Tea Tasting

Tea Tasting Technique

The professional taster uses all his senses when checking a tea ( this is referred to as organoleptic assessment).

He looks at the dry leaf, feels its density, crushes some and listens to its crackle to assess moisture content.

He sniffs the wet leaves for aroma and checks them for colour and consistency.

Then turning to the liquor he dips in a silver spoon and transfers lukewarm tea to his lips. He sucks in air through the tea causing some of it to vaporise into his throat and allowing the aroma to be sensed by the back of his nasal cavity, meanwhile squishing the remaining liquid along the sides of his tongue to sense the taste and thickness.

Finally he spits the remaining tea into a spittoon - swallowing 300 spoonfulls an hour would just be too much tea!

The home tea taster should also use all their senses.

First on the dry leaf

Visual - look at the colour of the leaf. Is the grade even? Is it true to type? Is there 'tip' present? Is it pleasing to the eye?

Smell - sniff the dry leaf. Does it smell as you expect or is there any taint, smokiness or hay aroma? (indications of poor manufacture and/or long keeping) or is it musty? (indicating high moisture) or oily? (indicating oxidation). While there are many different typical aromas a good tea should always smell sweet and fresh.

Then on to the liquor

Brightness - for black and white teas the liquor should be clear without cloudiness - you should be able to see the bottom of your mug or tasting bowl - and the surface should be reflective. This is called brightness. Green teas are allowed a little cloudiness in the cup.

Colour - black teas will have a colour typical for type. Assams - reddish brown. Kenyans and low grown Ceylons - golden orange. High grown Ceylon - yellow. Darjeelings - golden yellow. Green teas will be yellow if from China, pale green from Japan. Oolongs are generally pale orange brown.

Smell - With the nose

Aroma - there are well over 200 aromatic compounds in tea and every tea type has a different balance. When you recognise a tea from its aroma you are comparing it with a remembered aroma picture. With time and practise you will build up a memory store of good (and not so good) aroma pictures. The aroma will generally tie in with the tasted flavour.

Taste - with the palate

Astringency - most good teas show a little astringency (a puckery affect on the tongue and mouth). It gives tea its refreshing character and, at higher levels (as required if milk is to be used) it is called pungency.

Body - the thickness or heaviness of a liquor is called body - it is a useful character. Without it a tea is termed thin.

Bitter - a little bitterness is a good character but it can be overdone.

Flavour - a combination of the above characters with tasted aroma. Flavour should be typical of the tea type and should be balanced and may be complex - combining several characters with none dominant. A good tea will have brightness, clear colour, strength and thickness. A poor tea may be thin cloudy and brown. An overfired or burnt tea will have the acrid taste of burnt toast - it is a common fault in tea.

Recording - if you make a written record of your tea tastings it will help your techinque and will allow you to develop your skills, and is fascinating to look back over.

Use our web pages on Brewing and our Glossary to assist you with terminology, and remember that you can always ask us questions by email: tasting@nbtea.co.uk