Storage & aging specialist certification launch
Tea Academy announces the Storage & Aging Specialist credential, the first formal certification focused exclusively on the science and practice of post-fermented tea storage and aging, with a cross-regional cake set at its practical examination core.
Saint Petersburg — 2026-08-15
Tea Academy today launched the Storage & Aging Specialist certification, a new professional credential for the global tea industry that validates advanced competency in the storage, aging, and sensory evaluation of post-fermented teas — primarily shēng pǔ’ěr (生普洱) and shú pǔ’ěr (熟普洱). The credential occupies the Specialist tier of the Tea Academy qualification framework and is designed for tea sommeliers, collectors, tea-room operators, and hospitality professionals who manage tea cellars or oversee aging programmes.
“Storage is the silent shaper of tea — it determines whether a shēng pǔ’ěr cake becomes a dusty curiosity or a transcendent experience,” said Evgeniy Smoley, CEO of Teamotea. “Until now, the industry has lacked a universally recognisable benchmark for storage expertise. This certification fills that gap with a rigorous, evidence-based standard.”
The curriculum was co-developed with tea scientists and master mentors from Kunming, Menghai, and Taipei and draws on the geographic indication standard GB/T 22111-2008 for pu-erh tea. Candidates must demonstrate mastery of microbial succession kinetics, ambient condition logging (temperature, relative humidity, dew point), wrapper-aging indicators, and sensory trajectory analysis across 3, 5, 10, and 15-year storage intervals. The theoretical component is aligned with the Advanced Storage & Aging module available on tea.school, which has supported over 400 learners since its debut in 2025.
The centrepiece of the examination is a practical tasting session built around a curated cross-storage cake set. Each candidate receives five shēng pǔ’ěr cakes — identical raw material from the 2018 Menghai harvest — that have been stored since production in five distinct microclimates: Kunming (dry, moderate elevation), Hong Kong (traditional basement, high humidity), Taipei (maritime, controlled humidity), Buryatia (cold, seasonal freeze-thaw), and Saint Petersburg (northern European cellar). The set is designed to test the ability to identify storage-induced flavour drift, terroir obscuration, and defect markers such as guò shī (过湿, excessive moisture) or méi biàn (霉变, mould taint). Candidates must score a minimum of 70 out of 100 to pass.
“We are no longer asking whether Kunming storage is ‘better’ than Hong Kong storage,” Smoley added. “We are asking candidates to describe the objective sensory fingerprint of each environment and to prescribe corrective or maintenance actions — that is the difference between opinion and credential-level skill.”
The first examination sitting will take place 10–15 November 2026 at the Tea Academy proctoring centre in Saint Petersburg, with a registration deadline of 1 November 2026. Up to 30 candidates will be admitted per sitting, and the Academy projects a first-cohort pass rate of approximately 60%, based on pilot data collected during a closed beta in spring 2026. Remote proctoring is under development and expected to launch in Q2 2027, enabling candidates in Yunnan, Guangdong, and Malaysia to sit the exam locally.
Candidates may source official examination sets via shop.puerh.app, the accredited retail channel for specimen cakes, storage logs, and sensory lexicon cards. Ongoing practitioner discussion is hosted on tea.community, while certification verification and public credential pages are served through thetea.app. Industry partners — including hotel groups, tea-room chains, and auction houses — will be able to embed the Tea Academy badge widget on their websites from November 2026.
The Storage & Aging Specialist credential requires annual recertification for Foundation and Specialist tiers, ensuring that holders stay current with evolving storage science. Recertification involves a 30-minute online knowledge refresh and a review of any logged cellar updates. Full details are published on tea.academy.
For further information, prospective candidates may visit tea.academy/tiers or contact the press office.
Media contact
Evgeniy Smoley