MULAN JOURNAL / 05 BRAND EVENTS
Open Day at Mulan House: Tasting as a Live Evaluation
We invited 24 strangers to drink 6 teas, then asked each to write down one version of themselves on paper.
This was a tasting with no lectern. We do not teach people how to drink tea; we only ask them to say what they tasted.
1. Why Not a Lecture-Style Tasting
Most tastings on the market run one way: an expert up front talks about aroma, craft and terroir; the audience nods. After a session, the guests remember a few terms but learn nothing new about themselves.
We wanted to try something else: to make a tasting into an evaluation — not of the tea, but of the person drinking it.
2. Three Hours, How It Was Arranged
- 15 min · Silent seatingNo handouts, no briefing. In front of each person: one white porcelain gaiwan, one cup, one sheet of paper.
- 40 min · The first four, blindNo cultivar, no price, no origin. Each person was asked for just three words: the first sip, the change in the middle, and what they wanted to do afterwards.
- 30 min · Conversation over one cupChange seats with a neighbour and speak your three words aloud. No judging the other's vocabulary.
- 45 min · The last two revealedCultivar and terroir disclosed. Then two of the first four were re-brewed — same vessel, same water. Most people found they had tasted wrongly the first time.
- 30 min · The destined teaChoose one of the six, write it on a card and take it home. The card carries a number; back on the site you can look up that tea in full.
We do not teach people how to drink tea;
we only ask them to say what they tasted.
3. Three Surprises That Afternoon
- Surprise oneOf the 24, nine chose the cheapest tea. Their reasons were almost identical: "I can't say what makes it special, but I want another cup."
- Surprise twoThe hardest of the three words was not the third but the first. Many paused over their pens for more than thirty seconds after the first sip — they found they had no words.
- Surprise threeThe quietest tea — a full-roast old-bush Shuixian — drew the most "want to take it home." On the day its aroma was the least showy, yet after the seventh steeping the votes turned its way.
4. What We Learned from That Afternoon
- OneA person's first judgement of tea comes from the body, not from knowledge. The body is more honest than the mouth.
- Two"I can't say" is not ignorance; it is a lack of words. Giving someone one more cup is more useful than giving them a set of terms.
- ThreeThe ranking of aroma is not the ranking of price. That deserves to be written at the head of every tasting.
5. The Next One
The Mulan House Open Day will be held once a month, 24 people each time, with places announced through the MULAN JOURNAL newsletter. No selling on site, no minimum spend — but each guest may take away a destined-tea card, good for one discount on a first purchase at the shop.
If your city has a group of people willing to drink tea quietly for three hours, write to us — we would gladly bring this format to you.
TO TASTE · A CUP FROM THE SAME SOURCE
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