French tea and aroma expert Carine Baudry is an expert on tea. For years she was the head of the Tea School, now she spends more time giving tea masterclasses. We spoke with her after a masterclass in Antwerp in Belgium.
You just did the masterclass on tea. What was it like?
During this masterclass the purpose was how to recognize and to describe the tea. During this masterclass I help people to know exactly what happens when they test the tea. What happens according to the five senses and explain that and explain as well how they can use the vocabulary. If they can put words to each sensation they can smell more and more flavor and perfume and they can understand more what happens in the leafs.
What is your goal with the masterclass? What do you want to achieve with the people who attend?
I want them to understand that tea is a wonderful product with a lot of complexity. That complexity comes from a different kind of things. From the tree, the cultivar, the soil, the weather, when they pluck the leafs and it comes from the process. When you can realize that. When you can smell something different according to which kind of process they used, people can read that in the tea and know exactly why this one is very high quality. And they can understand more what the colour means according tot he process.
What sort of group did you have today? Was it an enthusiastic group?
Yes, it was wonderful. The whole day I saw people with eyes with a lot of lights. I know when I talk about the five senses it is very interesting for people, because they can feel a lot of things and they can realize they can smell good. And they can put more words to their senses and understand the tea more. So it was just wonderful to see all the eyes and to see we had another language with the eyes. That way I realize that people understand all things.