This event merges two popular Food Focus events that were offered last year.

To appreciate Chinese tea like a true connoisseur, you must learn to savor the process of brewing it properly.

The best tea leaves deserve to be brewed and served in a way that maximizes their essential flavors. The method known as gongfu cha ("brewing tea with skill") originated as a regional practice from Chaozhou but in recent decades has become standardized across China.

In this hands-on workshop, we'll discuss the teaware involved in gongfu tea and how their designs have evolved over centuries to coax out the full flavor of leaf tea. As part of the demonstration, we'll sample and compare progressive infusions of oolong tea, black tea, green tea, and pu'er tea.

Afterwards, attendees will have a go at performing the tea ritual themselves—learning to handle the teaware gracefully and brewing tea for their fellow participants. There was a great deal of laughter and discussion at last year's event, and we look forward to recreating that lively teahouse atmosphere this time around as we sample an entirely different set of tea leaves.

To round out the experience, we'll be pairing these teas with snacks that are unique to Shanghai.

For most of Shanghai's history, locals with a sweet tooth likely satisfied their cravings with sticky rice treats, preserved fruit, or crumbly Chinese-style biscuits. But when the city was designated as a treaty port in the mid-19th century, the subsequent influx of foreign expatriates transformed Shanghai's gastronomy on all levels. The new haipai ("East meets West") culture gave rise to a unique array of pastries and confections that cleverly adapted European recipes for Chinese palates. We'll taste a variety of snacks from Shanghai's time-honored bakeries, comparing notes on the mouthfeel and flavor of these sweet bites and nibbles.

Convened by: Lilly Chow, RAS Food Focus

Note: As we will be sampling pastries and baked goods, this event is not suitable for anybody with allergies to dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, wheat, and sesame.