Certified Tea Sommelier course?
Hi !
Does anybody know who gives a certified tea sommelier course in California?
Closest one to you would be the American Tea Masters Association.
http://teamasters.org/tea-master-certification/
Also I think world tea media just launched an online certification program.
I’m doing the program at George Brown College in Toronto (Canada). So much fun!! :)
What does getting certified as a tea sommelier mean? What is the advantage, lure and knowledge gained? I saw someone posted something about it a little while back, but there was no explanation as to what it was.
Professionally, you would find the training helpful in opening a tea shop, restaurant, hotel etc. Also if you wanted to write tea shop reviews, go into procurement or any part of the business (eg customer service, sales, or public relations for a larger company like Davids tea, Metropolitan and so on).
Myself, I’ve had one speaking engagement, and hope to line up more. Down the road, I’d like to consult with any of the businesses I named above.
So far, I’ve found the quality of the program to be excellent. The one downside I’d have to mention is that when you know TOO much about a product, it can take some of the mystique away. I miss the days when it all seemed too good to be true. Now I know exactly why certain things are the way they are in the tea world, and how to achieve that. For awhile, it put a bit of a damper on my love for tea. I don’t mind, it just meant I had to take some time away from it, and then it came back for the most part. Only now I can control my spending better haha
There a lot of programs out there. Unfortunately many of them are very expensive and the credibility can be dubious at times. My opinion is that if you are going to spend hundreds of dollars on classes, it might be better to see if you can arrange for travel to a tea growing region instead. First hand knowledge is always better than anything you’d find in a book :)
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