Tea R&D: Research & Development of Tea Beverages
A working method, not ready-made recipes
4 sessions for venue owners and those in charge of product development. Learn to control extraction, reverse-engineer best-selling drinks on the market, balance tea, creaminess, sweetness and sourness with numbers, standardize recipes so they can be reproduced when staff change, and calculate cost to know whether a drink is profitable. Leave the course with at least one standardized recipe of your own, with a cost sheet and a plan to put it on the menu.
What problems does your venue face when developing menu items?
6 familiar situations for venue owners and those in charge of beverage R&D.
A great drink that cannot be reproduced
The recipe sits in one person's hands, and every batch tastes different. With no parameter sheet, it cannot be scaled to other shifts or other outlets.
A menu that copies competitors and can only compete on price
Whatever sells well gets copied almost exactly, with no deliberate point of difference, so customers choose a venue by promotions.
A weak tea base, so the drink is just creamy sugar water
This is the most common mistake in milk tea: the tea is not strong enough to cut through the creaminess and sweetness, so you cannot tell what tea you are drinking.
A drink that separates into layers, harshly sweet, with no idea where to fix it
Adjusting by feel: if it tastes flat, add sugar; if it is harsh, add milk. The more you adjust, the further off it gets because you do not know which axis is off.
Every cup tastes different when staff change
Measuring by eye and by handful instead of with scales and timers; without measuring Brix, every shift produces a different sweetness.
No idea whether a drink is profitable
Only the main ingredients are costed, missing ice, cups, straws, small toppings and waste; pricing by feel and by competitors, so the real margin is far lower than imagined.
A course that teaches a method, not ready-made recipes
Learners must be able to create a drink themselves, explain why it is balanced, and reproduce it consistently.
The backbone running through all 4 sessions: define the segment goal and selling price, analyze a reference drink, build the tea base, layer the ingredients, balance the flavor, standardize the recipe, calculate cost and run sensory evaluation. Once learned, it applies to every future drink.
R&D is not creating from nothing. Learn to build a control version of a best-selling drink, break down the tea base and creaminess system, pick one lever to do it differently, then run a blind tasting to prove the difference can be perceived.
Digital scales, thermometers, timers and a refractometer for measuring Brix are the cheapest tools with the biggest impact on repeatability. Learners handle them directly in every exercise.
Every drink is scored on the same 25-point sheet with a clear pass threshold, comparable across groups. Session 2 adds a blind tasting test to guess the segment, to measure whether the drink hits the target it set.
The final session covers the full cost of a cup, three pricing methods and a four-group menu analysis matrix, turning the R&D course into a tool for deciding whether to keep, drop or push a drink on the real menu.
Who is this course for?
3 core learner groups, and who is not yet a good fit.
Owners of milk tea and coffee shops that also sell tea drinks
Want control of the menu instead of depending on supplier recipes, and want to understand where their drinks are off.
People in charge of research and product development
Head bartenders and R&D leaders who need a disciplined working method and standardized documents to hand over to operations.
Chain managers who need to standardize the menu
Opening more outlets and needing every cup at every outlet to be the same, with a set of recipe sheets to train new staff.
Looking for a class on ready-made drink recipes
The course does not hand out shared recipes. The entire design revolves around learners creating a drink themselves and explaining why it is balanced.
Reluctant to take notes and measure with numbers
Every practice exercise comes with a sheet to fill in; a missing parameter field counts as not passed because it cannot be scaled.
Want in-depth study of coffee
The course focuses on tea drinks: milk tea and fruit tea. For specialty coffee, the Bean to Business program is a better fit.
4-session roadmap: the product development loop
Define the goal → analyze a reference drink → build the tea base → layer the ingredients → balance the flavor → standardize the recipe → calculate cost and run sensory evaluation.
Foundation: Tea and extraction control
Session 1
Session 1
Tea foundations, extraction control and building the palateTea flavor chemistry · 5 variables · Palate calibration · 3 hours
- The tea plant and the origin of flavor: small-leaf and large-leaf varieties, altitude, harvest season, picking standards. Input quality sets the ceiling for drink quality
- Oxidation levels and the map of tea types: green, white, oolong, black, pu-erh. Flavor character and role in drinks
- The four groups of compounds that determine flavor and the golden rule: high heat and long steeping bring out astringency and bitterness; low heat and quick steeping keep sweetness and umami
- The five extraction variables to control: temperature, tea-to-water ratio, steeping time, leaf size, method, plus a sixth factor, water quality
- The principle of brewing strong to offset dilution: a tea base for drinks must be 2 to 3 times stronger than tea drunk straight, because ice dilutes it by 20 to 30% and creaminess, milk and syrup cover it
- Practice: palate calibration with 4 reference samples, structured flight tasting, and a 3-batch experiment where each batch changes only one variable, followed by comparison tasting
Product development and the business problem
Sessions 2, 3 and 4
Session 2
Developing milk tea: the tea base and the creaminess and milk systemReverse engineering · Anatomy of the creaminess system · Tea, Creaminess, Sweetness triangle · 3 hours
- What R&D really is: making a drink different on purpose, repeatably and profitably, starting from validated market demand
- The 4-step reverse-engineering method: build a control version, break down the recipe, pick one lever to change, blind taste to compare
- The map of popular milk tea styles and typical structures: classic, brown sugar pearl, roasted oolong, matcha latte, taro, cream cheese macchiato
- Anatomy of the creaminess and milk system: non-dairy creamer, milk powder, sweetened condensed milk, fresh milk and cream. Their nature, pros and cons, and why milk tea is an emulsion that separates easily
- The Tea, Creaminess, Sweetness balance triangle and a diagnostic chart for when a drink is off; a framework recipe and starting reference ratios
- Practice: reverse-engineer a real best-selling drink, build a milk tea base for the assigned segment, refine for at least 2 rounds and try a variant that swaps the creaminess layer
Session 3
Developing fruit tea: the sweetness, sourness and fruit systemSweetness sources · Brix · Sweet and sour balance · 3 hours
- The map of popular fruit tea styles: peach orange lemongrass tea, lychee tea, kumquat tea, lemon tea, pink guava tea, passion fruit and soursop tea. The tea base and main flavor axis of each
- Anatomy of sweetness sources: syrups, jams and purees, fresh fruit, base sugars. Brix, real versus artificial flavor, and cost
- The principle of sweet and sour balance: measure Brix with a refractometer, lock a target Brix number, then brew to hit that exact number in every cup
- Two subtle roles of acid: creating sourness, and brightening fruit aroma while rebalancing sweetness; the pinch-of-salt technique to round out flavor
- Choose a light tea base so it does not overpower the fruit aroma; note that acid fades the color of black tea and that milk should not be combined with strong acid
- Practice: reverse-engineer a market fruit tea and measure Brix for a benchmark, build your own drink to a target Brix, compare syrup with fresh fruit
Session 4
Developing a personal drink, scoring and pricingCost per drink · Menu Engineering · Scoring panel · 3 hours
- Consolidate and close the product development loop; menu thinking built from the base: one good tea base yields many variants to optimize inventory and reduce the training burden
- Calculating the full cost of a cup: main ingredients by standard quantity, plus secondary costs including ice, cups, straws, small toppings and waste. The often-missed part that makes profit calculations wrong
- Three pricing methods used together: by cost multiplier, by perceived value and by competitors; reference ingredient cost ranges for tea drinks in Vietnam
- Menu analysis matrix by margin and popularity: star items, workhorse items, potential items, underperforming items and how to handle each group
- Practice and evaluation: each learner completes one signature drink and submits the result with a 4-layer recipe sheet and cost sheet; a panel scores on a 30-point scale and analyzes each person's tea base and formulation
8 deliverables to take home and apply right away
A set of 8 standardized templates together with your own recipe, scored and costed.
Tea sensory vocabulary sheet
A flavor wheel and a basic flavor catalog with four common faults: a tool for the whole team to speak the same language when evaluating dishes.
Extraction control sheet
Record batch code, tea type, weight, water volume, temperature, steeping time, method and sensory results across multiple adjustment rounds.
25-point sensory evaluation sheet
A scoring scale used throughout the course with 5 criteria and a clear pass threshold, for comparing across drinks and trials.
Standard 4-layer recipe sheet
Drink information, quantities in grams and milliliters, step-by-step preparation with parameters and equipment, cost, and quality control notes.
Product development summary
Target customer and segment, selling price, reference drink, point of difference, chosen tea base and targets to reach including the target Brix.
Flavor balance chart
A positioning chart for the drink on the Tea, Creaminess, Sweetness and Tea, Sweetness, Sourness, Aroma axes, with a diagnostic chart showing where a drink is off and how to fix it.
Market drink reverse-engineering sheet
An analysis framework for a best-selling drink: estimating the tea base, creaminess system, sweetness source, toppings, highlights and the lever you will use to be different.
Cost and pricing sheet
Cost per cup by standard quantity and unit price, secondary costs, ingredient cost ratio, three ways to set the selling price and the drink's position on the menu matrix.
In-class learning experience
Taste, brew, measure and score: every practice exercise comes with a sheet to fill in.
Align the class language before scoring anything
Session 1 opens with 4 reference samples (clearly astringent, sweet umami, bitter, balanced) so learners can name each sensation correctly and record it in the vocabulary sheet.
Change only one variable per batch
Three batches of the same tea: a standard batch, a higher-temperature batch and a longer-steeping batch. Record all parameters, then taste and compare to experience firsthand how each variable has an effect.
Sealed numbering, groups score each other
The key test of Session 2 is a blind tasting to guess the segment: measuring whether learners made the right segment they aimed for, not just whether it tastes good.
Present the drink and receive individual analysis
The instructor analyzes the tea base each person chose and how they formulated it, points out where the drink is off, and proposes specific adjustments so it can go into the venue.
Course instructors
Instructors guide the entire product development loop across 4 sessions.
Truong Duy Nghia
R&D Specialty Tea
Leads all 4 sessions: tea foundations and extraction control, developing milk tea, developing fruit tea, and the wrap-up session on scoring and pricing drinks.
Tuition and what's included
Leave the course with your own recipe
At least one standardized recipe with a cost and pricing sheet, plus a plan to put it on the venue's menu.
A set of 8 templates to reuse for every future drink
All sheets are handed over in printable form so the R&D and operations teams can keep using them for drinks developed later.
The practice class is split into 3 groups with a recommended size of 10 learners so everyone can brew, measure and score. Includes ingredients and equipment for in-class practice: assorted base teas, creaminess and milk systems, sweetness sources and fruit, digital scales, thermometers, timers and a refractometer for measuring Brix.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions before you register.
I have never done R&D. Can I keep up?
Yes. Session 1 is a foundation session dedicated to palate calibration and extraction control. If you cannot yet tell flavors apart or control extraction, everything built on top in Sessions 2 and 3 is meaningless, so the course starts at exactly that point.
Does the course give recipes I can sell right away?
No. The course is for venue owners and those in charge of product development, a group that needs a working method. Learners create their own drink, explain why it is balanced and reproduce it consistently.
My venue works by hand with no machines. Is that a problem?
The course practices handmade preparation to understand the principles, and clearly shows the differences between manual brewing, measured brewing, automatic machines and cold brewing. Recipe sheets always state the equipment so that when standardizing onto machines, adjustments can be made correctly.
Do I need to buy a refractometer and equipment before the course?
No. Equipment is prepared in class. The course appendix guides you on the minimum equipment list worth investing in first: measurement and control tools are the cheapest but have the biggest impact on repeatability.
How many learners are in a class?
The recommended size is 10 learners split into 3 practice groups, so each group has enough equipment and time to brew, measure, taste and critique.
What do I get at the end of the course?
In Session 4 each learner submits three things: a finished drink for tasting, a complete 4-layer recipe sheet, and the drink's cost and pricing sheet. You leave the course with at least one standardized recipe of your own, the full set of 8 templates and a plan to put it on the venue's menu.
When is the next intake?
The course starts on Saturday 26/09/2026, with afternoon classes on Saturday and Sunday from 14:00 to 17:00 in Ho Chi Minh City, comprising 4 sessions over 2 consecutive weekends, ending on 04/10/2026. Call 0565 66 76 86 to reserve a seat.
Standardize your venue's beverage menu with AAU Academy
Leave your details and the AAU team will contact you for a free consultation within 24 hours and confirm the nearest intake schedule.
Or call now 0565 66 76 86 (Mon–Sat, 9h–18h)