of ancient tea mountains and the energy of trees living in a pure, wild environment, as they did thousands of years ago
Lecturers
Jakub Seif
Jakub worked behind the bar at the renowned O5 Teabar in Vancouver and has visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos several times. He has established many contacts with tea producers and experts from all over the world. His refined curation concerns not only tea but also other noble drinks and gastronomic experiences. Together with Tomáš, he selects teas and runs the Meetea tea studio and shop, where he primarily cares about the comfort and taste buds of his guests.
Tomáš Rajnoch
Tomáš imports teas and inspiration directly from the source. Over the past 15 years, he has made 12 trips to China, mainly to Yunnan and Wuyishan, and learned directly from local tea producers and masters. He loves the atmosphere of the tea mountains and the fire in the ceramic kiln. Together with Jakub, he selects teas and runs the Meetea tea studio and shop to which he gave its unique atmosphere.
Maruška Rajnochová
The event coordinator, who will take care of your comfort at our hidden tea paradise.
Tomáš Rajnoch
Jakub Seif
Maruška Rajnochová
Schedule
4 days full of experience, amazing teas and sharing
To deep dive into sharing its amazing story, and mainly to taste it, we also need time. The schedule of 4 days goes through all eras and milestones of Puer tea – history of tribal tea, antique era, factory era, modern era, recent and even expectations of future evolution.
As at our summer Tea symposium, mornings are dedicated to intensive lessons and comparing tastings, and afternoons are for slower tea sharing with our guidance and our rich collection of vintage Puer teas. And to experience the leaves also with our hands, we will enjoy pressing tea, and each of you will get your own tea cake.
The workshop is limited to 12 participants, so it has an intimate, community atmosphere.
Wednesday Oct 15th
Opening
Arrival anytime after 4 PM
Introduction of the space
Afternoon cup of tea
From 8 PM, a welcoming presentation, opening party
Thursday Oct 16th
From Mountain Tribes to 90's
Morning 9 – 12
Tea workshop
We will look at the history of tea, from its discovery, ancient cultivation, through the arrival of the first Chinese settlers into the tea mountains of the far south. We will taste replicas of famous Puer teas from the family business era and archive treasures from the factory era. We will put into context, both historically and in terms of taste, how Hong Kong contributed to the development of Puer tea.
Afternoon 15 – 18
Tasting and sharing
We will guide you through a slower tasting of other archive teas, or you can delve into our archive yourself.
Friday Oct 17th
Moder era: Gushu & Single terroir
Morning 9 – 12
Tea workshop
How Puer Tea was born, how we know it today and what role Taiwan played in its story, the fever for old trees and the terroir of individual tea mountains. This year, in the story and tasting of modern Puer, we will focus mainly on the lesser-known regions like Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, which we have been focusing on in recent years. And we will also try to look into the future, with the novelties that are currently being born in the world of Puer.
Afternoon 15 – 18
Tasting and sharing
We will guide you through a slower tasting of other archive teas, or you can delve into our archive yourself.
Friday Oct 17th- evening
Pressing of the tea cakes
We will experience tea leaves with our own hands. Everyone will press their own tea cake. Using traditional techniques using stones imported directly from Yiwu. We will also decorate our own wrapper from handmade paper and learn how to wrap the cakes.
Saturday Oct 18th
Fermentation: Shu Puer, Liuan, Liubao
Morning 9 – 12
Tea workshop
Why and how was the youngest dark tea Shu Puer born? We will talk about the context, technology, and taste many shades of earthy black. We will also add rare archive pieces from other dark teas, Liuan and Liubao, which we discovered with collectors in Taiwan and Malaysia during our travels this year.
Afternoon 15 – 18
Tasting and sharing
We will hike into the beautiful landscape with tea and prepare a slower tasting of other archive teas.
Evening
Bonfire party, barbecue, music
Sunday Oct 19th
Puer tea ageing in Europe
Morning 9 – 12
Tea workshop
Do the modern Puer teas age? And do they in Europe? We will share our long-standing experience with establishing our own tea archive and taste study samples of Czech ageing.
Afternoon 15 – 16
Wuwocha - shared farewell tea ritual
We will all make a cup of tea for each other and look back over the workshop.
You are welcome to stay in our place until Monday morning according to your transportation.
Tea and teaware collection
You can also enjoy tea tasting outside of the workshop time - our "All You Can Drink" tea collection with many types of fresh and vintage teas, as well as our rich collection of beautiful tea utensils, will be freely available to you at all times.
You can experience boiling water on charcoal, brewing in Yixing teapots, Czech wood-fired ceramics and other treasures
Place
Our tea paradise is located in the tiny village of Střížovice near the city of Jindřichův Hradec, Czech Republic (map).
Connection by car from Prague or Brno takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes. We will try to arrange a car sharing with other participants. The train from Prague takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes, and you can enjoy the last part of the journey by taking a romantic local narrow-gauge railway and a short walk.
Sleeping and eating
In a South Bohemian cottage with a beautiful garden surrounded by meadows and forests. Simple accommodation, shared kitchen, original tea room - everything is under one roof.
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The cottage has two comfortable bathrooms and a toilet.
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Fully equipped (not only tea :) kitchen where you can cook.
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We provide vegetarian lunches from a great local chef, which you can order a week before the event (not included in the price).
Price and registration
440 EUR / 10 800 CZK with accommodation in a shared room in the attic of the cottage.
or
375 EUR / 9 200 CZK for lovers of nature romance, and privacy with accommodation in your own tent (set up in our garden) or other personal accommodation.
If you'd prefer more comfortable accommodation, let us know by email meetea@meetea.cz, and we will check out the nearby options.
The price includes accommodation, the entire program and top-quality teas "All You Can Drink".
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We expect the full price of the workshop to be paid within a week of registration.
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If you register and, for any reason, are unable to attend, please let us know by September 25. 2025. Only then will we be able to refund you the full price. If you cancel after September 25. 2025, and cannot find a replacement, we will no longer be able to refund the price.
