Assam: A black tea grown in the Northeast section of India. A strong full- bodied tea with a rich robust flavour. Chosen by many tea lovers to be a wake-up tea to be consumed in the morning. Often used in blends because of its strong taste.
Aroma: An important consideration in cupping teas is the smell, which is given off. A favourable aroma is most often associated with a flavourful taste.
Astringent: A tea tasting term which describes a liquor, which is pungent but inclined to be acidic.
Autumnal:
Describes the liquor from teas grown in Autumn, in cool weather. The
term is most often applied to teas from Northern India.
Black: A black appearance is desirable,
preferably with "bloom". This term is used with Orthodox or
Rotoryane manufacture.
Black
Tea: The most commonly consumed tea in the
world accounting for approximately 80% of all consumption. One of three
major types of tea, the others being Green and Oolong. Black teas are
the most processed of teas in that they are oxidized or fermented.
Blackish: This is a satisfactory
appearance for CFC and LTP manufacture teas and denotes careful sorting.
Baggy: Describe an undesirable taint sometimes found in teas withered on inferior hessian or stored in sacks.
Bakey: An unpleasant characteristic noticeable in the liquors of teas, which have been subjected to higher than desirable temperatures during processing.
Bancha: A Japanese tea made from coarse leaves, usually from the last plucking. This tea is generally consumed domestically.
Biscuity: A desirable trait usually referring to well fired Assam.
Bite: A very brisk and "alive" tea liquor. A desirable trait.
Blend:
a mixture of teas from several different origins to
achieve a certain flavour profile. Most branded teas in the United
States use 20 or more origins to achieve their desired taste.
Bloom: A sign of good manufacture
and sorting (where the reduction of leaf has mainly taken place before
firing). A "sheen" which has not been removed by over-handling or
over-sorting.
Body:
Describes a tea liquor possessing fullness and strength.
Bold: Particles of leaf which are too large for the
particular grade.
Bright: A lively tea, usually with a red liquor.
Brisk: Describes a live taste as opposed to flat or soft.
Broken
Orange Pekoe: A size of tea leaf compromising the
smaller tea leaves and tips.
Brown:
A brown appearance, with CTC and LTP manufacture, normally reflects too
hard treatment of the leaf.
Burnt: A degree worse than bakey.
Caffeine: A component of tea, which stimulates
the nervous system. A cup of tea averages 40 milligrams of caffeine
versus approximately 110 in a cup of coffee.
Ceylon
Tea: The common name of teas grown in Sri Lanka.
Ceylon Breakfast: A blend of fine teas grown on the
hillsides of Sri Lanka producing a rich golden liquor with superb
flavour.
Clean: Leaf which is free from fiber, dust and any extraneous
matter.
Chai: A blend of black tea with various spices and steamed milk
as commonly drunk in India.
Character: A desirable quality in the liquor of a tea, permitting recognition of its country or region of origin.
Chest: Traditional way of packaging bulk teas. Usually made of wood with an aluminum lining.
Chesty:
Tea which has been contaminated by improperly seasoned
or inferior chest panels.
Choppy: Orthodox (or Rotorvane)
manufacture leaf which has to be cut by a "breaker" during sorting.
Chunky: A very large Broken from
Orthodox manufacture.
Common: Describe the liquor of inferior tea having little
character.
Coppery:Refers to color of the tea liquor, like a new penny. A
good trait resulting from good manufacturing processes.
Coloury: Indicates useful depth of
colour and strength.
Cream: A precipitate obtained after
cooling.
Creaming Down: A high quality tea, which turns cloudy generally believed to be caused by the precipitation of tannins.
Crepy: A crimped appearance
common with the larger grade brokens from Orthodox manufacture, such a
BOP.
Croppy: Describes bright, strong creamy liquor with distinctive
character. Usually found in some second flush Assams and Dooars of
Orthodox manufacture.
Curly: The leaf appearance of whole
leaf grade Orthodox teas such as OP as opposed to wiry.
Darjeeling: A very high quality black tea grown in
the Himalayan Mountains in North India. It is most often referred to as
the champagne of teas.
Dark: A dark or dull colour which
usually indicates poorer leaf.
Dooar:
Tea grown in the Dooar district located in Central India.
Dry: Indicates slight over-firing.
Dull: Tea Liquor which is not clear or bright.
Dust: A term which has been used to describe the smallest particles of tea leaf.
Earthy: An unfavourable characteristic
generally caused by storing tea under damp conditions.
English Breakfast: Traditionally a blend of China Keemuns. Today the blend has evolved to include Ceylon and India teas to produce a full-bodied brew.
Estate:
A term used to describe a plantation or garden where tea
is grown.
Even: True to the grade and
consisting of pieces of leaf of quite even size.
Fannings: A very small size of tea leaf, although larger than dust.
Fermentation: A term used to describe the processing of Oolong and Black teas. The actual chemical transformation, which takes place is actually oxidation.
Fibrous: A term used to identify pieces of stem in tea.
Fine:
Teas of exceptional quality and flavour.
Flakey: Flat, open and often light
in texture.
Flat: Unfresh, (usually due
to age).
Flavour: Very characteristic taste and aroma of fine teas, usually associated with high grown teas.
Flowery Orange Pekoe: A large leaf size containing an abundance of tip.
Flush:
The new growth on a tea plant consisting of a full
complement of leaves.
It takes about 40 days for a new bud to blossom into a flush.
Formosa:
Tea Grown on the island of Taiwan.
Fruity: Can be due to
over-fermentation and / or bacterial infection before firing. An
over-ripe taste.
Full: A strong tea with good colour and no bitterness.
Fully-Fired: Referring to a taste of the liquor equated with being slightly over fired.
Garden: Refers to a plantation or estate where
tea is grown.
Golden Tip: A desirable feature resulting from good harvesting practices.
Gone Off: Tea which is not good because it is old, mouldy, or otherwise tainted.
Grainy: Refers to tea well-made fannings and dust.
Green: Describes an unpleasant astringency, which may be due to inadequate withering or fermentation.
Green
Tea: Tea which undergoes minimal processing and most
resembles the original green leaf.
Grey: Caused by too much abrasion
during sorting.
Gunpowder: A type of Green tea which has been rolled into pellets.
Gyokuro: A prized Japanese Green Tea, which is rich to the taste and pleasing to the eye. The tea undergoes special handling at every stage of its growth (shaded) and processing (hand-fired).
Hard: A desirable quality suggesting pungency,
particularly
applied to Assam teas.
Harsh: Refers to a tea, which is bitter which could result from picking (plucking) tea before it is ready.
Heavy: A tea, which is not brisk and overly strong.
High-fired: A tea that has remained in a dryer for a longer period than necessary, but not considered to be burnt.
Hungry: Describes the liquor of a tea, which is lacking in cup quality.
Hyson
Young Hyson: A Chinese Green Tea named for the East India
merchant who first sold it in England. Young Hyson is generally
preferred to Hyson.
I-Chiban Cha: A Japanese term referring to the first flush or first plucking of tea. It is generally a very delicate tasting tea.
Imperial Tea: A rolled Green Tea from Ceylon, China, or India made from older leaves. It has a good aroma and is refreshing.
Instant Tea: Developed in the 30's and commercialized in the 50's, instant tea sacrifices nuances in fragrance and flavour for convenience.
Jasmine: The Chinese use Green Tea as the base
to which Jasmine
flowers are used to scent tea. The finest Chinese Jasmine is called Yin
Hao and Chun Hao. Formosa Jasmines use Pouchong teas as a base.
Pouchong is allowed to wither for a longer period of time (than Green)
before it is fired which places it between Green and Oolong.
Keemun: A fine grade of Black Tea from China. It has a dark amber colour and unique "sappy liquor".
Lapsang Souchong: A fine grade of China Black
tea with a distinctive smoky flavour which results from a unique drying
process. Tea drinkers either love or hate the taste of this unusual tea.
Leafy: Orthodox manufacture leaf
tending to be on the large or long side.
Light: Describe a liquor which is rather thin and lacking depth of colour but which may be flavoury or pungent or both.
Lot: Describes all of the teas offered under a single mark or serial number at any tea auction.
Make: Well made (or not) and must be true to the
grade.
Mature: Not bitter or flat.
Metallic:
An undesirable trait, which imparts a
metallic taste.
Mixed or Uneven: Leaf of varying
colour. Also indicates "uneven" pieces of leaf usually indicative
of poor sorting and not true to the particular grade.
Mouldy: An undesirable trait characterized by a mouldy taste and odor resulting from improper storage.
Muddy: A term which describes a dull or lifeless liquor.
Muscatel: Describes a characteristic reminiscent of grapes. Also describes an exceptional characteristic found in liquor of the finest second flush Darjeeling.
Mushy: A tea which may have been packed too moist.
Musty; Fusty: A tea liquor in which there is suspicion of mold.
Neat: A grade having good "make" and size.
New: Describes a tea, which has not had adequate time to mellow.
Nose: A term used to connote a good aroma of tea.
Old: Describes liquor from tea, which has lost
through age, those attributes which it possessed originally.
Oolong: Partially "fermented" tea, which is allowed to wither, then is partially oxidized and dried. The term is of Chinese origins and means Black Dragon.
Orange Pekoe: Is used to identify a large leaf size. The tea is characterized by long, thin, wiry leaves, which sometimes contain the white or yellow tip of the leaf bud.
Organoleptic: The process used by most tea tasters to evaluate the quality of a tea using all the senses.
Pan-fired: A Japanese tea, which is steamed and
then rolled in iron pans to halt further oxidation.
Pekoe: A size of tea leaf characterized by leaves which are shorter and not as wiry as Orange Pekoe. The liquors generally have more colour.
Pekoe Souchong: A leaf grade of Black Tea between pekoe and Souchong.
Pingusey: In Chinese, the terms mean ice water. A Black Tea from Hangchow district of Zhejing Province. An excellent mild tasting tea.
Plain: Describe teas which are clean and innocuous but lacking character.
Point;pointy: A most desirable brisk pungent characteristic.
Pouchong:
Some of the finest quality and high priced teas. A
very fragrant tea, which is also used as a base for making Jasmine Tea.
Powdery: Fine light dust.
Pungent: Describes a tea liquor having marked briskness and an astringent effect on the palate without bitterness.
Quality: Describes a preponderance of desirable
attributes, which are the essential characteristics of a good tea.
Ragged: An uneven badly manufactured and graded
tea.
Rasping: A very coarse and harsh
liquor.
Rains;
rainy: Describes liquor of a dull plain
tea manufactured
during the rainy season.
Raw: A bitter unpleasant liquor.
Rich: A mellow liquor which is abounding in quality and thickness.
Roughness: A term used to connote harshness.
Russian Caravan: A blend of China Black Teas. Although there is little consistency between available blends in the marketplace.
Sappy: Describes a tea liquor which has a full
juicy flavour.
Scented tea: These are teas which, after processing are put in close proximity with various flowers or spices under controlled temperature and humidity conditions for periods of about 4 hours and then re-fired.
Self-Drinking: Describes an original tea which is palatable in itself and does not necessarily require blending before being consumed by the public.
Sencha: These are teas, which Japan exports and comprise about 75% of Japan's total production.
Silver Tip Pekoe: A very costly tea from China made from full-grown buds of a special bush. This is also referred to as White Tea.
Silvery Oolong: Another costly tea which utilizes the delicate whitish from the first flush.
Smokey: This term describes an odor or taste of smoke, often caused by a defect in the drier.
Soft: A tea, which is under fermented or oxidized.
Sour: This describes an undesirable acid odor and taste.
Spicy: A liquor having character, suggestive of cinnamon or cloves. This is sometimes, but not always, the effect of contamination.
Stalk: Used to describe a tea with visible stalk.
Standing-up: A tea which holds its original colour and flavour is described in this manner.
Stand-out: No surprises here. A tea liquor which is above average.
Stewed;stewy: Describes certain thick liquoring teas, having undesirable characteristics as a result of incorrect firing.
Strength;Strong: Describes liquor with powerful tea characteristics, but not necessarily thick. A very desirable characteristic, but not essential in certain flavoury teas.
Sumatra: Tea grown on the island of Sumatra. Gradings and characteristics are similar to Java teas.
Tainted: An undesirable characteristic with a
taste and odor foreign to the tea.
Tannin: The chemical component of tea thought to be responsible for its presumed health benefits. One of the major components which contributes to the taste and pungency of tea.
Tarry: A tea, which has a smokey aroma.
Tea: The leaf and extracted liquor of the shrub Camellia sinensis. No other beverages merit the unqualified term tea.
Tea Taster: An expert judge of the beverage. A person who uses organoleptic means to discern various characteristics and qualities of tea.
Tip: The leaf bud of the Camellia Sinensis plant.
Thick: Describes tea liquor having substance, but not necessarily strength.
Thin;weak: Tea liquor which lacks thickness or strength.
Tisane: A term which describes an herbal infusion.
Toasty: A tea which has been slightly over-fired during processing. It may be a desirable characteristic in some Darjeeling teas.
Weathery: Describes a soft, unpleasant
characteristic, which is occasionally evident in the liquors of teas
processed during very wet weather.
Weak: Teas which have a thin liquor.
Well twisted: A tea leaf which is tightly rolled or twisted, indicative of good withering.
Wiry: Another term which means well twisted.
Woody:
A characteristic reminiscent of freshly-cut timber. This trait is
usually associated with teas processed very late in the season.
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