How To Host a Tea tasting party

Searching for new suggestions for your upcoming get-together with friends? Arrange a tea tasting event for your guests and win the title of most entertaining host. The serene (and delicious!) experience of making tea with intention is probably foreign to party guests, and many may not even know what premium tea leaves are. This party will be a huge success because many of our teas are innovative and sampling them requires a concentrated sensory experience.

This is made feasible by the fact that others can learn from you and seek for the sensations you identified when you taste your tea and share your experience. By hearing people talk about their experiences, you can accomplish the same thing. We are all uniquely sensitive to distinct aspects of flavour, texture, and aroma due to our prior experiences with fine tea, which offers a wide range of experiences. You can appreciate tea more thoroughly and broaden your perception when you drink with pals.

Furthermore, having your personal opinion of a tea as excellent validated makes you feel more strongly about it and encourages you to taste it more attentively. If you sip the tea by itself, you might enjoy it very much, but you might also have a sneaking notion that it was all in your head. You become more receptive to enjoying something when you hear praise from others. Just think of how contagious applause at the conclusion of a concert or how rapidly a few individuals can start laughing can spread.

Few consideration are there which you can make before you host a tea tasting party:

1. Make arrangements for guests -

 Without assistance, it is challenging to brew for and serve more than 6-7 people at once. This works best if everyone can sit around a table in comfy chairs. After a few hours, hard chairs will cause people to become restless. Living room chairs and low tables are a good combination, though it can be challenging for guests with back issues to bend down to the low table. In a pinch, floor pillows provide a suitable substitute. To ensure that guests don't feel weird if they want to focus on the tea without talking, some soft music can be great.

2. Check on all the supplies which is needed - 

You'll also need water and little snacks, in addition to, of course, some excellent tea that can spark lively conversation. Snacking is necessary to balance out stronger teas so that one can keep drinking without becoming lightheaded. Shortbread cookies, butter crackers, and dried fruit and nuts are all excellent options. The goal is to serve foods that are high in energy and flavour but don't leave a bad aftertaste on the tongue. A palette can be tainted by both overly sweet and overly savoury food. Of course, teas and food can be carefully and judiciously matched, but that's a whole other conversation. At the very least, you should have a filter or big gallon bottles of spring water for your water. Generally, tap water tastes too metallic and is too heavy. 

3. Pick a reasonable time -

 You will need at least two hours, with the possibility to linger for three hours, if you want to try three or four teas and steep them out Chinese manner, which will provide far more complex cups than Western style brewing. Choose a time when there won't be a meal, or you'll have overstimulated and hungry guests. The optimum periods are about 9 a.m., following a hearty breakfast; 2 p.m., to allow people time to process their lunch; or 7:30 p.m., following dinner. This timing ensures that no one is forced to depart due to fatigue or hunger. 

4. Set the tea equipment beforehand - 

It's ideal to have everything set up and ready to go before visitors come. Transfer the tea leaves to little plates and arrange them on the table for guests to admire. It will foster a sense of anticipation for upcoming events. Set up a cup for each person and have paper and pencils for those who like to take notes. Making notes, flowcharts, or even sketches might help individuals remember the tea and provide a starting point for conversation.

5. Research is important - 

Aim to be knowledgeable enough about the teas you serve to share a few anecdotes about them. We include a lot of tea-related stories on the blog and during tastings since we think they really improve the tasting experience. Find out which tea farm produced it, how the leaves were harvested, and when. Discover the history of teas such as Big Red Robe, Tieguanyin, Pu'er, and so on. It bridges any gaps in the discourse and makes tasting much more enjoyable. You can always read the product descriptions and anecdotes from your tea provider if you are not very good at telling stories.

6. Tasting the teas beforehand can be good decision - 

Make sure the flavours of the teas you arrange to serve during a sampling complement one another when you have two or three on display. It's also important to master good brewing. Although every tea vendor offers suggestions for brewing, the precise measurements ultimately rely on the water's pH, the precise form of the leaves used, the degree of insulation your brewing vessel provides, etc. Do not let these minute details to scare you. Rather, feel free and self-assured to try new things. With tea brewing, there are just variations—no right or wrong answers.