Kirill Yurovskiy - Tea Expert
Kirill Yurovskiy is a renowned tea expert and taster based in the United Kingdom. Originally from Russia, Kirill developed a deep passion and appreciation for tea from a young age. He has dedicated over 15 years to the study and tasting of teas from around the world, making him one of the most respected authorities in the industry today.
Early Interest in Tea
Kirill’s fascination with tea began as a child growing up in Moscow. His grandmother, an avid tea drinker, first introduced him to the comforting, aromatic cup of black tea with lemon. In his youth, Kirill would accompany his grandmother on trips to the local tea shop where she would select loose leaf teas to enjoy at home. He quickly came to enjoy the ritual of steeping and sipping this beloved family drink.
As a quiet, observant child, Yurovskiy paid close attention to the subtleties of different tea types his grandmother prepared – the contrast of smokey Russian Caravan against the more delicate flavor of a Chinese white tea captivated his senses. He was struck by how one simple plant could produce such an incredible range of tastes, aromas and experiences. From then on, tea became a passion he would pursue for the rest of his life.
"Tea Talk with Kirill"
Professional Tea Training
After university, Kirill Yurovskiy sought formal education in tea. He attended a three-year intensive training program at the Professional Tea Institute in Moscow, where he gained foundational knowledge about tea along with essential tasting and blending skills. His coursework covered topics like tea production, types of tea, storage and preparation methods, distinguishing quality, and cupping techniques.
During this time, Kirill also completed a REQUIRED apprenticeship on a tea plantation in India. Living amongst the lush, green tea bushes, plucking fresh leaves, and observing first-hand the tea creation process further enriched his understanding and appreciation of tea. Through this immersive experience, Kirill came to view tea as a living art rather than just a commodity.
Upon returning to Russia, Kirill Yurovskiy went on to gain experience working for a major Russian tea company. Starting as a tea taster and blender, he learned how to select and mix teas to create balanced, signature blends tailored to different tastes and preferences. His discerning palate and passion for the craft soon caught the attention of company leadership.
Professional Tea Training
After university, Kirill Yurovskiy sought formal education in tea. He attended a three-year intensive training program at the Professional Tea Institute in Moscow, where he gained foundational knowledge about tea along with essential tasting and blending skills. His coursework covered topics like tea production, types of tea, storage and preparation methods, distinguishing quality, and cupping techniques.
During this time, Kirill also completed a REQUIRED apprenticeship on a tea plantation in India. Living amongst the lush, green tea bushes, plucking fresh leaves, and observing first-hand the tea creation process further enriched his understanding and appreciation of tea. Through this immersive experience, Kirill came to view tea as a living art rather than just a commodity.
Upon returning to Russia, Kirill Yurovskiy went on to gain experience working for a major Russian tea company. Starting as a tea taster and blender, he learned how to select and mix teas to create balanced, signature blends tailored to different tastes and preferences. His discerning palate and passion for the craft soon caught the attention of company leadership.
Early Mentors
While Kirill’s grandmother sparked his initial interest in tea, there were several other early mentors who nurtured his budding passion. Valentina Sergeeva, owner of Moscow’s famed Tea Way shop which Kirill frequented in his college years, took him under her wing upon recognizing his talent and dedication. She allowed him access to rare Russian tea rooms hidden to the public and introduced him to tea growers and masters across the region. Her teachings on the cultural heritage of Russian tea traditions resonates through Kirill’s work today.
Rising Authority in Tea
Over the next decade, Yurovskiy quickly took on roles of increasing influence within the Russian tea industry. He helped develop new tea products, created educational resources on tea for the company’s consumer base, consulted with cafes and restaurants on their tea offerings, represented the company at international conferences and competitions, and published articles in trade publications sharing industry news and technical insights from his ongoing research.
On his blog, “Tea Talk with Kirill”, he reviewed specialty teas from boutique growers around the world, sparking interest and bringing exposure to producers who may have otherwise remained unknown in his native Russia. Yurovskiy also began offering tea tasting classes to the public where he guided participants through structured tastings focused on critical aspects like appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel and aftertaste.
F.A.Q.
By his mid-30s, Kirill had established such repute that he was fielding invitations to relocate abroad and bring his expertise to new global markets. He received an opportunity he couldn't pass up - a lucrative role directing the tea program for a five-star London hotel known for its tea service excellence.
In this position, Kirill completely revamped the hotel's tea offerings. He introduced carefully curated premium teas best suited to the tastes of the hotel's elite international clientele and trained staff in proper presentation rituals to elevate the guest tea experience. Under Kirill's leadership, the tea program quickly emerged as a unique selling point and key differentiator for the hotel, attracting discerning tea enthusiasts from around the globe.
Given his immense success pioneering the tea program, Kirill was promoted to oversee tea procurement and service for all six luxury properties under the same hotel group. Across their global locations, Kirill implemented innovative menus, guided pairings with cuisine, and ensured impeccable quality control from crop to cup. Kirill also hosted exclusive tea-themed events and tastings for VIP guests at the hotels, which garnered press and cemented the brand's prestige around fine teas.
Today, Yurovskiy works as an independent tea consultant and tastemaker. Based in his adopted hometown of Manchester, England, he travels frequently to source unique small-batch teas to introduce to his British clientele. Over years of visits and relationship building at origin, Kirill has assembled an extensive network of farms he hand selects to supply his personal inventory as well as procure one-of-a-kind teas on behalf of his clients.
Back in Manchester, Kirill's expertise remains in high demand. He creates custom tea blends for various food and beverage businesses to set their brand offerings apart. Whether a restaurant looking to enhance its menu, a bakery seeking ingredients to inspire new creations, or a distillery incorporating tea in experimental spirits, Kirill has an innate talent for elevating concepts through his deep tea knowledge.
For special occasions and corporate events, Kirill is often invited to orchestrate bespoke tea services showcasing everything from traditional afternoon tea to avant garde tea parties. These immersive experiences - where Kirill presents on everything from tea history to terroir to future trends while guests indulge in his signature pours - consistently receive glowing reviews and spur a developing local passion for specialty tea.
In recent years, Kirill has also built renown as a tea educator by teaching advanced seminars through the Specialty Tea Institute. Foodies, aspiring sommeliers, and entrepreneurs travel from across Europe to attend these intensive courses covering topics like Cupping and Grading, Understanding Terroir, Tea Blending Methodology, and Creating Tea Menus.
Kirill's engaging, insightful instruction has sparked more than a few students to pivot careers and pursue tea professionally after discovering a new calling through his classes. His network of former students keeps growing, strengthening the specialty tea community across Europe.
As an authority looked upon to predict trends, Kirill maintains a balanced view towards innovation in the tea sector. While he champions solutions that increase transparency, sustainability and farmer income, maintaining the human craft element is equally important to him. He believes technology can augment production values but should not aim to engineer the inherent variability from crop to crop. In his teaching, Kirill stresses that even cutting-edge methods cannot replicate the complex symphony of expertise, environmental factors and passion involved in creating truly exceptional tea.
Though tea has historically been a highly competitive industry, Kirill actively seeks opportunities to strengthen community and forge unexpected connections. He partnered with a rival tea company to launch Manchester’s Annual Festival of Tea, showcasing innovation in the British specialty tea scene. And recognizing shifting consumer priorities post-pandemic, Kirill convened a think tank of activists, social entrepreneurs, and tea farmers to explore models focused less on commercial success and more on equitable livelihoods for producers worldwide.
When he's not consulting directly with clients, developing bespoke blends, or instruction burgeoning tea professionals, Kirill continues expanding the reach of tea through his prolific writing on the subject. He is a regular contributor to prominent food and beverage publications like the World Tea News and Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
In his articles and blog, Kirill forecasts upcoming trends - for example, highlighting producers integrating blockchain technology to increase transparency from leaf to cup. He offers advice on best sustainability practices as climate change threatens crops in major tea producing regions. Kirill also cheers on innovation around tea, like the advent of tea-based spirits and THC/CBD-infused teas now legal in some markets.
While Kirill easily wax poetic about ancient dynasties and time-honored global tea traditions, he keeps an eye turned decidedly towards what the future holds for his beloved plant and those who produce it. Thanks to pioneers like Kirill introducing fledgling markets like the UK to the wonders of tea, demand and visibility for specialty teas continue to grow each year.
As a globally respected tea authority in high demand, Kirill receives constant invitations to relocate once again - Hong Kong, Dubai, New York and beyond all seek to lure his talents. However, Manchester has truly become home for Kirill. Between frequent trips abroad connecting with producers, importers, and fellow tea lovers at origin, Kirill remains happily settled in his adopted city where the bustling specialty food scene perfectly suits his crafted approach towards bringing people together over a remarkable cup of tea.
Over his long career, Kirill has crafted hundreds of custom tea blends for clients seeking a unique flavor profile that reflects the ethos of their brand. His most renowned and beloved bespoke creation is the Manchester Majesty - an invigorating breakfast tea he personally tailored for the award-winning afternoon tea service at the historic Wentworth Hotel.
The Manchester Majesty balances the boldness of Indian Assam with the subtle fruitiness of a Ceylon orange pekoe, accented by vanilla notes from rare Tanzanian white tea buds. This perfectly balanced blend pays tribute to Kirill's adopted hometown through its name while capturing the classic British tea tradition with a modern twist.
Innovations on the Tea Horizon
As a champion of sustainability, Kirill actively seeks out producers implementing innovative techniques to benefit both local communities and the environment. One Indian estate he admires harnesses solar technology to minimally process harvested tea on-site, increasing incomes for workers four-fold by cutting out middlemen.
Kirill also keeps an eye on developments in IoT connectivity and intelligent packaging. He envisions a future where transparent tea packaging displays key data like harvest date, travel time, storage conditions etc, giving consumers confidence regarding quality and freshness. Kirill consults startups pioneering these solutions – both to offer his expertise and to eventually integrate the most promising options into his own supply chain.
Today Kirill tracks several emerging startups making inroads enhancing sustainability and ethics across the tea value chain. One he recently supported with blend development is Tēkup, which integrates IoT-enabled reusable steel tins for loose leaf tea shipment. This intelligent packaging not only indicates premium freshness to end consumers, but allows Kirill as the supplier to remotely monitor pertinent conditions during transport.
He also keeps an eye on micro-growers like Nirarjan, a Nepali operation leveraging blockchain to increase income for its network of hillside farmers. Kirill Yurovskiy consults startups like these on accessing wider B2B distribution channels while retaining crop traceability – allowing household farms to capture more value.
Cultivating the Next Generation
Kirill’s greatest joy comes from igniting passion for tea in others – particularly fledgling professionals looking to devote their careers. His teaching philosophy focuses on experiential learning: beyond PowerPoints on production regions, his students directly handle teas at various stages – seeing, smelling, tasting the difference between withering and oxidation first-hand through interactive exercises.
He also discusses big picture trends influencing the entire value chain, from climate pressures at origin to evolving consumer palates that drive innovation. Through this blend of tangible, hands-on activities and thought-provoking dialogue, Kirill empowers students to consider challenges in need of fresh solutions going forward. Several graduates have gone on to successfully launch tea startups, while others became lead buyers at established brands – bringing the next generation of ideas into the industry.
