Faculty - Alan Laszuk

Alan Laszuk, Certified Tea Master™. My early exposure to tea stemmed from studying the Inuit and Eskimo culture for a stage production called “Inuk and the Sun.” The Eskimo guides of the early polar explorers greatly cherished that hot cup of the explorer’s tea, and growing up in the mean winters of Chicago, I could identify what great joy a cup of hot tea brings to one’s spirit.

The beginning of my professional career began with the food and beverage industry. Whether it was working in a deli, a butcher shop, a mom-and-pop tavern eatery or in later years photographing food and creating food signage and graphics for large-scale stores and restaurants with multiple location, I always found myself making, arranging, or selling food and flavor.

And then tea, glorious tea, entered the scene. I found tea so exhilarating that I ran with it. I studied and attended every class and program I could find about tea. And one of the interesting things I discovered is that tea not only has many flavor profiles, but it has contributed greatly to the geopolitical struggle of our current world landscape. In fact, tea generates great conversation and community.

For example, I developed and presented a tea-tasting event which assisted individuals who have suffered the loss of a loved one. In a tea-tasting ceremony an individual goes through and identifies the “personality” of the tea and parses out its traits, and I used the tea’s traits, subtleties, and elements as a parallel to help individuals celebrate and remember their loved ones, to identify their loved one’s distinct and individual personality. It was truly a moving event, and it was my honor and privilege to be able to participate in this.

My credentials are as follows:

Certified Tea Master by the American Tea Masters Association (ATMA), Completion of Level 1, Level 2 and Professional Certification Level 3 in Black Tea from the Specialty Tea Institute (STI); participated in numerous professional tea seminars and lectures covering areas of production, serving, health benefits, and many other tea subjects. I attended the 5th International Aged Puerh Appreciation event at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California, hosted by Hou De Asian Art and Wu-Shing Publishing. I continue to train my tea-tasting skills whether it is in a class setting or a gathering of tea friends and professionals. I am always looking for ways to improve upon my tasting skill set and my abilities of communicating tea flavor profiles or enhancing the tea drinking experiences of others who would like to purchase tea for their personal use or commercial purposes.

Currently I am working on developing an on-line library of short videos on tea, tea tasting, and preparation. I also am assisting ATMA with their online tea training programs. I also have the coveted title of “family cook,” preparing meals for my lovely artist wife and our 3 children. This privilege gives me an environment where I am able to develop new recipes and test tea parings and, of course, tasting, savoring and discovering every new tea I can get my hands on.

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