The Language of Tea Assessment
For Dry Leaves
• Bold: Leaf particles too large
for a particular grade.
• Broken: Tea leaves that are
rolled or processed through a cutter, resulting in non-whole
leaves.
• Chesty: A tainted flavor caused
by packing materials (inner bags or chests) that are inferior or
unseasoned.
• Choppy: Tea leaves that are
orthodox- or Rotorvane-manufactured and need to be cut by a “breaker”
during sorting.
• Chunky: A very large broken-leaf
tea resulting from orthodox manufacture.
• Clean: A dry leaf without
fiber, dust or other extraneous matter.
• Crepy: Crimped appearance
common in larger grade brokens, such as BOP from orthodox manufacture.
• Curly: Appearance of whole-leaf
grade orthodox teas.
• Even: Tea leaves of uniform
size that are consistent within a specific grading category.
• Flaky: A leaf that is flat,
thin in texture and open.
• Flush: A complete group or
complement of fully developed tea leaves ready for harvest plucking.
• Golden Tip:
The desirable golden, sometimes silver-orange, tip of the smallest,
most tender leaves.
• Leafy: Leaves that tend to
be on the large or longer than average side and are orthodox-manufactured.
• Light: A tea that is too light
in weight, of poor density and sometimes flaky.
• Mushy or Musty:
Tea that is stored or packed with a high moisture content and may
be affected by mildew. May smell medicinal, earthy, damp, or “off”.
• Neat: A grade considered to
have an overall good appearance, color, shape, and size.
• Organoleptic: Used to describe
a tea’s ability to make an impression on the senses of tast,
smell and sight.
• Ragged: Tea that has been
badly processed, resulting in uneven leaf character.
• Stalk &
Fibre: Not uncommon in lower tea grades, but should be minimal
in top quality grades.
• Tip: In the top grades of
orthodox-manufacture, this is a sign of fine plucking. The desirable
budded tea leaves.
• Well-Twisted: Describes whole-leaf
grades and is applicable to orthodox manufacture. Often referred
to as “well-made” or “rolled”.
• Wiry: A thin-leaf orthodox
tea with a well-twisted appearance.
For Brewed Liquors
• Bakey: A tea that has lost
too much moisture due to over-firing.
• Brassy: A strong, bitter taste.
• Bright: Tea that is lively,
fresh and of a high quality.
• Brisk: Tea that is “live”
in taste without being too high in bitter tannins. Opposite of flat
and denotes a positive pungency.
• Burnt: Extreme over-firing,
which causes an off color and flavor.
• Coarse: Liquor with a rough
quality from bitterness or too much acidity.
• Common: Tea that produces
a very plain, light and thin “cup” and liquor without
distinct flavor, color and aroma.
• Dull: Muddy liquor that lacks
brightness and briskness.
• Flat: An off, stale taste
due to a lack of acidity.
• Full-bodied: An ideal combination
of strength and color. A brew offering a rich, hearty liquor without
bitterness or acrid flavor notes.
• Gone Off: Describes a tea
that is flat, old or otherwise bad.
• Green: Tea that is “raw”
or immature in character due to under-fermentation and sometimes
under-withering.
• Harsh: Tea taste that is generally
very rough and associated with under-withered leaves.
• High-fired: Tea that has been
over-fired, but not considered bakey or burnt.
• Malty: Subtle, underlying
flavor, often characteristic of Assam teas.
• Mellow: Smooth, easy and pleasant.
Opposite of harsh or green.
• Metallic: Liquor with a sharp,
coppery flavor.
• Pungent: An astringent liquor
that contains a good combination of briskness, strength and brightness.
• Raw: An unpleasant bitter
taste. Tart, tangy, rough, super-grassy.
• Self-drinking: Any tea with
enough aroma, flavor, body, and color to stand alone with no need
for blending (dry) or condiments (brewed) for improvement.
• Stewed: Liquor that lacks
dimension. Likely caused by poor firing at low temperatures and
insufficient air circulation during post-harvest processing.
• Tannin: A vital chemical component
of tea that provides an astringent, palate-cleansing character.
• Weedy: A grassy or hay taste
related to under-withering. Often referred to as woody.
