First encounter
Tea 101
Begin with the leaf in the cup. Learn what tea is, how one plant becomes six categories, and how terroir, cultivar, and craft reveal themselves in taste.
Tea Drunk Academy — The Study
Tea Drunk Academy
The Study
Learn tea with structure, then follow your curiosity. Begin with Tea 101, build a serious foundation, and continue through Tea Drunk’s guides, articles, tastings, and field knowledge.
Choose your pathOne academy, two ways to move
Follow a level or follow a question
Tea Drunk Academy organizes the same knowledge through learning progression and through subject. Move from Tea 101 into Fundamentals, Intermediate, and Advanced study, or explore tea type, terroir, cultivar, processing, sensory evaluation, brewing, history, and culture directly.
Serious beginner
Tea Fundamentals
Build the framework for the six categories, terroir, cultivar, processing, brewing, and tasting, then apply it across individual tea traditions.
Learning progression
Your Roadmap to Connoisseurship
The Tea Drunk Academy curriculum continues through Fundamentals, Intermediate, and Advanced study. Retiring Weekend Tea School does not retire this knowledge or progression.
Level 1 — Fundamentals
Build the vocabulary, references, and observation habits needed to understand tea seriously.
Terroir I
- Understand the micro and macro factors that shape terroir.
- Identify and explain ten historic terroirs.
Cultivar I
- Learn how tea cultivars are identified, grouped, and compared.
- Describe six key cultivars and their distinguishing features.
Crafting I
- Explain the characteristic processing logic of the six tea categories.
- Connect basic processing differences to flavor and structure.
Sensory Evaluation I
- Distinguish the six tea categories and important sub-category paths.
- Assess dry leaves through size, shape, color, and elasticity.
Level 2 — Intermediate
Move from recognizing categories to comparing places, cultivars, processing choices, and sensory evidence.
Terroir II
- Learn the characteristics and significance of important Nei Shan terroirs.
- Compare how individual site factors affect quality.
Cultivar II
- Describe and categorize a wider cultivar set.
- Compare heirloom and clone cultivars through characteristics and taste.
Crafting II
- Explain processing differences among tea sub-categories.
- Separate primary tea making from refining and finishing steps.
Sensory Evaluation II
- Compare related cultivars and picking grades.
- Evaluate dry and spent leaves and describe tea through a taste hierarchy.
Level 3 — Advanced
Integrate evidence across place, plant, craft, and cup.
Terroir III
- Assess terroir holistically and compare Nei Shan with Wai Shan.
- Build command of first-level historic terroirs.
Cultivar III
- Evaluate cultivation, growth cycle, maturity, and cultivar character together.
- Develop a broader comparative cultivar reference set.
Crafting III
- Reason through moisture, temperature, vintage, cultivar, and processing environment.
- Predict how fresh leaves may respond under changing conditions.
Sensory Evaluation III
- Evaluate tea quality through dry leaf, liquor, taste, and spent leaf.
- Explain how terroir, cultivar, and craft collectively produce the evidence in the cup.
Level 1 in practice
Fundamentals Working Sets
These learning blocks turn the curriculum into concrete starting points while preserving the full progression above.
Terroir I — 10 Terroirs to Know
- Shi Feng Shan, Xi Hu
- Qi Shan, Lu An
- Jun Shan Dao, Yue Yang
- Dian Tou, Fu Ding
- Gua Dun, Tong Mu
- Shi Zi Feng, Wu Yi Shan
- Wu Dong, Feng Huang
- Fu Di, An Xi
- Ban Po Lao Zhai, Nan Nuo Shan
- Wu Liang Shan, Yun Nan
Cultivar I — 6 Cultivars to Know
- Qun Ti Zhong (Heirloom)
- Fu Ding Da Hao
- Shui Xian
- Rou Gui
- Ya Shi Xiang
- Tie Guan Yin
Crafting I — Processing Routes
Recognize the characteristic processing route for Green, Yellow, White, Wu Long, Red, and Black Tea, then continue into Yan Cha, Dan Cong, Tie Guan Yin, and Pu Er Sheng Cha.
Sensory Evaluation I — What to Recognize
Build a first comparison set across Green, Yellow, White, Wu Long, Red, and Black Tea. Observe dry-leaf size, shape, color, and elasticity before connecting those signs to aroma, texture, finish, and spent leaf.
Explore by topic
Follow the part of tea you want to understand
Tea Types
Green · Yellow · White · Red · Pu Er Sheng Cha · Yan Cha · Dan Cong · Tie Guan Yin
The Three Pillars
Tea Terroir · Tea Cultivars · Tea Processing
Taste & Practice
Tea Evaluation · Tea Appreciation · Brewing Tea · Teaware
History, Culture & Context
Tea History and Culture · Educational Articles · Tea Glossary
Tea Drunk Academy programs
Learn by doing
Practice through guided tastings, Educational Tea Club, classes and workshops, and field education in tea country.
Guided Tea Tastings · Educational Tea Club · Classes & Events · Wu Yi Shan Educational Tea Tour