How the quarterly cohort works
Running a tea room is a continuous practice of balancing the intangible — atmosphere, hospitality, knowledge — with the hard numbers of costs, staffing and seasonal demand. This quarterly cohort is designed for owners who are already working in their businesses and want to step back once a week to sharpen their operations with the support of a cohort of peers and a lead mentor who understands Chinese tea from the inside.
Over thirteen weeks, Mei Yang — Senior Tea Expert for Oolong and Black Tea Varieties at Teamotea, with deep roots in Guangdong’s Phoenix Mountain tea culture — guides twelve owners through a structured process that moves from diagnostic audit to a fully formed operational plan for the coming quarter. Mei brings a unique perspective gained from over a decade running a tea house in Chaozhou, where she learned to source directly from Phoenix Mountain farmers and to manage a staff steeped in the gōngfū chá (功夫茶) tradition. Her sessions are grounded, pragmatic and spiced with the kind of hard-won advice that only a working owner can give. She will be joined periodically by guest speakers from the Teamotea constellation, including supply-chain experts and tea.school instructors, ensuring that the cohort touches every link in the operational chain.
Each week pairs a specific business theme with a Chinese tea selected by Mei to illustrate a principle or to ground the discussion. The tea is not decorative; it is a working tool that anchors the conversation in the material reality of running a Chinese tea room.
The cohort begins with a thorough diagnostics week in which each owner maps their current workflow, customer touchpoints, staffing model and supplier relationships. Following that, weekly live sessions — 90 minutes each, held on Tuesday evenings European time — unpack one operational area in depth. Topics include costing and menu engineering for a Chinese tea list, designing and executing a seasonal programme that moves from spring Lóng Jǐng (龙井) to winter aged whites, building supplier rotation schedules that keep offerings fresh while maintaining quality, and leading a team without resorting to retail clichés. Between sessions, owners complete applied exercises within their own premises and share results in a private channel on tea.community, where cohort members and alumni offer feedback and encouragement.
The programme is intentionally lean in theory and heavy on practice. Rather than importing generic small-business frameworks, every example, template and case study is drawn from the Chinese tea world. Participants learn to cost a gōngfū chá session accurately, to price aged pu’er by the gram without alienating regulars, and to plan an annual event calendar that includes the Qingming harvest, a summer cold-brew release and a winter wéi lú zhǔ chá (围炉煮茶) gathering. By week seven, each owner has a draft menu of ten teas — evaluated not just by taste but by margin, preparation time and shelf life. By week ten, they have a seasonal staffing plan that accounts for the quiet July weeks and the busy December gifting period.
The cohort closes with a live presentation session where each owner shares their finished operational playbook — a document that includes cash-flow projections, a 90-day programming calendar, a supplier matrix and a hiring checklist, all calibrated to their specific location and scale. Mei hosts one final individual coaching call with every participant to refine the playbook further before it goes live.
Graduates often stay connected on tea.community, where a dedicated channel for cohort alumni provides continued advice and benchmarking. For owners who wish to deepen their tea knowledge, tea.school offers a flexible certificate programme covering the major Chinese tea categories — an excellent complement to the operational skills built here.
The cohort is limited to twelve owners to guarantee that every voice is heard and every challenge receives attention. The fee of €680 covers all 13 live sessions, access to a comprehensive digital workbook, customised templates, a one-year subscription to the tea.community alumni channel, and a final one-on-one coaching call. No prior business training is required — only a willingness to look honestly at your numbers and to test new ideas in the real environment of your tea room.
The first cohort of 2026–27 begins on 1 September 2026 and runs for thirteen consecutive weeks, ending in late November — perfectly timed to implement the operational playbook for the winter and following spring seasons. Applications are open now and close on 22 August 2026.
Week by week
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Week 1 — Mí Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香). Operations diagnostic — mapping current workflows, customer touchpoints and supplier relationships for your tea room.
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Week 2 — Zhèng Shān Xiǎo Zhǒng (正山小种). Staffing models and scheduling for a gongfu tea house — roles, shifts and seasonal adjustments.
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Week 3 — Tiě Guān Yīn (铁观音). Costing a Chinese tea menu from leaf to cup — calculating per-gram pricing and session margins.
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Week 4 — Shēng Pǔ’ěr (生普洱). Supplier rotation and direct-sourcing practices — building a reliable network of producers.
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Week 5 — Lóng Jǐng (龙井). Spring seasonal programming — designing Qingming events, fresh harvest tastings and outdoor tea ceremonies.
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Week 6 — Bái Mǔ Dān (白牡丹). Customer experience design — from the first gōngfū chá pour to the final bill, every touchpoint matters.
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Week 7 — Qí Mén Hóng Chá (祁门红茶). Menu engineering for the tea room — curating a list that balances margin, preparation time and shelf life.
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Week 8 — Shòu Méi (寿眉). Financial reporting for small tea businesses — reading profit-and-loss and cash-flow statements without a CFO.
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Week 9 — Mò Lì Lóng Zhū (茉莉龙珠). Marketing without hype — building a quiet brand through community events, tasting clubs and word-of-mouth.
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Week 10 — Bì Luó Chūn (碧螺春). Summer programming — cold-brew tea flights, garden seating and lower-staff rosters.
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Week 11 — Huǒ Shān Huáng Yá (霍山黄芽). Inventory management — tracking aged teas, fresh greens and fragile equipment with minimal waste.
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Week 12 — Yā Shǐ Xiāng (鸭屎香). Leadership and team culture — hiring for hospitality, training in tea knowledge and keeping morale steady.
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Week 13 — Gōng Měi (贡眉). Final operational playbook presentation — share your plan with peers and receive feedback before launch.
What’s included
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13 live weekly sessions (90 minutes each) with Mei Yang and guest experts
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Diagnostic audit of your current tea-room operations
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Customised costing templates for Chinese tea menus
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Seasonal programming playbook covering spring through winter
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Access to a private cohort channel on tea.community for peer exchange
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One-year membership to tea.school’s business fundamentals track
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Supplier directory with verified Chinese tea producers
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Recordings and worksheets for all sessions
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Final one-on-one coaching call to review your operational plan