Ultra-running cold-brew protocol workshop

one evening: from leaf to long-run fuel

Evening arc: a focused three-hour immersion bridging Chinese tea tradition and ultra-endurance performance. Participants arrive to a table set with cold-brew vessels — glass Hario bottles, stainless steel infusers, and ice-chilled carafes — alongside leaf samples from Yunnan, Fujian, and Zhejiang. The workshop opens with a 20-minute briefing from tea expert Chen Hui Yi, who introduces the principle of cold extraction: how temperature, leaf-to-water ratio, and time shape both caffeine release and antioxidant profiles in a way that suits sustained, multi-hour efforts. Drawing on protocols refined at tea.doctor, Chen explains why Bái Háo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针), a silver-needle white tea from Fuding, offers a crisp, low-tannin baseline for intra-run hydration, while Lóng Jǐng (龙井) from West Lake delivers a gentle l-theanine lift without the jitters associated with coffee.

The second segment moves into hands-on formulation. Each participant weighs out three single-origin teas — a 2025 harvest white, a spring-picked green, and a lightly oxidized Shēng Pǔ’ěr (生普洱) — then fills their chosen vessel with filtered water. Using the tea.fitness hydration calculator (projected onto the studio wall), they translate their own body weight, typical training duration, and sweat rate into a personalised recipe: grams of leaf, millilitres of water, and steep time. The room fills with quiet concentration as participants label their bottles and set timers. Chen Hui Yi circulates, adjusting ratios and discussing the interplay between electrolyte balance and tea mineral content — noting, for instance, that Yúnnán (云南) Shēng Pǔ’ěr supplies trace potassium and magnesium often missing from commercial sports drinks.

After a 60-minute steep window, the group reconvenes for guided tasting. Each cold-brew is poured into ceramic cups, and Chen leads a sensory analysis: colour, clarity, mouthfeel, and perceived caffeine effect. Runners learn to identify the cooling, slightly sweet character of white tea, the vegetal clarity of green, and the earthy depth of Pǔ’ěr. Discussion turns to race-day application — when to sip a white tea cold-brew during a 50k, how to rotate green and Pǔ’ěr across aid stations, and why vessel geometry (tall vs. wide) alters extraction efficiency. The final 30 minutes open into a Q&A capped by a walk through the tea.community forum, where a private group enables post-workshop logging of personal protocols and direct messaging with Chen Hui Yi. All attendees leave with a digital workbook, a 10% discount on their first tea.fitness subscription box at shop.thetea.app, and a certificate of completion from tea.school.

What you get

• Detailed protocol sheets for cold-brew extraction of Chinese teas

• Tasting flight of three single-origin teas (white, green, and a post-fermented option)

• Personalised hydration calculation based on your training load

• Curated list of cold-brew vessels and their TDS ranges

• Access to a private tea.community discussion group for follow-up

• 10% discount on first subscription box at shop.thetea.app

• Certificate of completion recognized by tea.school

workshop details

• Where — Munich — venue details sent upon booking

• When — 19 September 2026, 18:00–21:00

• Dress — Comfortable, indoor attire

• Food — Light tea-friendly snacks provided

• Accessibility — Ground-floor venue with accessible restrooms

• Language — English with Chinese tea terminology in pinyin and characters

• Kit included — All tea samples, cold-brew vessels, worksheet, and a refillable water bottle