Glossary of Tea Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- Agony of the Leaves
- A romantic expression, describing the unfolding of the leaves when boiling water is added. We prefer 'the ecstasy of the leaves'.
- Aroma
- Denotes that both the tea leaf and liquor have at least one of a certain number of smells which are desirable and are highly valued. Such aroma is connected with flavour and is often highly fragrant. Tea contains about 300 components many of which have desirable aromas.
B
- Bakey
- An aroma of high fired teas, or tea from which too much moisture has been driven off.
- Banji
- Hindi word for 'sterile', refers to two leaves without a bud or two leaves and a dormant bud. See also 'flush'
- Banking
- In tea tasting the retention on the drained leaves of considerable liquor which may only be squeezed out.
- Basket Fired
- Japanese tea which has been dried by firing in a basket.
- Biscuity
- A pleasant aroma occasionally smelt in the leaf or liquor of well fired Assam tea, often associated with malty.
- Black Tea
- Any tea that has been throughly fermented before being fired.
- Blend
- A mixture of different growths of tea or different types of tea.
- Blistered
- Leaf which is swollen and hollow inside. Blisters are formed during the firing of leaf which has been dried too quickly.
- Body
- A liquor having both fullness and strength as opposed to a thin liquor.
- Bold
- Large leaf which could to advantage have been cut smaller.
- Bright
- Sparkling clear liquor. Denotes a good tea which has life as opposed to a dull looking leaf or liquor.
- Brisk
- Pleasantly astringent, not flat liquor. Usually of pungent character.
- Broken
- Leaf that has been broken into smaller pieces by rolling or passing through a cutter.
- Broker
- A person who negotiates the sale of tea from one dealer to another and takes a brokerage commission from the seller.
- Brownish
- Leaf which is brown in colour rather than black, generally resulting from firing under-withered tea at too high a temperature or due to poor plucking. However, some tippy teas have a brown leaf which is desirable.
- Burnt
- An unpleasent taste of burnt organic matter in the liquor and a similar smell in the infused leaf is a characteristic of teas that have been fired at too high a temperature.
C
- Caffeine
- The stimulating constituent in tea. Bitter in taste but cannot be detected at the normal drinking strength.
- Ceylons
- The old name for Sri Lankan teas. Both black and green teas are made in Sri Lanka, but the blacks predominate. They are known by the name of the district, and are further identified by garden marks.
- Character
- When tasting teas, a desirable liquor quality that permits identification of country of origin and district within that country.
- Choppy
- A term used to describe leaf chopped after processing in the breaker or cutter rather than in the roller. Often used in regard to a broken pekoe made by cutting a pekoe or orange pekoe.
- Chunky
- Term usually applied to broken types that are too large in size.(see 'Bold')
- Clean
- A term used to describe leaf free from fibre, dust and stalk, and which denotes an evenly sorted grade containing no other grades. May also apply to a liquor of a plain tea, which has no particular unpleasant taste qualities.
- Colour
- Colour of liquor, which varies from country to country and district to district. Colourey is used to denote a strong orange red colour as of a good Kenya or Assam.
- Congou
- A general term used to describe all China blacks, irrespective of district.
- Coarse
- Tea liquor with certain undesirable characteristics resulting from coarse plucked leaf or irregular firing.
- Coppery
- Bright infusion the colour of a 'new penny', from good quality well manufactured black tea.
- Creaming Down
- A milky film rising to the surface of the tasting cup as the liquor cools, accompanied by the thickening of the liquor in certain high grade teas; believed to be caused by precipitation of the polyphenols and caffeine.
- Creepy
- The principle term used to describe tea which is crimped in appearance, usually a BOP grade.
- CTC
- A cutting process (cut, tear, curl), used to make small leaf grades required for teabags. Produces coloury fast liquoring teas.
- Curly
- Used when describing whole leaf grades such as orange pekoe as opposed to wiry.
D
- Darjeeling
- Considered to be the finest and most delicately flavoured of the Indian teas. Grown mainly in the high altitude region of the Himalaya mountains ranging from 2,000 feet to 6,000 feet. The famed 'muscatel' flavour is often elusive but is perfection when present.
- Dark
- Colour of liquor denoting a poor tea.
- Denaturised Tea
- Tea which has been deemed unfit for consumption. It is often used for mulching tea bushes.
- Dull
- Tea liquor that is not clear and bright. See also 'dark'.
- Dust
- The smallest siftings resulting from the sieving process or leaf that has been reduced to a fine powder. Good quality dust gives the strongest tea, best colour and quickest infusion.
E
- Earthy
- An unpleasent liquor taste found in tea stored under damp conditions.
- Estate
- A property or holding, which may comprise more than one garden or plantation under the same management or ownership.
- Even
- Tea leaf which is true to its grade.
F
- Fannings
- Small grainy particles of leaf sifted out of the graded tea. Sought after for tea bags as they give a good quick infusion.
- Fermenting
- Black tea is fermented (oxidised) due to the action of its own enzymes. Fermenting causes green polyphenols (catechins) to change to orange red theaflavins and thearubigins; fermenting takes 60 - 180 minutes.
- Fibrous
- Denotes the presence of fibre in fannings or dust grades.
- First Flush
- The first growth of the season often the very best quality due to its relatively slow growth. 'Second Flush' is usually more plentiful, more consistent, but sometimes not such good flavour.
- Flat
- Lacking briskness and pungency.
- Fluff
- Thick hairy down or bloom on the tea leaf, which becomes loosened in the blending and sifting process. It is collected and used in the manufacture of caffeine and instant tea.
- Flush
- The new shoot of a tea bush consisting of two leaves and a bud as plucked for quality teas. It takes an average of 40 days for a leaf bud to develop into a shoot containing a full complement of leaves which is known as a flush.
- Full
- Strong tea, without bitterness, having colour and substance.
- Fully Fired
- Liquor from a tea that has been slightly over fired. See also 'high fired'.
G
- Garden
- Used interchangeably wih 'plantation' in some tea countries (India and Sri Lanka particulaly), but usually referring to an estate unit.
- Garden Mark
- The mark put on tea chest by the estate to identify its particular product, for example 'Margerets Hope'.
- Golden Tip
- Golden coloured tip. Visible buds in the made tea, coloured golden with dried tea juice.
- Gone Off
- A tea that is moulded, tainted, out of condition or old.
- Grainy
- Term applied to well made fannings and dust.
- Green
- Colour of infused leaf which has undergone poor withering or rolling, or is underfermented.
- Green Tea
- Tea leaves that have been processed either in live steam, hot air or hot pans, whereby fermentation is prevented, and then rolled and dried.
- Grey
- An unattractive colour characteristic of black leaf that has undergone too much rubbing during sorting and cutting.
- Gunpowder
- A make of green tea, each leaf of which has been rolled into a pellet. The pellets resemble old fashioned gunpowder cartridges.
H
- Heavy
- Liquor that is thick, strong, coloury with only a little briskness.
- High Fired
- A slightly burnt tea, but not so badly fired as to be called burnt. Results from keeping tea in the drier too long or at too high a temperature.
I
- Ichiban-cha
- Japanese meaning first tea or first plucking.
- Imperial
- A type of rolled Ceylon, black tea.
- Infusion
- Properly speaking the solid leaf that is left after decanting the liquor. The colour and form of the infusion can reveal much about the manufacturing conditions.
J
- Jasmine
- A mild, delicately flavoured China tea, that is scented after firing with white jasmine flowers.
- Java
- Teas grown in the island of Java now known as Indonesia. They are manufactured as in Ceylon and India, and are almost entirely of the black variety.
K
- Keemun
- A fine grade of black tea from central China, often imitated with considerable success. Keemun is a fine quality China Black, hand rolled and basket fired in contrast to the common types that are machine rolled and machine fired.
L
- Lapsang Souchong
- A fine grade of China black tea with a smokey or tarry flavour. Purposely introduced by firing over pine needles.
- Leafy
- Whole leaves found in broken grades.
- Lie Tea
- A Chinese mixture of willow and other spurious leaf with genuine tea leaf, fraudulently sold as tea. Adulteration of tea was a problem when it was heavily taxed in previous centuries.
- Light
- Liquor lacking body or thickness.
- Liquor
- The liquid that results from infusing the leaves with hot water.
M
- Malty
- A pleasent taste in the liquor, associated with Assams.
- Mature
- No flatness or rawness in the liquor.
- Metallic
- A harsh taste characteristic of some liquors. A metallic taste is often associated with poor pluck standards.
- Muddy
- Term used to describe a dull liquor.
- Mushy
- A soft tea suggesting that it had been packed too moist.
- Musty
- Tea that has been attacked by mildew as a result of being packed too moist.
N
- New
- Term used to describe a tea which has not had time to mature. Usually denotes some rawness in the infusion which may disappear when the tea is kept.
- Niban-cha
- Japanese for second tea, or second plucking.
- Nilgiri
- A tea district in Southern India.The name means 'blue mountain'.
- Nose
- Tea tasters name for the aroma of tea.
O
- Oolong Tea
- From the Chinese wu-lung, meaning 'black dragon'. A semi-fermented tea of fine quality, traditionally hand rolled and fired in baskets over pits containing red hot charcoal. Originally from China, now also from Taiwan (Formosa).
- Orthodox
- The traditional rolling table method of tea production that maximises large leaf grades and gives good aroma and flavour.
P
- Pan Fired
- A kind of green tea that is dried in iron pans over charcoal fires.
- Pingsuey
- A type of China green tea. The word 'pingsuey' actually means 'ice water'.
- Pinheads
- Small shotty gunpowder green teas.
- Plain
- Term used to describe dull liquor often with a rather sour taste.
- Point
- Attractive brightness and acidity of liquor.
- Pungent
- Pleasantly astringent in the mouth.
Q
TopR
- Ragged
- Denotes uneven leaf in a grade.
- Rasping
- Coarse flavour in the cup. Also called 'harsh'.
- Rawness
- Harsh and bitter taste of immature tea.
S
- Sambancha
- Japanese for third tea, or third plucking.
- Sappy
- Full juicy liquor.
- San-chu
- Chinese for third spring, applied to the third plucking.
- Scented Tea
- Flower aroma teas traditionally made in China and Taiwan by introducing jasmine, gardenia, lychee or yulan blossoms during the packing process.
- Sencha
- name given to the ordinary everyday teas of Japan. Exported Japanese teas are often Sencha types.
- Silver Tip
- Silver instead of golden tip. Visible buds in the made tea, coloured silver.
- Smokey
- Term used to describe a manufacturing defect i.e. a liquor which tastes of smoke. Smokey can also refer to a tarry taste purposely introduced into 'Lapsang Souchong' and 'Caravan' blends.
- Stalky
- Term used to describe teas with stalk in them. Usually indicates presence of red stalk resulting from rolling that was too hard, or due to coarse leaf. A certain amount of stalk is removed by skilful sorting during manufacture.
- Stewy
- Soft liquor, lacking point. Often due to too long a fermentation, or to drying at too low a temperature.
- Strength
- Thick liquor, pungent and brisk.
- Sumatra
- Tea grown on the island of Sumatra. Grading and characteristics are similar to those of Java tea.
- Sweet
- A light and not undesirable characteristics in a liquor. Nilgiri teas are particularly 'sweet'.
T
- Tablet tea
- Also 'brick tea'. Small compressed blocks, made of fine tea dust of special quality in China. Were once used as a form of currency.
- Tainted
- Term used to describe tea with a strange flavour. May result from infection by micro-organisms during manufacture or storage. Usually refers to a flavour entirely foreign to tea such as oil, petrol, onion etc.
- Tarry
- A smokey aroma or taste. See 'Lapsang Souchong'.
- Tea
- The tender leaves, and bud of the plant Camellia Sinesis, prepared and cured by recognised methods of manufacture. Used to prepare an infusion for drinking. Term also used with reference to the liquid drink infused from these leaves.
- Tea Taster
- An expert judge of the cup quality and leaf of teas. One who judges tea by tasting in the cup using organoleptic skills with special reference to sight, taste and smell.
- Thick teas
- Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian or China congou black teas possessed of full strength.
- Tip
- The bud leaf of the tea plant. Often covered in fine hairs it varies in colour in the made tea from silver to gold. The tip has the finest flavour.
- Tippy Teas
- Highly desirable teas abundant with silver or golden tips.
U
- Uneven
- Term used to describe tea leaf composed of irregular shaped pieces indicating bad sorting. When applied to the infused leaf the term means that it contains mixed red, green and black colours resulting from uneven withering, fermentation or rolling.
- Uva
- A high elevation quality tea district in Sri Lanka.
V
TopW
- Weak
- Denotes a thin liquor. Often due to over withering or under fermenting.
- Well Twisted
- Leaf which is tightly rolled or twisted, which in orthodox manufacture indicates ideally withered tea.
- Wiry
- Term applied to well twisted, thin leaf orange pekoe. A good OP has long, very black even sized twisted leaf.
- Woody
- Denotes an undesirable hay flavour in tea, often due to long storage.
