Meeting with Yasu Kakegawa, tea expert and Diploma in Culinary Management (DCM) lecturer

Yasu Kakegawa, lecturer, tea sommelier and consultant, gave a talk to our Diploma in Culinary Management students. Author of “Le Thé c’est pas sorcier” (Tea: it’s not rocket science), published by Marabout, his goal is to introduce students to the finer details of tea.

Tea can be found on restaurant, café, and tearoom menus, and its global consumption has rapidly increased in recent years. It is for this very reason that Yasu Kakegawa gave a talk to our Diploma in Culinary Management students, so that they can make tea part of the restaurant concept they create for their diploma. Using experiments, observations, and tastings, he taught students how to differentiate between the different tea families, how to taste, store, and serve it, and its many virtues.

Mr Kakegawa began by talking about the importance of the quality of the water used. By carrying out an experiment using tap water, sparkling water, and soft water, he demonstrated that the quality of tea can be affected by the water used. He then presented the main tea families: black, green, oolong, soba-cha, rooibos, and mate. Finally, he outlined the benefits of tea and caffeine. Green tea is packed full of antioxidants, black tea helps to reduce cardiovascular diseases, and oolong tea stimulates the metabolism and reduces stress.

Our Diploma in Culinary Management students now know (almost) everything about tea, from how it is grown and made, through to serving and tasting.