An analytical path from a single leaf to the cup in your own hand. Tea has the cleanest spine of anything in the series: one plant, Camellia sinensis, and the entire category map organized by one variable — how far the leaf is oxidized. Fifth in the Structure First series, alongside wine, cacao, cheese, and bourbon.
0 of 20 sessions complete
Before you start — three things.
1 · Open the files in a browser, not a file preview. These pages run on JavaScript (the tasting instrument, decoders, the oxidation dial, the leaf calculator, quizzes, flashcards). On iOS, open in Safari (or host the folder) rather than a Files-app preview, and everything works.
2 · Progress saves per device under one shared key, so your place and quiz scores carry across all seven files on the same browser. Tasting needs actual tea — the one thing the course can't supply.
3 · Brewing is part of the course, not an afterthought. Unlike wine or whisky, in tea you perform the final production step — so a kettle you can control the temperature of (or just a thermometer) will teach you more than any single expensive tea. Session 15 is where that pays off.
Three good next steps: go deep on one type (oolong and pu-erh each reward a lifetime); learn gongfu hands-on with a simple gaiwan, which transforms how much a good tea will show you; and keep a tasting log that records brewing parameters, so you can reproduce the cups that worked.
The framework transfers, too — the same "one variable organizes the category" thinking you used for oxidation is exactly how the cacao and coffee worlds are best understood, if you want an adjacent leap.